It’s one of those vicious cycle kind of things. Everything is going alone fine for a major league pitcher and then he gets hit in the head or face with a line drive and is seriously injured – in most cases with a concussion or even structural damage to their face that requires surgery or other serious treatment; and then he is lost to the disabled list for days or weeks or, in some cases, even months; and then we hear the complaints that MLB really needs to do something to help protect pitchers from such traumatic injuries; and then MLB finds a company or companies that make protective head gear; and then the players criticize it because it looks dorky and they refuse to even consider wearing it; and then, as time passes, we forget about it; and then it happens again and the cycle repeats itself – again and again.

It even happened to Dodgers ace Clayton Kershaw who, just this past spring and only days before Opening Day, took a line drive off his jaw that broke a tooth and loosened a couple of others. Fortunately, the three-time Cy Young award winner did not miss any starts because of the injury, but I think it’s safe to say that it scared the bejesus out of all of us – especially Kershaw.

The point here is that baseball players are so hung up on tradition and image that even when protective headgear is available – for their own good – they refuse to wear it because they don’t want to look like “Super Mario.” In fact, those were the exact words used by former Colorado Rockies pitcher and current Dodger Brett Anderson.

“I’ll pass on the Super Mario inspired padded hat.”

Haha, Brett – you made us chuckle at that one.

New York Mets left-hander Alex Torres uses a protective padded band that he attaches to his regular hat. (Photo credit – Marc Carig)

And then there’s current Dodger Brandon McCarthy, who recently signed a four-year / $48 million contract with the Dodgers and even more recently was lost for over a year after tearing the UCL in his throwing elbow that required Tommy John surgery. The former Oakland A and Diamondback suffered serious injures (and subsequent seizures) when he was hit in the head with a line drive to put him on the shelf for eight months. But even being one of those who’s been there – done that, McCarthy refuses to wear protective headgear.

“Hopefully, in a couple of years, they can come up with something that everyone wears and that you don’t notice it being on your head while you’re out there, but right now, it’s just not there.”

But it is there – just ask hard-throwing New York Mets left-hander Alex Torres, who has chosen safety over style points. Torres does wear a Super Mario-looking band on his regular Mets baseball cap and he doesn’t care what anybody else thinks about it.

“I love this game and this game is my life,” Torres told CBS Sports baseball writer David Brown this past April. “I need to take care of myself.”

And wouldn’t you know it, Torres, who pitched 1.1 innings in relief against the Dodgers on Saturday, had not one, not two, not three, but four ground balls hit right back up the middle – the first of which he was able to field behind his back with one of those patented Clayton Kershaw moves to get Dodgers center fielder Joc Pederson. The second one – a hard grounder by Dodgers second baseman Howie Kendrick – that just got past Torres but Mets second baseman Wilmer Flores was able to make the play. The third – a hard comebacker off of Torres’s glove by Dodgers first baseman Adrian Gonzalez – that Mets shortstop Ruben Tejada was able to field and throw out AGon at first base. And the fourth – another hard grounder that just got past Torres by Dodgers third baseman Alberto Callaspo – that was deflected by Flores for an infield single allowing Dodgers catcher Yasmani Grandal to score what would prove to be the winning run in the eventual 4-3 contest.

It was absolutely amazing that Mets left-hander Alex Torres had four hard grounders hit right back at him in his 1.1 innings of work on Saturday afternoon. It’s probably safe to say that he was glad he was wearing his protective headgear. (Photo credit:  Ron Cervenka – Click on image to enlarge)

Whether Torres’s protective headgear would actually prevent him from serious injury or not is unknown (and hopefully we will never have to find out), but there is zero doubt that it gives the 27-year-old Valencia, Venezuela native – who is the only known major league pitcher currently wearing protective headgear – a lot more confidence on the mound when those comebackers come sizzling by. In fact, Mets manager Terry Collins couldn’t have said it any better.

“More power to him if it makes him feel comfortable.”

Bravo, Alex. You are an inspiration to youngsters everywhere.