"By the end of this week, at least a dozen big league pitchers will have padded caps to try out as Major League Baseball looks into ways to improve protection against head injuries from line drives, according to a protective equipment manufacturer."

"Rob Vito, president of Pennsylvania-based Unequal Technologies Co., said MLB has examined caps containing Unequal's CRT padding and requested and received modifications, as well as the results of laboratory testing. Vito said he's encouraged by his communications with MLB and is now sending caps lined with the padding to pitchers for their examination and experimentation."

~snip~

"Vito said Unequal's padding for pitchers' caps passed NOCSAE-standard testing last month at New York's Intertek Lab."


http://espn.go.com/mlb/story/_/id/8755180/pitchers-try-mlb-examined-padded-caps


So have they found a means to test these caps by, for example, using a baseball pitching machine vs a crash test dummy? I also have to wonder how much heat the added padding traps, since dark-colored caps like the Tigers navy blue and the White Sox black caps absorb a lot of heat, especially in the hot midsummer sunshine during day games...not to mention the heat given off by the pitchers' heads themselves. I have noticed that there are at least some pitchers who might be superstitious, such as the Tigers Doug Fister, and ex-Tigers RP Fernando Rodney, who wore what looked like caps that were often re-used since they had very noticeable dried sweat-stains on them when they pitched in night games.