As Velocity Increases, So Does Danger to Batters

Batters are being hit at a rate unseen since the 1890s. Kevin Pillar’s beaning showed how devastating one pitch can be.

For two decades with the Houston Astros, Craig Biggio was a human magnet for five-ounce missiles wrapped in cowhide. Nobody alive has been hit by more pitches than Biggio, who somehow made it to Cooperstown, N.Y., with all his bones intact. Now 55 years old, Biggio is a baseball dad; his son, Cavan, is the Toronto Blue Jays’ third baseman. Cavan, 24, wears a helmet with an extension that covers his jaw, to his father’s relief. With more batters being hit by pitches than ever before, modern players need all the protection they can get. “Ever since he wore it, I was like, that’s great, I’m happy for him that he’s comfortable with it and he can see out of it, because it’s only going to protect you — and all it takes is one pitch, that’s all,” Biggio said this week. “I mean, Dickie Thon — it was one pitch. He was the A-Rod of that generation before he got hit in the eye.”