While most of the conversation about head injuries in sports has focused on football, a ripple effect has been felt in other athletic arenas. That includes baseball.
“It’s definitely a worry in baseball, and it’s something that has been addressed greatly the last few years,” said Jeremy Clipperton, athletic trainer for the Memphis Redbirds. “You don’t hear about it as much in baseball because it’s not like football where it’s more of a contact sport, but it happens and it’s definitely been addressed.”
Clipperton has been a trainer for 16 years, including the past four with the Redbirds. He has been named Trainer of the Year three times in the minor leagues during stints with the Kansas City Royals, Seattle Mariners and St. Louis Cardinals organizations.
Possibly the most important change he has seen for players’ protection is the new, improved helmets.
“They’re so much better now for blows to the head,” he said. “Blows that I saw even five years ago that would keep a guy out for two weeks, now they don’t even feel it because the helmets are so much better made now.”
Just as in football, Clipperton and team physician Barry Phillips have protocols to follow when head injuries are suspected.
“There’s a lot of checks and balances now,” Clipperton said. “We have a protocol designated to us by Major League Baseball. You automatically have to go through Scat 3 tests with a guy. Then each club has an individual doctor who’s designated. By that I mean each organization, like the St. Louis Cardinals that we then confer to. The doctor then confers with the MLB doctor in New York before a player can return to play from any type of head injury.
“So they’ve really taken the judgment out of it and there are definite tests you have to do before a guy can return.”
And in the minor leagues, Clipperton said, there’s no rush.
“It’s a totally different animal here,” he said. “In the minor leagues, the emphasis isn’t on winning, it’s on getting these players ready to play at the next level. For me, the next level is the St. Louis Cardinals. They want these guys healthy when they go up to help the Cardinals.”
Phillips, also the team physician for University of Memphis sports, said the days are long gone when a doctor or trainer on a football sideline could look a player over quickly, ask him if he was OK and then send him back in.
“I think we always have done a pretty good job,” he said, “but now the concussion protocols change pretty much every year. There’s a whole lot more science to it, which is good.
“I think the SEC is even talking about having a doctor up in the booth evaluating if anybody has any concussion symptoms and then call the team doctor and say, ‘Hey, that guy doesn’t look right.’ If you’re on the sideline, sometimes you’re checking one guy and you miss several plays. So it could be a good idea.”
RELATED LINK:
Memphis Redbirds, www.memphisredbirds.com