This is Why Alex Torres Wears a Funny-Looking Cap
This is New York Mets pitcher Alex Torres.
Photo Credit: Elsa / Getty
You’re probably asking yourself: “What’s the deal with his cap?”
Torres is the first — and only — MLB player to wear this huge padded cap.
Photo: Mike Stobe / Getty
It’s designed to protect ballplayers from life-threatening head injuries. Torres, a left-handed relief pitcher, wears the MLB-approved cap to protect him from “comebackers.”
Torres has seen the damage a baseball can do.
Credit: MLB / YouTube
When he played for the Tampa Bay Rays, Torres’ teammate, Alex Cobb, was hit in the head by a line drive.
Cobb’s standard MLB cap did little to protect his head.
Credit: MLB / YouTube
Players from both teams watched Cobb in agony.
Credit: MLB / YouTube
Cobb had to leave the game with a mild concussion.
As Cobb was taken off in a stretcher, guess who replaced him?
Credit: MLB / YouTube
Alex Torres. When asked about Cobb, Torres told the New York Times: “I thought he died.”
When traded to the San Diego Padres, Torres began wearing this hat.
Photo Credit: Kent Horner / Getty
Torres continued to be deeply affected by incident involving his former teammate, Alex Cobb.
And the Twitter jokes began:
Saw the protective cap Alex Torres is wearing, and all I can think of is saving the Princess from Bowser. #Padres pic.twitter.com/V9lmGmLvvi
— Adrian Garro (@adriangarro) June 22, 2014
@DodgersNation When I see Alex Torres on the mound, this is what I see ? pic.twitter.com/tRNL8ekf1w
— Michael Samperio (@samperio_34) June 22, 2014
Alex Torres is not amused by your jokes. pic.twitter.com/n9z7X8XJ0M
— brady phelps (@LobShots) June 22, 2014
But getting hit in the head with a baseball is no laughing matter.
Credit: CSN
In 2012, Brandon McCarthy needed surgery for a skull fracture and brain contusion after he was hit in the head by a comebacker.
Credit: Royals TV
Last year, Cincinnati Reds left-hander Aroldis Chapman suffered facial fractures when a line drive struck him above the left eye during a spring training game.
Chapman shared this post-surgery photo on Instagram.
A photo posted by Aroldis Chapman (@_thecubanmissile54) on
Photo Credit: @_thecubanmissile54
But guys don’t get hit that often, right?
Well, it happened again this year.
Credit: MLB / YouTube
Cleveland Indians pitcher Carlos Carrasco suffered a bruised jaw after this comebacker during a game in April.
So Torres continues to wear his funny-looking hat.
#Mets P Alex Torres has a hat that also doubles as a mind control device
(pic via @JMcGuireSN) pic.twitter.com/kfvqe5jNyY
— NOT Baseball Tonight (@NOTMLBTonight) April 19, 2015
It’s a different version from last year’s. Although the hat does not protect Torres from facial injuries like the ones Chapman and Carrasco suffered, it is designed to protect players from potentially life-threatening injuries, like getting hit in the temple.
And, of course, the jokes continue.
Just made my own Alex Torres Replica Hat @KFCBarstool #Mets pic.twitter.com/jxWfM5kVuI
— Joe Buono (@JBuono611) April 19, 2015
Keep laughing, Alex Torres isn’t listening.
Kudos to Alex Torres for putting an emphasis on safety. Someone, make him a less bizarre hat, please. (via @SNYtv) pic.twitter.com/Wv96vmEqUQ
— Dayton from Nebraska (@BravesAmerica) April 19, 2015
“I don’t care how I look, I care about the protection,” Torres told ESPN.
