I've noticed the face guard in baseball games before, but never on a baseball card. It's kind of crazy - does anyone know if Steinbach wore the guard for longer than a stretch of (assumedly) the 1989 season? Or maybe it was just during that season due to an injury or something? Beats me!Fun fact: Steinbach caught two no hitters in his career, one from Dave Stewart and one from Eric Milton. Totally didn't remember that Milton even threw a no hitter, but that's very cool. As for Stewart, you saw my post yesterday haha. So...nuff said.
I thought I remembered Steinbach getting his jaw broken on a pitch, and turns out I was right; he got his jaw broken in 1989, then ended up in the hospital for a concussion after getting beaned in 1991. Talk about crap luck! Josh Willingham wore one of these in 2003, as well, though I don't know if that was for his jaw. You can see Willingham's here: http://media.photobucket.com/image/Josh%20Willingham%202003%20Bowman/Kiwala522/Baseball%2520FT/Josh.jpg
ReplyDeletefirsttime I ever saw a player do this was in 1980? 81? Ellis Valentine of the Expos had half of a football cage attached to his helmet to protect his jaw.
ReplyDeleteI don't think it ever made it to a card tho...
Ah cool, good to hear Stein wasn't alone!
ReplyDeleteIt wasn't his jaw. Early in the '88 season, he was hit by a McGwire throw that fractured his orbital bone (eye socket) in several places. The jaw guard is the best they can do to protect in injury in that area. He wore the guard for the whole '88 season.
ReplyDeleteGood to know, thanks for the update!
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