However, baseball players interested in wearing the equipment seem as rare as a Honus Wagner baseball card.
Little League Baseball, whose rules govern more than 2 million players in the U.S., doesn't require any of the equipment Collins encourages, though the group said knee and ankle injuries prompted it to switch this year to "safety bases," which dislodge when players slide into them.
Fast-pitch softball has upgraded its safety equipment in recent years by requiring batters to wear helmets with masks, after players too often fouled rising pitches off their faces.
Kelly McKeown, spokesman for the Amateur Softball Association, said the Oklahoma City-based organization has not considered mandating masks for infielders, but it seems to be catching on anyway.
New Trier sophomore Kelsey Lee had the "scariest experience of [her] life" two summers ago when a line drive struck a teammate in the face while she was pitching. Now both players wear protective face masks when pitching.
"At first, it took a while to get used to it," Lee said. "I didn't want to pitch with a plastic mask over my face, but now I think it's the greatest thing. I feel so safe out there."
Collins, the researcher, said further study is needed to understand why most players seem hesitant to adopt the gear.
Kathleen Kalant has no sympathy for that viewpoint. Three years ago, her son Bill, then a 16-year-old pitcher at Oak Lawn High School in Chicago, took a line drive to the right side of his head.
Bill Kalant remembers walking off the field laughing and thinking it didn't hurt much, but within minutes he passed out. Doctors performed brain surgery and put him in a drug-induced coma for nearly two weeks. He spent four months in rehabilitation, and though he's still mending, he has recovered enough to attend Moraine Valley Community College.
However, he probably will never play baseball again.
"They all should wear [helmets and face masks], whether they're 5 or 55," Kathleen Kalant said. "If you're playing a baseball game, you need protective eye and head gear. You may think you look like a bunch of fools out there, but it's for your own good."
John Keilman and Colleen Kane write for the Chicago Tribune.
