Charlie Muse, 87; Executive Created the Modern Batting Helmet

Charlie Muse, 87, a longtime Pittsburgh Pirates executive who created baseball’s modern batting helmet, died May 5 in Sun City Center, Fla., the Pirates said.

Muse worked with inventor Ralph Davia and designer Ed Crick to perfect a helmet that was strong, light and aesthetically pleasing. They went through numerous designs before coming up with a comfortable plastic helmet that provided maximum protection above the ears, the most vulnerable area for batters.

The Pirates were the first team to wear the helmets, in 1952 and 1953, and their adoption was speeded after the Braves’ Joe Adcock was struck so severely by the Dodgers’ Clem Labine on Aug. 1, 1954, that he was unconscious for 15 minutes. Adcock said the helmet he wore may have saved him from a severe injury, and the next day the Brooklyn Dodgers ordered all players in their organization to wear the helmets. Other teams quickly followed.

Muse was a minor league catcher and manager before and after serving as an Army captain in World War II and the Korean War. He occasionally donned catcher’s gear even in his early 70s to catch spring training batting practice.