Apr 08 2007 09:44 AM
From the Philadelphia Inquirer:
| ] Made America's pastime safer By Gayle Ronan Sims Inquirer Staff Writer Lindsay Wolfe, 87, who once owned the American Baseball Cap Co., the first firm to manufacture batting helmets, died of heart failure March 30 at the Kendal at Longwood retirement community in Kennett Square. Born in Ben Avon near Pittsburgh, Mr. Wolfe graduated with a bachelor's degree in engineering in 1942 from Swarthmore College, where he was captain of the football team and was selected to an all-American lacrosse team. During World War II, Mr. Wolfe was a lieutenant in the Navy on the attack transport Highlands, which participated in landings at Iwo Jima and Okinawa.
After the war, he married Elizabeth Rickey, daughter of famed baseball executive Branch Rickey. Soon after becoming general manager of the Pirates in 1950, Rickey proposed that hitters wear head protection. Batting helmets were unknown then, and hitters sometimes suffered career-ending injuries from 90 m.p.h. fastballs to the head. A Pittsburgh engineer named Ralph Davia came up with the idea of making plastic helmets. He and Rickey joined with Ed Crick, a designer for Pittsburgh Plate Glass Co., and the batting helmet was born. In 1951, at his father-in-law's urging, Mr. Wolfe and some investors founded American Baseball Cap in an undistinguished one-story building in Media and opened a factory in Somerset County. In 1953, Rickey ordered his Pittsburgh Pirates to wear helmets when batting, and American Baseball Cap's fortunes rose. At first, batting helmets were considered "sissified," Mr. Wolfe said in a 1980 Inquirer article. "Tough guys didn't need helmets." Superstars like Ted Williams and Stan Musial made fun of the helmets and refused to wear them. By 1956, every batter in the American and National Leagues had to wear a helmet. Head protection is now required at all levels of baseball. The first helmets were made out of plastic and covered only the top of the head, leaving the ears exposed. In 1966, Mr. Wolfe began making them out of fiberglass, with a leather and foam lining. In the 1970s, Mr. Wolfe invented and patented the one-earpiece batting helmet. By the 1980s, the company was grinding out a quarter of a million baseball helmets a year, including those worn by Little Leaguers. His son, Robert, eventually took over the company. Mr. Wolfe's marriage ended in divorce in the late 1960s. He married again in 1970. Mary Lou Wolfe brought five children to the marriage. Mr. Wolfe enjoyed camping in the Maine wilderness and birding in Cape May and Bombay Hook National Wildlife Refuge in Kent County, Del., his family said. In addition to his son and wife, Mr. Lindsay is survived by daughters Susan Nunez, Emily Phillips and Elizabeth Reed; stepsons Henry, Barclay and Walt Mustin; stepdaughters Margery Howe and Laura Burn; 14 grandchildren; two great-grandchildren; two brothers. He is also survived by his former wife. A memorial service will be held at 2 p.m. next Saturday at Kendal at Longwood, East Baltimore Pike. Burial was private. Memorial donations may be made to the Kendal Reserve Fund, Kennett Square, Pa. 19348. |
