For the 2013 baseball season, a newer and safer batting helmet will be mandatory.

In an effort to decrease serious head injuries in baseball,the MLB and player's union agreed to a new safety provision in the 2013 contract. The Rawlings company's newest helmet will be mandatory.
Approximately 300 MLB® players chose to wear the Rawlings S100 Pro Comp this season before the league-wide rule goes into effect in 2013. The mandatory use of the updated version of Rawlings S100 batting helmet is outlined in the new, 5-year collective bargaining agreement signed last November by Major League Baseball and Major League Baseball Players Association™. This protective provision was specifically included in "Health and Safety" category (Section VIII) of the labor agreement.
Query: What effect will the safer helmets have on the game? Will players feel so comfortable that they will hang over the plate? Will pitchers have to compensate with more brush back pitchers?
These and other issues are explored in my novel A Pitch For Justice, a courtroom drama in the context of a fatal bean ball. http://www.amazon.com/A-Pitch-for-Jus