PROFILE: Creighton J. Hale
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Creighton J. Hale: Helmet and bat inventor who helped mold world's largest youth sports program
Copyright © 2004 by E. A. KralFor nearly a half century, Hardy, Nebraska native Creighton J. Hale served as a major leader in the field of sports safety research on the amateur and professional levels. And he greatly contributed to molding Little League Baseball and Softball into the world's largest and most respected organized youth sports program.
An exercise physiologist, he first conducted a scientific study of professional baseball players while an associate professor at Springfield College in Massachusetts from 1951 to 1955 at the request of the renowned major league executive Branch Rickey.
Hale developed an electronic testing device to measure reaction times of major league players and various facets of the game. In 1960, he published his findings in Roche Medical Image.
Meanwhile, he had begun in 1955 his career as a researcher and later an executive with Little League Baseball, based in Williamsport, Pennsylvania, to study the effects of athletic competition on young boys. Two years earlier, after the organization's World Series was first televised, questions were raised about the healthiness of the sport for its participants.
His finding was that the emotional reaction of the parents and coaches was much higher than that of the players. Within minutes of a competition ending, the children were physiologically back to normal. However, the parents and coaches often showed elevated heart rates and other symptoms hours later.
Another research project involved the discovery that more young batters were hit by pitches than major league players. He electronically timed the reaction speed of batters, and learned that children had less time to react to a pitch.
So the Little League pitching mound was moved back from 44 feet to 46 feet, and the ratio of the bat speed to pitch speed was thus matched, and the chances of injuries were reduced significantly.
For several years Hale developed equipment to prevent injuries. Even though the National Federation of State High School Associations and the National Collegiate Athletic Association, both now headquartered in Indianapolis, Indiana, had mandated in 1955 and 1958 respectively that their baseball teams use fiber-glass helmets, the material did not withstand the impact of a pitched ball, and the design did not protect the temple area.
After he developed the double-earflap batter's helmet, originally made of polycarbonite (a light-weight plastic) but now may include a variety of light-weight plastics that withstand thrown balls and protect the temple area, Little League made its use mandatory by Little League players in 1961.
Eventually, the double or single flap batting helmet, based on his invention, became widely used on virtually all levels of baseball and softball. And thousands of serious injuries--as a result of batters or base runners hit by balls--have been prevented.
Its use was mandated by the National Federation of State High School Associations for baseball in 1970 and girls softball in 1976, by the NCAA for baseball in 1980 and women's softball in 1986, and by the Major Leagues in 1983.
Hale pioneered other equipment that improved the safety of the game and the enjoyment of children. Wood bats could shatter when not handled properly, and they were expensive to maintain over a period of years.
So he co-developed with Alcoa Sports the aluminum bat, which was lighter and more durable than wood, and made the game easier for children to learn. First used by Little League in 1971, his bat was also used by the NCAA baseball and women's softball teams for a few years after 1975 and 1982 respectively until bats of other non-wood materials were allowed.
The non-wood bat is now widely used on almost all levels of amateur play. The National Federation of State High School Associations first permitted the aluminum bat for baseball in 1975 and for girls softball in 1981, but other material is now allowed, subject to approval by appropriate governing organizations.
Another of his innovations was a one-piece catcher's mask attached to a helmet that could be quickly removed. Made of lightweight plastic, it was produced after a previously used mask with magnesium bars led to injury.
Mandated for use by Little League in 1973, it became required--after sufficient testing by the National Operating Committee on Standards for Athletic Equipment --for use in high school baseball and girls softball in 2003, and the helmet must be dualflap.
A catcher's helmet was first required for girls high school softball in 1976, and a throat protector six years later. NCAA women's softball catchers were required to use a helmet with a mask in 2000. Some Major League Baseball catchers use a helmet of similar design while others use "skull" helmets without earflaps.
Hale's other safety developments were a catcher's chest protector with throat guard, rubber spiked baseball shoes (which for several years replaced the steel-spiked kind), and a portable nylon outfield fence that players could run into at full speed but not hurt themselves.
He donated his patents to Little League Baseball.
Outside of sports, he assisted in the development of the infantry pack in 1954 for use by the U.S. Army.
In 1976, he was elected chairman of a committee on consumer product safety standards for the American Society of Testing and Materials.
That same year he also became chairman of a group of scientists with the National Research Council of the National Academy of Sciences who were asked to develop a new military helmet, and later his research aided the development of a lightweight bullet-resistant vest used by the military and law enforcement personnel.
He co-designed a one-piece helmet made from a space-age plastic called Kevlar that offers more protection than the Army's old steel helmet which was worn over a helmet liner.
First used in combat during the U.S. liberation of Grenada in 1983, it resembles the shape of the German steel helmet of World War II. It is now standard issue of U. S. ground forces.
Aside from his work as a researcher, Creighton Hale also served as an innovative executive for Little League Baseball, with its mission set previously in 1939 by founder Carl E. Stotz as the development of good citizens rather than good athletes through "coaches teaching kids respect and discipline and sportsmanship and the desire to excel."
In the beginning, Little League involved players of ages 9-12, but in 1961 it added a Senior League for ages 13-15, and in 1968 a Big League for ages 16-18.
Its first World Series in 1947 consisted primarily of teams from Pennsylvania, and eventually became annually televised. But ten years later, the first non-U.S. team to win the championship was from Monterrey, Mexico, and there were more than 4,000 leagues in the United States, Canada, and Mexico.
In the decade of the 1960s, the organization opened its new international headquarters building at Williamsport, opened regional headquarters offices in Canada, California, and Florida, and was granted a Charter of Federal Incorporation by the U.S. Congress.
Hale served as its third president from 1973 to 1994, and as chief executive of the board from 1983 to 1996. Under his leadership, the number of leagues enrolled increased from 10,006 to 21,711; teams from 90,000 to 198,347; participants from 370,000 to 3,125,205; and countries from 31 to 83.
He helped open additional regional headquarters offices in Connecticut, Indiana, and Texas, and international representative offices in Japan, Poland, and Puerto Rico.
In 1974, introduced for girls were Little League and Senior League Softball, and six years later Big League Softball. Added to baseball in 1979 was Junior League for 13-year-old boys.
Initiated also was Tee Ball for ages 5-7, which involves the use of a batting tee without a pitched ball, and Minor League for ages 7-12, which is for anyone who doesn't qualify for Little League.
The Challenger Division, intended for mentally and physically disabled children, was added in 1990. And among special projects Hale promoted were partnerships with federal agencies for drug and alcohol education, tobacco prevention, and traffic safety.
At the turn of the 21st century, Little League Baseball and Softball had become the world's largest youth sports program, serving boys and girls ages 5 to 18 in all 50 states and more than 100 countries. By 2001, the year Hale retired as its senior advisor, his impact had been amply recognized by his peers at all levels.
Among his numerous awards and honors have been the 1976 Robert J. Painter Memorial Award for "meritorious service in the field of standardization" of protective equipment of amateur and professional sports, the 1995 Rawlings Golden Glove Award for his service to Little League, and the 2000 James R. Andrews Award for Excellence in Baseball Sports Medicine. His entry is in American Men & Women of Science, Vol 3 (2003).
Born in 1924 at Hardy, Nuckolls County, Nebraska, one of five children of Russell and Anita Fay Hale, both teachers, Creighton was raised on a nearby farm, and attended the Hardy Public Schools, where he graduated in 1942.
Active in athletics, he was quarterback of the school's state championship six-man football team, and was named in the December 7, 1941 Omaha Sunday World Herald as Nebraska's outstanding six-man quarterback of the year. The following spring he set a state record in the half-mile run, and was recognized by the Omaha newspaper as one of the state's two-sport stars.
After attending the University of Nebraska-Lincoln for one year, he spent a year at Doane College in the V-12 officers training program for the U.S. Navy. At both institutions he participated in athletics.
Following active duty during World War II, he earned his bachelor's degree from Colgate University at Hamilton, New York in 1948, his master's from Springfield College in 1949, and his doctorate from New York University in 1951.
Creighton J. Hale is married, raised three children, and resides at Williamsport.
For more information, consult "900 Famous Nebraskans" on the Internet at www.nsea.org or www.beatricene.com/gagecountymuseum or www.nebpress.com.
