GUEST: I bought it because, uh, I was told it was a protector for the head, like an early helmet.

Then I got it in the mail, and I was not really pleased.

I thought, "Well, what is that thing?"

And as it turns out, it's 120 years old, according to the patent date.

Uh, it's to protect a person's head when you're a baseball player back in the day.

And I don't think it was met with a lot of, uh, fanfare, because, obviously, this one's never been out of the box.

APPRAISER: This is a Reach Pneumatic Head Protector for batters, which we would think of as being an early helmet.

And yet it's made out of canvas.

Based on the patent date, this was likely made in 1905.

GUEST: Mm.

APPRAISER: I love that you found this advertisement on the internet, which shows that they offered this for five dollars.

GUEST: Yeah.

APPRAISER: But if you look down here, I see it says "Head Protector Left, one dollar."

GUEST: (laughs) APPRAISER: So, obviously...

GUEST: It's on sale.

APPRAISER: Obviously, it's on sale.

GUEST: Right.

(both laughing) APPRAISER: From the way it's explained, you take this tube and you push it in here, and, and you blow on it?

GUEST: Absolutely.

APPRAISER: And then it inflates.

GUEST: Right.

APPRAISER: Right?

To the side, so it protects you.

GUEST: Yeah.

But it wasn't a very popular item.

When they started wearing it, it was introduced, guys were not into protective equipment.

The Hall of Fame has a picture of one, but there's no information, really, as to what became of 'em.

APPRAISER: Let's go back 100, 120 years.

The big danger in baseball was the beanball.

The beanball was the leading cause of death and major injury in baseball.

GUEST: Wow.

APPRAISER: Well, let's go back to 1905.

The most progressive player at that time was catcher Roger Bresnahan.

GUEST: Yes.

APPRAISER: The Hall-of-Famer for the Giants.

GUEST: Yeah.

APPRAISER: This was produced in 1905.

Two years later, he got a beanball, and he decided to wear this, briefly.

GUEST: Mm-hmm.

APPRAISER: But he was so ridiculed by the players, and it didn't seem to, to work properly, that it got put back on the shelf and largely forgotten.

1920, the, probably the most famous incident was Carl Mays throwing a sinker ball at Ray Chapman, the shortstop for the Cleveland Indians.

GUEST: Mm-hmm.

APPRAISER: And unfortunately, Ray Chapman is the only baseball player, Major Leaguer, to ever be killed.

GUEST: Yeah, I've heard about that, yes, absolutely.

Mm.

APPRAISER: And at that time, they thought about instituting some sort of protective layer, but it never got beyond a certain point, because baseball players didn't want to appear weak.

And the other is that they felt that it was gonna be too restrictive, too heavy.

GUEST: Okay.

APPRAISER: They hated them.

Fast-forward to 1971.

Major League Baseball came out with a mandate for all new players.

They had to wear plastic batting helmets.

When did you buy this and what did you pay for it?

GUEST: Well, it was over 20 years ago.

Bought it through an auction.

I paid $600.

APPRAISER: The only example that we could find was in the Hall of Fame.

GUEST: Yes.

Okay.

APPRAISER: And there's no box.

GUEST: Oh, okay.

APPRAISER: So as far as, as we know, this is the only one that exists...

GUEST: I'll be darned.

APPRAISER: ...with a box...

GUEST: Wow.

APPRAISER: ...and all together, and in this condition.

GUEST: That's amazing-- wow, that is amazing.

APPRAISER: We would put an auction estimate today of $8,000 to $12,000 on it.

GUEST: (laughs): Well, that's amazing.

That is amazing, it really is.

APPRAISER: I'd insure it for probably somewhere around $15,000.

GUEST: Wow, that's pretty cool--I appreciate that.