Baseball helmets for major leaguers, anymore, come three different ways. With an ear flap on the right side, for left-handed batters. With an ear flap on the left side, for righties. And with two flaps down, for switch-hitters, Shin-Soo Choo or anyone else who prefers the snugness, along with the cuteness, they provide. Gone are the days of the Tim Raines "no flap" model. Only the occasional catcher, while playing defense, will wear helmets like those. And then, by definition, it's not a batting helmet. Which brings us to Yasmani Grandal of the Dodgers against the Diamondbacks on Monday night:

Yasmani Grandal helmet
Hmm, what's wrong with this picture? (MLB.tv)

Ha-ha! A switch-hitter, he came to bat against left-hander Oliver Perez on the right side wearing a lefty's batting helmet. It's not entirely kosher, is it? But, if the umpire doesn't say anything, and it fits on your head, by all means!

Would you look at that? The D-backs should have tried to tell the umpire Grandal was using a piece of illegal ... wrong-handed ... wrong-eared equipment. But they didn't notice, or care, that Grandal's ear was exposed to the potentially deadly ... hurtful ... obnoxious stuff of Perez. Charley Steiner and Orel Hershiser of the Dodgers broadcast noticed, though, and so did Grandal's teammates in the dugout:

"Shh, don't give away my secret," he's saying to his mates. As Dodgernation points out, Grandal came in batting .240 with little else from the right-hand side. He usually bats against left-handed pitching, and does quite well there. That's why he usually carries the left-hander's helmet. But maybe by wearing the wrong batting helmet from the weak side, he can turn his luck around from the right side. Hey, players have tried wackier ideas. The only thing is, the umpire probably will make him put on the correct helmet. We can have the wrong ear being exposed!

Choo flaps
Ears the thing... (Getty)

For laughs, here's the two-flap model, worn by Shin-Soo Choo of the Rangers. See how adorable?