Anytime Autumn meets baseball, it means it's playoff season. No matter which team you root for, or which division or league series you're watching, petrochemicals will be in the middle of the action. Let's take a look at some. Most helmets are made from tough materials such as acrylonitrile butadiene styrene or ABS (and as the name suggests is made from the petrochemicals acrylonitrile, butadiene and styrene). The inner helmet padding is commonly made from polypropylene (made from the petrochemical propylene) or ethylene vinyl acetate (made from the petrochemicals ethylene and vinyl acetate). The leather gloves that are used by pitchers, infielders and outfielders are lined with polyurethane surface film (which require petrochemicals to produce) to give them the protection and ability to catch the ball with ease. The catcher has a lot of added protection (have you seen what he has to do to protect home plate?) He is covered in materials created from petrochemicals. The mask – made from a solid polyvinyl or PVC coated metal frame (remember PVC is made from ethylene as a building block). The chest protection – covered in nylon (made from petrochemicals) with polyethylene plastic sternum inserts (polyethylene is made from the petrochemical ethylene). The shin guards use petrochemical based foam. The home plate umpire also uses similar equipment which is critical to make sure he is protected and can make the right calls regarding balls and strikes. So here is to baseball and petrochemicals – a fantastic combination.