Here at OnMilwaukee.com, we pride ourselves in being Milwaukee experts. Since it's literally our job to eat, sleep and breathe Brew City, naturally we get lots of questions from our readers.

And now we'll answer them directly.

In this new series of articles called "Ask OMC" we take your questions, big or small, and track down the answers. So ask us anything about Milwaukee, and we'll hunt it down, track it down and find out the skinny. Because, as Milwaukee experts, that's what we do.

Send your question to AskOMC@staff.onmilwaukee.com. If you include your name and city, we'll consider it for our next installment.

Our question today comes from Brian in Wauwatosa:

"How come some of the Brewers' batting helmets have funky holes in the top and others do not?"

In order to answer Brian's question, we contacted Tony Migliaccio, the longtime director of clubhouse operations for the Brewers.

"The ones with the vents are called ‘Coolflo' helmets," Migliaccio said. "All of the helmets we use are made by Rawlings and that's something that they came up with a couple years ago.

"The idea behind it was to make them a little bit lighter and cooler to wear. They also allowed them to go with two-toned color schemes and a little bit of the metallic highlights. I think it was more for marketing purposes than anything else. I'm not really sure how many helmets they sell to the general public, but I think it was a little about comfort and a little about marketing."

According to the Rawlings Web site -- rawlings.com -- the Coolflo helmets represent the first modification to helmet design since 1983 and feature 15 individual vents that "allow air to flow through for a more comfortable feel without sacrificing protection."

Migliaccio said the Brewers use the Coolflo helmets on Retro Fridays, when the team wears its throwback uniforms.

"We have them in the royal blue and we wear the regular helmets with our other uniforms," he said. "A few of the guys like them and asked why we can't wear them all the time. Next year, we might do them in both colors."

Veteran outfielder Geoff Jenkins said he doesn't mind the Coolflo helmets, but is happy with the standard issue. "I think the one you wear most often is the one you get used to," Jenkins said.