[NCASAUmp]

So here's what prompted the question...

Sunday afternoon, I was calling behind the plate when the lefthanded batter stepped up with sunglasses atop his cap. He hit the ball in the infield, and his sunglasses go flying. The catcher trails him to 1B, but in the process, steps on the sunglasses, breaking them into a bunch of sharp pieces.

That got me thinking, "you know, that shouldn't have happened. They should've been worn properly or not at all." At least if he wore them properly, there's not much anyone can really say if they fall off of his face.

Jump ahead to last night. It's almost 9:30 at night, the sun's long gone, and the lights are on (they're not overly bright - just adequate). The lead-off batter steps up, wearing her sunglasses on top of her head to hold her hair back. I (very politely and calmly) ask, "hey, batter... Can you do me a favor and either put the sunglasses on or take them off? You can't wear them like that." I don't know if it was the fact that it was getting late at night, if it was the playoffs, or if she was just plain cranky, but the batter refused. We went back and forth a couple of times, and I'd had enough. I called her team's manager over (who was next up to bat), and I explained to him that either the glasses go on, go off, or she doesn't play. In the end, she complied, but not without some hassle.

My thought process was that these are sunglasses that are meant to be worn on the face. Wearing them in a fashion other than the way they were intended is prohibited. If wearing a hat backwards is considered "sporting behavior," how would this be any different? Not to mention the safety issue brought up by Sunday's events.

Maybe I was just tired wanted nothing less than to deal with whiny players (it was the third game of the night), maybe I was just hungry (I get really cranky when I'm hungry!), maybe I was a bit OOO (I'll concede that), maybe some of all 3. I really don't know, but I'm curious to know other umpires' opinions as to whether or not they would even bother with something like this. And maybe, just maybe, someone has been down this road in an official fashion (ie., a State, Regional or National), and maybe, just maybe, there may be some insight to share.