This following along with the Head Shot thread that was already posted. I think it is only a matter of time, before you see all or most of the umpires using the Helmet.

I used the helmet last year and then switched back to the mask, because I was not impressed with brand of helmet that I was using. Now, I am going back to the helmet. I have been hit in the mask a couple of times this summer already, and have went home with headaches, so I am going back to the helmet.

I have only worked with 3 umpires who use the hockey style mask. While they all swear by it, I don't see a trend developing. Most ( if not all ) masks provide the necessary protection required to protect us from the knock to the noggin. Conversely, when I ask others about switching, almost all have no desire to change what is working well for them.

. . . .a matter of time ?
I think probably not.

Only my opinion.

What makes you think that?

Many many many people think the helmet looks very stupid.

It will happen that more umpires will use the hockey style masks. How long will it take? Perhaps about 15 to 20 years.

Why?

Most catchers I see are already wearing them. I see more pro catchers wearing them than not. Same for the amateur leagues. I don't watch NCAA so I can't comment.

As older umpires retire and are replaced by newer and younger umpires, those umpires will have grown up with the hockey style mask and will be aware of it's advantages. You'll see more and more umpires using it.

I'm one of the MANY who think that it looks stupid.

It is nice for the catcher, but too big and bulky for us to carry around when making a call...

I won't switch to the helmet, I would quit first....

One reason that more catchers are using it is because they are being required to wear it. My state association in Indiana has said that beginning next year, it is the only mask to be used for high school play.

This makes it easier to take off and on and when thrown, don't separate like the masket, helmet combinations.

It is great for catchers, just not umpires....

I tried the helmet. I know many umpires swear by it, but for me it felt heavy and hot. The minor improvement in a wider angle of vision wasn't enough for me to stick with it.

I use the Zero Gravity mask and I am spoiled by its light weight.

The other problem I have with the helemt is illogical and purely emotional. The first, and so far, only local umpires who wear the helmet are Smitty's. Any time you see a BU clean off the rubber between innings or wearing ball bags or giving the relief pitcher the out and runner situations, you know he'll be wearing a helmet when he's got the plate.

Still, I agree that 20 years down the road we will see more helmets than masks.

Yeah right . . .
 

Get back to me in 15 to 20 years . . .

In the 60's we were told that all golf clubs would eventually have "fiber glass shafts" . . .

In the 50's we were told that with computers we would all work a 30 hour week . . .

As I noted in another thread:

Seeing Ed Hickox wearing a 7 stitch hat under his hockey helmet made me realize that the helmet can be worn and not look "dorky" . . .

I laugh when an internet umpire predicts the helmet will take over for the mask . . .

It ain't gonna happen UNLESS someone "organizes" umpires and has the final say over safety equipment.

Trust me . . . I work every day in construction and I know how hard change is for some.

"I think it is only a matter of time, before you see all or most of the umpires using the Helmet."

A safe statement since it actually means nothing.

Of course I would never wear a bicycle helmet either.

Well the NF dosen't allow the two piece mask and helmet combo, so the your association is really going out on a limb saying that the hockey mask is the only thing that catchers can use.

Change
 

I wonder how the change from the balloon CP to the early under the shirt CP's compare with the introduction of the hockey-style mask. Is there anyone out there that goes back that far? Are there any similarities/differences?

Re: Change
 

Roland Wiederaenders does, and he just wrote a short history of uniform changes in umpiring in the last 50 years (you can read it for a fee: http://baseball.officiating.com/x/article/4348), but he doesn't say if the inside CP had the same kind of conservative backlash. His general tone in the article indicates that he, at least, might have been slow to accept the change.

I've sent him an email for his comments.

-LL

Well
 

RW may be OLD, but there were a type of inside protector since the 1930's.


The real question would be: 'what was the affect when the AL umpires lost the raft in the 70'4.'

HOWEVER, these are two separate issues that have nothing to do with each other.

Re: Well
 

Really, maybe I don't remember so well. Wasn't the balloon protector used overwhelmingly in the 1960s or was this an AL/NL difference that I didn't get to see (watching AL games in my town).

Just a matter of time? Not in Alabama,Bubba.
High School umpires are not allowed to wear
the hockey mask,so why go out and buy one?

Re: Well
 

RW explicitely mentioned the transition from the balloon to the ICP during his active umpiring years. I'm interested in the psychology of the change, and I'm not sure yet if the two subjects are unrelated.

We all know, and RW actually establishes pretty forcefully, that the uniform we wear is a result of nothing more substantive than fashion. And so, I'd expect an argument over which shirt color, for example, is "best" to be a content-free snipe fest.

But equipment could have tangible differences that really matter, so I'd expect more. I don't understand much about how these things change, but isn't the adoption of the ICP the last major equipment change we have seen? Wouldn't the pattern of that change help us to understand whether a mask-to-helmet change could happen, and perhaps even to see if it is happening?

Dating the AL change to the 70s means that you would also be an eye-witness, wouldn't it? Did the AL umpires organization (union?) promote the change, as you say is necessary? How did the other organizations (NCAA, FED) follow suit? Were they ahead of the AL with the NL already?

-LL