Video of umpire taking a foul ball to the cup
 

Lets break the tension around here and see somebody take a foul ball to the stones:

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Ouch.

Somebody teach this man the GD!!!!

Bob P.

SAfety Concern vs. Fear
 

First, I will admit that my number one priority is ME. I will have a great game if I don't take a serious shot to any part of my body and I get paid on time. With the experience, I have learned to relax, do my best, accept the challenges and do better the next time out. Although I care what the eval guy, coaches and players think; I am not there to meet friends.

So I switched to standing straight up, left foot forward heel to toe with right foot behind. I squat and keep my knees together to block that foul ball with my leg guards. I also support myself with both hands on the knees and sometimes raise my left hand behind me to protect my indicator. My stomach will protect my cup area and upper left thigh and that only leaves the area above the left knee unprotected. I suppose I could wear pads there if needed.

It may look unusual and I may not please the association, but it is no worse than those umps who are now kneeling behind the catcher. Everyone gives me less grief about the strike zone because I hustle everywhere. I can clear the catcher much faster and hustle down either line after a ball is put into play. I have been hit less, my legs feel better the next day and I LIKE IT.

Good one SA ( I appreciate your humor) !!

Got to keep that $3.50 indiclicker protected at all costs.

Bob P.

"My stomach will protect my cup area"

!:eek:

Either that ball missed the family jewels or we've just seen the world's toughest ump!:eek:

Direct hit. The mask hides the tears.

The one and only time I have ever taken a direct shot to the cup, was in a HS varsity game, and the son of a good friend of mine was on deck, and he was the catcher for the team at bat. He said "everyone should experience that once in life." So true, so true, once is enough...

I took a solid shot last year, lucky there were two outs and I was able to get through the inning. Once the inning was over... damn did it ever set in.

I took one last year. Batter fouls it down and it bounces up under the F2 who was rising for a high pitch.

Serious ouch! Anyway the coach yells over and asks if that was a ball or a stike or both.

how does that work?

Brian:

Do you mean to tell me you don't call pitches that bounce under the catcher strikes?

LMAO, again.


Tim.

???


Tim.

Originally Posted by PWL
A strike somehow got under the catcher and bounced and caught me square.

Finally something to laugh about!

The day I found out that my wife was pregnant with our daughter, I took a foul ball that bounced up and hit the banana cup. I was on my knees for at least 2-3 minutes trying not to hurl.

My partner (and one of my best friends) yelled in, "I guess you won't be having another kid." Nice guy.

First of all, that umpire must have ones made of cast iron, because I think that I would have been curled up in a little ball. Second, why in the heck didn't that catcher stop the ball. Just wondering.

MTD, Sr.

I got nuked in the nads as a kid, last thing I remember is vomiting lunch into my mask. No breathing in, no breathing out, no high squeaky voice -- just vomiting. I couldn't eat spaghetti for a long time after that event.

Bugg

It's all about using the proper equipment. I took a hit a few weeks ago, heck of a cup check but no real pain or damage, maybe I was lucky. Continued the game without a problem.


Maybe F2 didn't like the umpire's strike zone :D

Unfortunately they don't stop them all.

I've had it happen one time and I was surprised it did not hurt. I kept expecting it too but it never did. Maybe it was a due to being a curveball fouled into the dirt that bounced up and got me? No idea for certain.

Several years ago my brother and I were working a HS game with my brother at the plate. He took a cup shot in the last inning but managed to finish the game. His...umm...."equipment" swelled up like a balloon and he wound up spending the rest of the afternoon in the hospital getting an ultrasound. Apparently there have been cases where a testicle can spin around in the scrotum, cut off circulation, dies, and must be removed.

Fortnuately, that didn't happen on this day.