throat protectors?
 

do you guys use a plastic throat protector on your mask? I've got the WV platinum (I took off that cumbersome chuck of foam at the neck area). Use a WV single bar mask. Got a foul ball in the "perfect" place, ie: just missed the bottom of the mask and just caught the top of the plastic on the chest protector. I wasn't hurt by it, and I've got the chest protector up pretty high at my throat, but there does seem to be the slight possibility that a foul ball can find its way between bottom of mask and top of protector. So I think I'm going to add the plastic throat extention. Other thought on this? I'm definitely adding one to my other mask, a double-bar PlusPos, since it's built-in extention is shorter.

I wear one. I wouldn't umpire without it.

Hock, how did you get that hunk of foam off the WV Platinum? I use that same protector, and I HATE HATE HATE how that piece sticks out so far -- for no apparent reason!

i used a small pair of scissors and just clipped all the stitching (it was a couple of years ago when I bought it). Once I got it off, all it was was a very soft piece of foam which really added no protective value, and just got in the way every time I dipped my head (not when looking at a pitch mind you, but just lowering my head to look down whenever i needed to).

Interesting question...I don't, but the new Wilsons seem to have the protector stick out more than down.

That "cumbersome chuck of foam at the neck area" is what my throat protector jammed into on the two times it's saved my neck. I can't imagine not rolling with one.

although I never liked the look of throat protectors, I do wear one.....and after taking a shot that would have hurt me if I had not been wearing one, I won't go without it.....

Stan

That "cumbersome chuck of foam at the neck area" is there to close off the throat area. If you adjust the WV Platinum properly, this bumper touches the bottom of the mask when you are set. I've used the WV Platinum for years and taken many hits to that area - nothing got through to my throat.

I see no value in chopping up a protector just to fit a dingle-dangle throat guard. :mad: Just my opinion.

My dangling throat protector has save my throat many times over. I would never consider going out without one!

I use a ProNine chest protector and a Wilson 3019 mask. I wear one. In fact, almost everyone in LL i know uses one. However i did use it for one game without the throat guard. I would strongly suggest everyone wear one. Never know when a ball could get up and in there. :rolleyes: :D

Yes !
 

I wear one, even though my USM (Umpire Style Helmet) has an extended cage. I get hit in the 'hanging protector' several times per year.

My son used to not wear one, until he took one in the throat. Now, he doesn't care how stupid they look, he's never without it.

Nick - does he play LL? they mandate the throat protector. Cal Ripken should do the same, but they are idiots IMO when it comes to saftety (10 year olds with on deck circles?)

One problem I have with my WV Platinum is that, being a small guy, I can't get it to come up so far for that bumper to touch the mask. It sags a bit, and the straps won't get any tighter...

Must be a typo. You obviously mean your "USH", or Umpire Style Mask.

I'm Down w/ TP + mask = Safety
 

I didn't like the dangling throat protector swinging off the bottom bar of my mask. So I attached it to a bar near the chin and held it firmly in place. Now I have been hit at least a 1/2 dozen times to the top of the mask, the center and the bottom and I have three different reactions.

1) the top of the mask - every now and then the top bar of the mask slams into my head and this hurts. Other than visual symmetry and tunneling vision, I can't figure why so much useless padding is inserted beneath the top bar. I wish they would redesign padding between the top bar and one's head. I have learned to make sure to adjust the mask slightly higher to get more use from the top edge of padding than I get from the bar. It hurts a second but I recover quickly. The pain goes with the job.

2) the center of the mask - often the most frightening. Once the initial shock and flinch wear off, I get an internal laugh out of it because I admit I was scared of something that didn't really hurt at all. My mindset begins to question the damage to the integrity of the face cage because what I don't know may hurt me later. I now worry more about the next one, than the last one. The worry goes with the job.

3) the bottom of the mask with added throat protector - often the loudest and a win win. Once I added the throat protector, I worry less about this area of the mask. The hard plastic TP, the metal bars, and the padding combine to provide the best possible protection. It doesn't hurt, I don't flinch, and I know that cheap throat protector adds to the overall strength and integrity of the mask. Let's strap it on.

Plus the throat guard makes a really loud noise, which creates some "you alright Blue's" which are always fun.

i dont wear one. i was a catcher from when i started, up through college baseball, and im behind the mask strictly as an umpire now. i have never worn a dangling throat protector, nor have i thought about wearing one.

Do you wear shinguards? :rolleyes:

do you have a point? :rolleyes:

Yes, I do.

Throat protection makes sense.

Refusing to wear throat protection is stupid.

Joe

do you wear protection on the back of your calves? never know when you might get hit there.

Oy vey.




..............

Look, everyone is built differently.

If you're more like a fire plug, with no neck, and no gap between your chest protector and your mask, you're fine. You're probably not able lean over much (think Weebles wobble, but they don't fall down) so your neck is probably ok without a protector.

The rest of us feel a bit safer with one. I know that the two I've take there would have really done a lot of damage. It's also the same number I've taken off my cup in the last seven years. And I'm not rolling without either.

To each his own... (pain) ...

Thanks Garth

My son is 19 years old, and umpires at all the same levels I do. He no longer plays, only officiates.

Never heard of such a thing. If you want your chest protection to come up to, and touch the bottom of your mask, you need to switch to an outside Balloon protector.

Is this your carlucci lol http://www.amateurumpire.com/reviews/cece1s.jpg :D

I take offense to that comment. Hey, I use one :D

Unless your association is an odd one a face mask extension IS a throat protector. Think about it. In FED a catcher with a hockey-style helmet satisfies the throat protector REQUIREMENT with that equipment type. It's only the masks that need a dangler, and then only the "old fashioned" ones that have no throat protection.
The rules require the throat be protected, they do not require a $4 piece of plastic as the only way to do so.

Those extended frame masks DO NOT protect from the ball bouncing up from the ground into your throat!

To each their own. But I tell you, I get hit in that throat protector often enough to REALLY like them!

Come on Tim, you have been around long enough to remember when most everybody carried a clicker while on the bases. I don't personally, and usually request that my partner doesn't carry one as well, but aside from them looking kind of silly looking down at it all the time, it is no big deal to use one on the bases.

You should be ashamed of yourself, being the big shot you are, at taking a stab at somebody like that!

LOL....I have talked to you in person many times!

And I really HAVE been hit on the throat protector "several times", it is just that I am much closer to the batter than you ever get! ;)

Good try on baiting me for my identity.

And just where were you on the 3 man mechanics clinic day? You KNOW you should have never done a playoff game for missing that. You didn't have a game at that time, so you had NO excuse.

Loser!!!

Now now Tim, don't be calling me a bunch of names in private messages. If you got anything to say to me, say it in public here!

Suck your d*ck? LOL...I don't have a magnifying glass to find it!

I had no idea that initiating a question with request to affixing a plastic throat protector would lead to so many unprofessional and inappropriate comments.

Come on, guys, let's get back to some level of class.

In 17 years I have taken two to the throat. The first was about 5 years ago in a college game. The ball went off the catcher's glove and I got a full shot under my extended frame mask. My throat was sore for 3 weeks.

The other was this year in a college game. The ball bounced under the catcher and hit my shin guard and went straight up and went under my throat guard attached to my extended frame mask. This one was more of a glancing blow. I had a tough time talking for 2-3 daya and a sore throat for 10.

I have 2 masks, actually 3 but I have not used the 3rd one yet. I got it at a bargain price and just couldn't pass it up. One has the throat guard attached and the other does not. Both are extended masks. I guess I am superstitous because the two times I have been hit in the throat were college games so I always wear the one with the throat guard for college games. I sometimes use it for HS games, but I mostly use the other one.

To say it is stupid not to use one, or that it is stupid to use one, is just stupid. Like chest protectors and shin guards, shirts and pants, regular masks and hockey masks, everyone has their preference. To each his own.

You should now be starting to understand why the field of Armature Umpiring is in the state it is in.

Being an umpire doesn't mean your a better person in general, or have special tallents. Although it should, and some do. To be an umpire, you just need equipment, and an association too desperate for bodies to care about quality to hire you.

It kind of reminds me of Actors. It always amazes me how people listen to what successful actors have to say about world issues. Like they have some special insight. People forget that they are just regular people, most of them punks, who lie better than anyone else for a living. A good living, yes, but philosophers, no.

Hehehe
 

This is exactly what ol Tim does. You say something on the forum that might piss him off, and he sends you a private message cussing you out like a 7th grader having to get the last word in. Are you really the big dog everybody says you are? You're a complete joke to me Tim, and I wouldn't listen to a word you said. It's sad a veteran such as you would be at the maturity level you are. You umpire baseball games? Good, quality baseball? Cripes!

Yeah, THIS is the kind of stuff he sends you. This isn't as bad as the "suck my d*ck" one from yesterday, nor the others in the past, but I think sharing them with the public with be good therapy for Tim. :D

Tim C is online now
Registered User

Join Date: Nov 2000
Posts: 1,565
Hey suckstick . . .
Just to make things square for your pea brain:

Let's see you are either:

********(name withheld to protect the innocent)
********(name withheld to protect the innocent)
********(name withheld to protect the innocent)
********(name withheld to protect the innocent)

(You wouldn't be ********* or ********* as you noted that you did not vote for me in the election -- neither of these guys could have voted in the PBUA election).

. . . or you are lying when you say you worked AAA games.

And in answer to your comment concerning the 3 man clinic . . .

I work Saturdays punk.

Every Saturday at my job.

And no matter what you think *********(another name withheld) had asked me to help teach the clinic.

So suckstick I actually do know who "PDXBlue" really is.

See ya at next year's meetings coward.

Regards,

Tim
__________________
T Alan Christensen

Officiating.com
Columnist
Strikes & Outs

Let's see. Tim signs his posts and his emails. He admits ownership to everything he writes and takes the credit or criticism as it comes.

You, on the other hand, are an anonymous coward, too afraid to back up anything you say thus free to make any claim or accusation.

Tim may become a bit salty at time, but most do when dealing with anonymous attackers. To borrow a phrase from a friend, debating you is like nailing jello to a wall.

When you decide to put your purse down and can deal with the same responsibilities and consequences as identifiable posters, you will have some credibility.

Off Topic (!) but..
 

I use a long model. Took a foul ball off the dangling throat protector this season. It was sharp, straight and would have done some damage if the piece of plastic were not there.

This makes only the second time in my 'career' [13 years] it has happened.