The angle of the dangle is proportional to the .......


...or something like that.

Correct
 

Probably the best advice on this thread. May I add, it doesn't hurt to wear it loose. The idea is not to wear it so tight or so snug that the harness doesn't properly work. If you can take the mask off easily and keep your hat on, the mask is probably on as lossely as needed. The harness mask combo must work correctly to protect your face.

NO Thumb or Thumbs Down
 

Ties for the most ridiculous rule in this thread. Having the mask dangle off the bill of your cap is as ridiculous as allowing the chin pad to dangle 3-4 inches away from your jawbone.

Also, the most illogical advice I have ever read on this website. That's why the damn pads are there. Wear the thing the same way every catcher and umpire in baseball wears their mask, resting against their forehead and chin. If you're too scared and follow this advice, i.e. dangling mask from bill of hat or 3-4 inch jaw clearance, then don't get behind the plate.

And you just now decided to weigh in on this, out of the blue?

I think "most dangerous advice" is a bit over-the-top, don't you? Being a little over-dramatic, I would venture. I'm sure I could find several pieces of advice which would trump this one for most dangerous.

I just tried the advice on my own mask just for kicks. My mask has about a 3 inch gap from my chin when I look down. That seems about right to me.

Wearing the mask like a catcher would be highly illogical, since catchers wear them to fit snugly around a skull cap or batting helmet. Even catchers who just wear a hat backward, wear the mask tight so it doesn't fall off. That is the main reason, besides aesthetics, that umpires differ in the way they wear their hats with the bill forward...to hold up the mask, which is to be worn loosely. There is a natural gap when looking down at the ground. If you can look straight down, and your mask is still tight against your chin, you're wearing it way too tight.

Please
 

Everyone:

Whenever SAump or PWL post ANYTHING . . . please consider the source.

Cripes,

1) well, it may be out of the blue.

2) well, it may be over-dramatic and not exactly lie in the 10-ten of the most dangerous advice given.

3) well, I can't get that kind of clearance looking down with my mask on because of the extended throat guard. Why would I care how the mask fits when I look down?

I can pull the mask away from my face and up over my head with one hand and without pulling my cap off. I think that is loose enough. My mask rest firmly right up against my face. My harness isn't too tight either. My HARNESS is in good shape and has plenty of spring left. I trust my mask/harness combo will protect me.

I think your missing the POINT. Dangling mask off bill of cap is bad advice. Not resting the chin pad against the chin is probably bad advice too. Please allow the harness to DO what it was designed to DO.

Easy there. I think you're missing a key point. If you're in normal umpire stance, with your head upright, your mask pads are resting firmly against your face. I hope your aren't envisioning the mask dangling in front of the face during play. Yikes no!

For a properly adjusted mask, I'm asking you to bend forward at the waist, 30 degrees or so. It's then that the chin pad should fall away from the chin by pivoting from point where the bill of the cap meets the head.

I can accept that
 

Well, thank you for explaining it to me in a gentlemanly manner. Actually, I never knew any rule of thumb like that ever existed among the umpiring community. It certainly is the first time I had ever read the advice.

I thought it was common knowledge. I was taught this long ago, and have heard it repeated many times, but perhaps only in person and not online anywhere. Anyways, it's served me quite will over the years. Except for a stint with the old +POS SUL, I've had good luck with getting blasted in the grill.:D

When did catchers start wearing batting helmets?

+pos Sul
 

Was that the plastic model that "deteriorated" in the heat while sitting in the trunk of the car? Met a guy today who suffered from a bloody nose taking a 90+ foul tip. Asked how the mask looked afterward, he commented on how it rebounded back into it's perfectly new form.

Did the catcher's glove hit him too? I woulda thought that the glove would have softened the blow some.

Did I say tip? Got me. I assume entire responsibility for this slip. Please don't conclude that the person who made such comments as I made about them above used the improper term of foul tip. Thank you.

I'm talking about the ear flap-less batting helmets that catcher's use, you know, like batting helmets used to be before the ear flaps. All catchers that use conventional masks use them in most leagues I've worked. Sometimes though, the catchers just turn their caps around.

Here is a picture of Johnny Bench wearing a batting helmet, just for example:

http://123pichosting.com/images/4199...ench-large.jpg