Kerwin Danley
 

Anytime a fellow umpire goes down I think we all feel it. I just saw the replay. Best wishes to Kerwin and I hope he recovers quickly!

http://www.sportsline.com/mlb/story/10800467

Seconded.

Just saw it on Sportscenter. He seems to be doing okay by reports.

They made a little remark at the replay about Danley not wearing a HSM. And how exactly would that have helped?

Video now posted. Kerwin really took a shot when Martin was mixed up on the pitch.

http://losangeles.dodgers.mlb.com/me...00804272596704

I got the side of my neck just brushed 2 weeks ago by a foul in a varsity game. I saw stars and had a knot under my ear, behind the angle of my jaw for days. I do not wear a HSM. ( I wont argue that it's not better protection and view, It probably is)
In a self defense class I took, a "hammer strike" to the side of the neck is taught. It can interrupt the blood flow to the brain and can cause immediate unconsciousness.
Hope Danley is OK.

Here's an updated story from the AP, as of Sunday morning. Danley's fine: he lost consciousness briefly but was awake and alert when they put him in the ambulance.
http://tinyurl.com/62kg6u

Nice job by the catcher, Russell Martin, of ducking away from the pitch.

They made a little remark at the replay about Danley not wearing a HSM. And how exactly would that have helped?

As an ump who wears a HSM, I think I can answer that. Looking at the video from MLB.com of the incident, it appears the ball was breaking and got him in the jaw right behind his mask, perhaps farther back on his neck. From what I can see, I believe the HSM would have, as a minimum, deflected the ball. I think it would have taken the whole impact. His ears would be ringing, but otherwise minimal damage. When I come down into my squat, my mask and chest protecter virtually come together. There is a small seam where I can get hit, but I sincerly doubt I would take the hit Danleyy took. I AM NOT SAYING HE SHOULD BE FAULTED. The HSM is not for everybody, but by the simple virtue of covering more area, it is more protective.

I don't know why, but I can't get the link to produce video.

I went to Harry's the same year he did-- doggone awful to hear about this.

What did they call the pitch?

I also wear the HSM
 

It looked to me that the pitch caught him in the lower side part of the jaw. My HSM covers this spot better than a regular mask. If I'm guessing correctly about where it hit him I think the HSM might have deflected this particular pitch better than a standard mask.

This of course is just a guess.

I was viewing this in slow-motion and it seemed that Danley moved his head ever so slightly right before the pitch hit him. If that was, in fact, the case, then he got hit where he otherwise might not have.

I'm not 100% sure he moved his head, but the many times I've reviewed it, it sure appears he did.

"Ball". Campos gave the count "1-0" loudly and authoritatively before the next pitch.

And I bet not a soul in the game was expecting anything different.

Yes, he did move his head! It looks like an "Aww $hit!" move. In other words, he saw the train coming and tried to react. It could have cost him had he turned just a little more as he would have exposed his neck which may have been disastrous. Had he not moved, he would have taken the pitch dead center of the mask. The result may have been the same, however.

Well, I'm not really criticizing him for moving his head. I was just wondering if he, in fact, did, or if I saw something on replay that really didn't happen.

Talking about bad karma, BTW, yesterday I got hit in pretty much the same manner. Frickin' catcher misses a high outside fast ball and it smashes into my lower right side of the mask then ricochets off my right shoulder. The wraparound pads that I just got this year obviously made a difference!

What stance do you use if you took a high outside fast ball to the mask? You may want to think a little about working in the slot.

Nice catch!

Why, thank you Steve, good to see you back. how are you feeling?

I use the Gerry Davis system, and I was, in fact, in the slot. The catcher was set up a bit farther inside than he normally set up.

Nothing to "catch," as I was, in fact, in the slot. I always am.

Curious
 

I can't paint this picture in my mind.

It's easy. F2 sets up way inside, exposing my right side more greatly than would normally happen. A high outside fast ball comes in, he misses it entirely, it hits me. What the heck is so difficult to picture here? I swear, some of you are frickin' ridiculous with your posts of disbelief.

If you are in the slot your nose would be on or very near the inside corner. With the plate being 17 inches wide you would then need a face that is about 34 inches wide.

Not saying it couldn't have happend but it would of been high and not outside.

How could the pitch be off the plate and hit you if you are in the slot? I think I understand now, the pitch was on the plate, but outside be virtue of being so far off target.

I didn't mean to ruffle your feathers, I'm just not a very imaginative guy. But I hope you can see that someone claiming to be in the slot and hit with an outside pitch is a) not in the slot (not the case here) b) has a very big head (physically--your head would have to be over 18" wide--likely not the case here) or c) calling a pitch outside because it missed the spot (way inside). I imagined only a) and b) when when I first read your post :o , not c). Please accept my apology for appearing frivolous.

Actually, it's 32. :D


Anyway...

I should've been more descriptive when saying it was outside to mean that it was away from me and not wide of the plate. Regardless, it was a crappy pitch that hit me. Bonk.