Sun Glasses

[cmckenna]

As UIC for our Little League I was asked to give a ruling tonight regarding the wearing of sunglasses by infielders. I looked in my trusty rule book and could only find references to jewlery and shiny metallic objects but nothing about sun glasses. The only reference to glasses at al was the recomendation that those wearing prescription glasses have them be of the shatter proof type.

Because I could not find a specific reference to sun glasses and did not wnat to resort to 9.01(c) I allowed the infielder to continue wearing them. Should I have?? I would think that the Little League rules would specifically address this as a safety issue bucause some of these glasses are pretty cheap and I would hate to see what would happen if a bad hop caught the player in the face.

Any input would be greatly appreciated.

[Marty Rogers]

Sun glasses are not prohibited in LL.
As an umpire, I would not want to be responsible
for making a kid take off the glasses, THEN have
him hit in the face because the sun is in his eyes.
As a parent, I would want this to by MY decision,
and my son does wear sun glasses when he feels
he needs them.

I know how safety minded we are,
and how we want to be as preventive as possible,
but let us not forget common sense
(in making a rule for EVERYTHING).
I think you did the right thing.