I have never been hit by a ground ball while working bases so see no need for a cup. I was a middle infielder when I played so am quite adept at moving my feet.

I've never been in a car accident, so I don't wear my seat belt.

My kid's never had a skull fracture riding a bicycle, so I don't make him wear a helmet.

do you wear your helmet? or are those just for kids

You can't think getting hit by a ground ball and getting in a car accident are remotely similar.

Plus Pause for Helmet Warning
 

I saw an umpire go down immediately after getting hit in the jewels. He was wearing a cup at the time. I'm no investigative reporter but I figured the ball hit the cup, and the back edge of the cup smashed into one side of his testicles. From his painful reaction, I imagined the cup probably saved his life. I was shocked to find out what really happened. Go figure. The ball hit him squarely in the middle of the cup and the hard plastic cup collapsed. The plastic cup wasn't hard enough to protect him from "serious" injury. For a short period of time, he carried the cup around to show everybody who asked about his health the damage to his cup. There were 2 stress fractures near those small air vent holes. Those were the weak points. The cup actually worked up to its maximum limit. The injury was unavoidable and reminds me of the legal statement found on the inside of MLB batting helmets.

FWIW, I wear a cup on the bases. I don't feel the need to run miscellaneous errands between ball games and I don't believe it is right to reach in to extract a cup in front of the public. The new banana cups are more comfortable than the older solid plastic cups and offer no more inconvenience around my XXL bigass than the tight XL jock. I guess I am too manly to go change out of my jock before the next game.

Did I tell you the story of the guy who forgot his cup and wanted to borrow mine?

It was a criticism of the logic.

And yes, there are similarities. Both are negative events which can have their consequences mitigated by simple precautions.

Hush unless you're pushing for helmets
 

Under the same logic, the base coaches have asked why the base umpires don't have to wear helmets?

Speaking of helmets. I read that baseball players once wore a protective liner underneath their ballcap. I have been looking for one. Let me know what you know. HSM users need not reply.

It wasn't logic. It was simply a comment that the risk vs reward analysis, in my view, did not merit the wearing of a cup while working bases.

That would be logic. The problem with what you said, though, is that you did not articulate the totality of the equation, hence the impression is left on the reader that the only reason you won't wear one is because you have never been hit.

What?

Risk versus reward analysis??? :D:D:D:D ... I love it!

And we know you're not kidding, because you disputed Matt's comparison of your thinking to that of someone who takes unnecessary risks, just because something hasn't happened to them, confusing it with the difference between catching a bullet and being in a car accident.

Real simple: Getting jeweled is not worth any risk.

If the level of ball is so low that a ball can't go fast enough to be impossible to evade or even hurt you if you fail to evade it, then fine, go without a cup. The rest of us who wear one on the bases do so by utilizing our risk management skills based on an elementary analysis.

Just because you wear a cup you think everybody should. Get over it. I don't see the need and will not. This was a survey after all and over 2/3 do not. I am, in fact, surprised that nearly 1/3 do.

Oh, I'm over that! Hey, if you don't see a need, then there's no need, I guess.

What I can't get over is that risk-versus-reward-analysis stuff; it gave me about the biggest laugh I've had on these boards.

Wow! :D:D

I'll never wear a cup on the bases. I wore one when I caught in baseball but never for football though.

I went to an umpire clinic once and they forced me to use the HOK (hands on knees) mechanic as the base umpire. My thumbs bruised my tallywhacker so bad from that experience that now I wear my cup just helping out at the tball games.