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View Poll Results: Do you wear a cup as Base Umpire?
Yes 22 26.83%
No 60 73.17%
Voters: 82. You may not vote on this poll

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  #31 (permalink)  
Old Fri Feb 20, 2009, 11:15pm
DG DG is offline
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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.
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  #32 (permalink)  
Old Sat Feb 21, 2009, 07:03am
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Quote:
Originally Posted by DG View Post
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.
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  #33 (permalink)  
Old Sat Feb 21, 2009, 09:33am
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My kid's never had a skull fracture riding a bicycle, so I don't make him wear a helmet.
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  #34 (permalink)  
Old Sat Feb 21, 2009, 09:48am
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Kevin Finnerty View Post
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
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  #35 (permalink)  
Old Sat Feb 21, 2009, 12:07pm
DG DG is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Matt View Post
I've never been in a car accident, so I don't wear my seat belt.
You can't think getting hit by a ground ball and getting in a car accident are remotely similar.
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  #36 (permalink)  
Old Sat Feb 21, 2009, 02:53pm
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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?
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Last edited by SAump; Sun Feb 22, 2009 at 07:21pm.
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  #37 (permalink)  
Old Sat Feb 21, 2009, 03:03pm
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Quote:
Originally Posted by DG View Post
You can't think getting hit by a ground ball and getting in a car accident are remotely similar.
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.
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  #38 (permalink)  
Old Sat Feb 21, 2009, 03:14pm
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Hush unless you're pushing for helmets

Quote:
Originally Posted by johnnyg08 View Post
under that same logic, then why don't we wear helmets on the bases? why don't all of the fielders "Olerud" it?
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.
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Last edited by SAump; Sat Feb 21, 2009 at 03:25pm.
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  #39 (permalink)  
Old Sat Feb 21, 2009, 07:31pm
DG DG is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Matt View Post
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.
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.
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  #40 (permalink)  
Old Sat Feb 21, 2009, 07:37pm
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Quote:
Originally Posted by DG View Post
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.
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  #41 (permalink)  
Old Sat Feb 21, 2009, 07:47pm
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What?

Risk versus reward analysis??? ... 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.
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  #42 (permalink)  
Old Sat Feb 21, 2009, 10:55pm
DG DG is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Kevin Finnerty View Post
What?

Risk versus reward analysis??? ... 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.
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  #43 (permalink)  
Old Sat Feb 21, 2009, 11:27pm
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Quote:
Originally Posted by DG View Post
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!

Last edited by Kevin Finnerty; Sat Feb 21, 2009 at 11:29pm.
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  #44 (permalink)  
Old Sun Feb 22, 2009, 02:22am
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I'll never wear a cup on the bases. I wore one when I caught in baseball but never for football though.
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  #45 (permalink)  
Old Sun Feb 22, 2009, 04:31am
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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.

Last edited by tballump; Sun Feb 22, 2009 at 11:08am.
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