Cup while BU?

[MrUmpire]

Originally Posted by BretMan

(Don't take this the wrong way, as I'm not trying to argue or persuade you to change your mind. I think that anyone should be free to wear any piece of protective equipment they see fit. Just take it as a me playing the devil's advocate as we kick around the subject of cups on the bases.)


Does anyone wear a mouth guard, polycarbonate safety goggles, helmet or heart guard while working the bases?

I would find the prospect of losing some teeth, an eye, having a brain injury or having my heart stopped as bad or worse than the one-in-a-million chance of losing one of the boys. It seems like you would have an equal chance of getting hit in any of those unprotected areas.

Excellent point. While I have not seen statistics based on umpire injuries, for years emergency room and insurance industry stats have shown that on players in the field, the the vast majority of injuries stemming from impact with a baseball occur to the face and head.

[DonInKansas]

Originally Posted by Kevin Finnerty

Except, we are less likely to get drilled in the head because, A) our arms/hands naturally go up significantly faster in a protective movement than they go down; and , B) our duck or flinch reflex mechanism is ruled by what our eyes see and it is vastly easier to make an unpredictable bounce or direct shot miss your head than it is to make it miss your groin or midsection.

I disagree with this.

A) I move just as quickly to protect my nuts from damage as my face. If there's a difference in reaction time, it would be so small it's pointless to argue it.

B)I've been made to flinch by loud noises I can't see. This point is not valid.

[Kevin Finnerty]

Originally Posted by DonInKansas

I disagree with this.

A) I move just as quickly to protect my nuts from damage as my face. If there's a difference in reaction time, it would be so small it's pointless to argue it.

B)I've been made to flinch by loud noises I can't see. This point is not valid.

Generally it is valid. The biceps can pull your arms to your face more quickly than any other movement, including the downward movement to cover the package. Your head can also dodge a blow faster than you can get your midsection to dodge a similar speed of blow. Another thing that is valid is that your head's duck or flinch movement is triggered by the sight of the ball in a baseball example.

The flinch that you cite that is triggered by sound is yet another way, but not related to the flinch I was referring to.

[SanDiegoSteve]

Originally Posted by JRutledge

Do not see the point to have one on the bases. I have only been hit once and it was a slow roller.

What, were you smoking bong hits with Barack and Phelps before the game?

I've been hit three times:

1st time: Varsity game with Tony Clark hitting a rocket into my right foot so fast I couldn't even blink, much less move. I was in shallow C at the time. He always seemed like he was aiming at me, or I had a ball magnet on me when he batted.

2nd time: Senior LL game when a line drive ricocheted off the side of a very tall, non-regulation height pitcher's mound and caught me while I was moving in toward the mound.

3rd time: Feeding pitching machine in a Pinto game with a very strong hitter (the one that every team seems to have one of) who hit a rocket that hit me in the stomach. That didn't feel good.

3 times in over 3,000 games. That's not too bad. I'm usually quite spry and can avoid getting hit.

[cardinalfan]

SDSteve,

Congrats on the 56 down. Keep up the good work!

[cardinalfan]

I had an umpiring buddy who was at the game when Mike Coolbaugh got hit. He said it could have been any of us.
I'm not going to wear my plate gear on the field, and I don't want to wear a helmet on the bases.
But if a $10 piece of plastic will keep me from going to the ER with swollen testicles... I will give it a try. I'm a fairly old dog, but I'll try to learn a new trick.
And if I try it a few games and decide it isn't worth the hassle, I'll get on here and admit I was wrong.

[outathm]

In answer to Bret, during night games I do wear Safety glasses with clear lenses. Obviously during a game with sun I wear my sunglasses. I may have good insurance, but replacing an eye is not a test I want to give it. The other thing is I don't know how many times I have had dust/ debris blowing around and stinging my face. I know without the glasses it would be in my eyes and I am just blind enough to umpire, I don' need help in that category either.

[SanDiegoSteve]

Originally Posted by cardinalfan

SDSteve,

Congrats on the 56 down. Keep up the good work!

Thanks for the support!

[DonInKansas]

Originally Posted by Kevin Finnerty

The flinch that you cite that is triggered by sound is yet another way, but not related to the flinch I was referring to.

I was unaware there were multiple types of flinching. Please enlighten me on the difference. While you're at it, let me know the difference in reaction times. Is there a study out there somewhere?

[Texas Aggie]

I move just as quickly to protect my nuts from damage as my face.

True, but there's a difference here. I've been hit in the head, face, shoulder, chest, etc. with all sorts of crap -- whether officiating or doing something else. Luckily, nothing was hard enough to cause serious injury. Usually, it was painful, but not always. On the other hand, I've been tagged LIGHTLY below the belt on a couple of occasions and I was out of commission for 15 minutes. Once while doing intramural softball, a first baseman misplayed a very hard hit hop and it went off his glove and glazed off my jaw (I was probably 5-7 feet away). It didn't hurt, really, but I've had that same kind of thing go off the nuts and really hurt.

Maybe some of you guys are more numb down there!

[Kevin Finnerty]

Originally Posted by DonInKansas

I was unaware there were multiple types of flinching. Please enlighten me on the difference. While you're at it, let me know the difference in reaction times. Is there a study out there somewhere?

Okay ... great.

You can't tell the difference between flinching because a hardball is coming at your head and phantom flinching due to a loud noise? Good luck to you.

And you dispute that you can't move your head faster than your waist, or that the human arm can push down faster than pull up? Good. Fine. Talk to ANY boxer.

You go ahead and believe what you believe and I'll go ahead and believe what actually is.

[yawetag]

Originally Posted by cardinalfan

But if a $10 piece of plastic will keep me from going to the ER with swollen testicles... I will give it a try. ... And if I try it a few games and decide it isn't worth the hassle, I'll get on here and admit I was wrong.

Thanks, everyone, for your advice and ongoing discussion. I agree with cardinalfan; I'll try it and see how it goes.

[Kevin Finnerty]

Well, I, uh, hope we covered it for you. I know some more of us, uh, covered it.

[cardinalfan]

Speaking of cups...
Can anyone put into words that feeling if you've ever been really hit hard in the cup?

I've had a couple of close calls, but my awakening came about five years ago. I was working the slot off the catcher's left shoulder, set up firm in the box stance. Wearing one of those old yellow banana cups.
Runner on first takes off on the pitch, which was about a 58-foot fastball. This kid could throw smoke, and later pitched at an SEC school. The catcher came up out of his stance to make a play on the runner, and the ball went straight between his legs.
I took a hard shot straight to the cup.
The catcher scrambled back and grabbed the ball which was between my legs and slightly behind me.
I was OK until the play stopped. The pain was minimal, but I had a sick feeling in my stomach knowing how bad this would've been without my little plastic friend.
I am man enough to admit that I flinched at pitches in the dirt the rest of the game.

[johnnyg08]

Originally Posted by cardinalfan

Speaking of cups...
Can anyone put into words that feeling if you've ever been really hit hard in the cup?

feels like being punched in the nuts without a cup.