Cup while BU?
 

Seems like a silly question, but one I must ask so I don't look silly.

Do you wear a cup while BU?

Under Armour Armor for my boys....
 

I started last fall. I worked a D-1 scrimmage on astroturf and had plate first. I saw how fast the ball moved at that level on that surface so when we switched out later in the scrimmage I left my cup on and did not even notice. That particular piece of equipment does not bother me or need adjusting and I don't really know it's there. I can run with no interference or adjustment/re-adjustment so I have started wearing mine. It does not look weird. No one notices. I wear Honig's poly-wool pants and they are amply cut so no bulging, binding, etc.

Thanks to DH
 

I wear a cup when I watch Baseball on TV.

Regards

I never have, but I've decided to start from game one this year and not quit. I'll get used to it.

Was working a semi-final 5A state tournament game last year. 3 man crew, after the sun went down, but not dark enough for the lights to be bright.
I was in the slot, kid hits a screamer just off the ground. Appears to be to my left, but then I see it is hooking toward me. Didn't know whether to go left or right, so I jumped.

Ball hit me on the ankle, nothing broken, but it was ugly & painful for several days.
It scared me pretty badly thinking about getting hit in the head or well... you know!

Absolutely. I was working a U14 game last summer, in 'C' position. Batter hits a screamer no more than 1 foot off the ground, hits me square in the shin. I figure if it's that painful to be hit there, I don't want to find out how bad it will be if I get hit in the other place.

Just curious, what was your call after the ball hit you?

Who's DH?
 

Just wondering.

Hehehehe,
 

Major:

I just wanted to give credit to the originator of the comment I made.

Dave Heaverlo was a relief pitcher for the A's and Mariner's. One season a Mariner picther, Mike Parrot, was hit in the jewels by a line drive. Parrot was NOT wearing a cup.

When asked by the media if Heaverlo wore a cup when he pitched his answer was:

"I wear a cup when I watch baseball on TV!"

When I steal I try to give credit.

Regards,

I remember a player one time said that his worst nightmare was that he was playing third base on Astroturf, had forgotten his cup, and Winfield was up.

When a good hitter is up...I'll just reach into my ball bag and put it in. So for me it varies. :-)

I wear a cup at almost all times ... just like former Giant Dave Heaverlo, who was traded to the A's in the Vida Blue deal.

Mike Parrott?
 

I know a former MLB pitcher from here that now coaches pitchers at a HS where I work occasionally named Jeff Parrott. I admit I don't watch a lot of TV during baseball season. I was usually working/coaching/defending the country, etc. I have never developed a Sportscenter addiction either. I missed it and those names don't ring a bell for me either.

Thanks for the info. Interesting stuff.

As a preacher, I can't repeat what my call was! ;)

We killed it. Batter on first. Runner on first forced to second.

Actually, my partners did that while the trainer, a girl young enough to be my daughter, looked at my ankle.

Never ever ever will I wear a cup on the bases... If i cant moved ( at least turn a check) on the bases.. maybe I need a new gig.

+1 million

I don't even want to worry about it. I'd rather be safe than sorry.

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

Peace

When both of my sons started playing "travel" team ball when they were nine years they played for coaches that required everybody to wear a cup, not just the catchers. And since both my sons were also first baseman it made sense for them to wear cups. And there have been a few close calls on the bases for me when I wondered if I shouldn't have been wearing a cup. But my oldest, MTD, Jr., became an OhioHSAA umpire last year and does not wear a cup on the bases, so go figure.

MTD, Sr.

Mike Parrott was a pitcher for Baltimore and Seattle; Jeff Parrett (with an e) was a journeyman pitcher for the Expos, Braves, Phils, Cards and Rockies in the late-80s, early-90s era. I knew him a little when he was with the A's for one year and I was working in baseball in the Bay Area (not as an umpire). He was a good major league pitcher and did a great job out of the pen for the A's in 1992. He delivered that year. A real pitcher. He was down there in the pen with Eck, for crying out loud. And he pitched to one of the great pros in Terry Steinbach. Being around that A's club alone makes him a coach worth listening to. Tell him that.

There is a Gold Glove third baseman named Adrian Beltre who does not wear a cup.

under that same logic, then why don't we wear helmets on the bases? why don't all of the fielders "Olerud" it?

then Jump out of the way..are you telling me your just gonna stand there and let the ball hit you in jewels?...are you the guy from the Nutty Buddy video?

I was at a tournament at Angels Stadium in Tempe, Arizona. There was a dribbler near the mound and a routine play at first with the BU in the A position. He jogged into position and got set. The pitcher uncorked a bullet throw that clipped the bag, shot off and jeweled the umpire. He went down in a heap and every male in the building twisted and winced in unison. He had to be wheeled away.

Cup on the bases. What's the inconvenience?

I have been hit by a line drive just above my protective cup during a HS varsity game.

I will always wear my cup on the bases.

helmets on the bases!! sorry guys...i just can't jump on board w/ the cup on the bases...to each his own...most definitely!!

Some people have ...

Never mind.

Then how did you get hit?

I always wear a cup, just out of habit from playing. I wore one as a catcher, wore one in the outfield, and always wear one no matter what my role is on the field.

Not really, no good place to put it. Carry a pint size flask on my belt though, just as effective.

Good tip for everyone though, don't call timeout and ask to use a bat if your olive gets stuck. The players get really upset because hitting the flask leaves marks on their expensive bats. Boy these kids nowadays are really spoiled brats. Sharing is not one of their better traits.

Let me guess: You also have the flask handy while you're typing this stuff.

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.

You need one in t ball. I coached t ball about 20 years ago. Those kids are dangerous when they take their warm up swings!

Dan Iassogna got hit in the package while at first base on an errant pick off throw in 2003. I think it was at TB.

Errant pickoff throw! See!

I just could not get out of the way of a ball. I moved left, the ball moved left. I moved right, the ball moved right. It was rather embarrassing because it was not a hard shot in my direction.

Peace

I have a friend, yes only one, who was caught flat footed and took a line drive w/o a cup. He had swelling so bad there were splits in a bad spot, and the doctor told him if the swelling did not go down w/i 72 hours, they were looking at amputation.:eek:

I wear a cup all the time on the bases, behind the plate, driving to the game.

Wow, thats amazing. Same thing the doctor told me when he gave me my last perscription. Didn't realize the two sports were so similar.!!!!

:):):):) :p

Risk: Getting jeweled without a cup
Reward: AMPUTATION!

Hey DC, analyze that!

I had a friend/client...
 

yes, just one, like the other guy who was not an umpire but a coach/league president feeding the pitching machine for 8 year old machine pitch league. Kid drove one back through the box and hit my friend in the most delicate of all spots. He lost one of his boys to amputation, got an infection due to some randy/amorous activity by his wife and then got an abcess and almost lost the whole package. He still has trouble and is less than 40. He lost his job and then his wife.

I looked into a medical malpractice suit for him because the treating surgeon and ER doctors would not even take a look when he complained about severe pain in the nether region while erroneously labeling him a narcotic drug seeker. However, no other physician would testify that it was malpractice as the medical records showed and my client admitted to amorous relations with his wife before the drainage tube was removed and thus the increased risk of the very infection he had.

I am talking about this guy was in hospital three weeks and almost died and had major surgery on top of losing one of his nuts due to a baseball hit by an eight year old hitting him in the pills.

Way too risky to be on a field at any age with a hard baseball without a cup in my humble opinion.

I wear one. Do whatever you feel comfortable with.

I wear Under Armour Cup-black with carbon fibre. Very comfortable to the point that I don't know I have it on until I go to the restroom.

MTCYMMV.

Dave, you often convey a message like I would. In this case, as in several other cases, you convey it in a way that I merely wish I could.

Yet another tip of the creased black cap to you sir.

Wouldn't a real risk/reward analysis take into consideration the frequency of occurance? I cannot recall ever being hit by a ball while working the bases. I do recall avoiding being hit about a couple of times with some pretty acrobatic moves!

Yesterday, for the first time ever, I wore my cup on the bases. I was working a series of indoor games and rotating between the bases and plate. With this thread still in my mind, instead of taking it out from my plate stint, I just left it in.

It would be a really cool story if I could tell you that, this one time in my life, I got whacked in the willie and the cup saved the day. Alas, I still didn't get hit..

But it didn't cause my any problems, either. Frankly, once the game got strated I completely forgot about it. There was no sacrafice in movement or discomfort from the cup.

Maybe that was because I was wearing my "good" jock! I've amassed a collection of compression shorts and cup holders, some I like and some I don't like so much. Some just don't seem to position the cup in the right place, and others seem to let it flop around a little bit. Compression shorts seem to fit me in two sizes- too tight or too loose. On this particular day, I had on a basic jock strap, worn under a pair of moisture-wicking shorts, and that one provides the best fit as far as holding the cup where it needs to be and keeping it there.

any athletic male probably has a nut shot story or two...with any sport or activity it's really a matter of preference. I've never met a basketball player who wears one...yet one might think the risk is very high in that sport. I played middle infield my entire playing career (20 yrs) and never wore one...umpired for about 8 yrs, never wore one...just started the last couple years...I figured that my luck was running out and that I really did want to have children. While many have the 'nut shot' stories, there are probably many who have the 'never been hit' stories much like BretMan's post.

I was a sometime catcher, sometime pitcher and often-time third baseman. I never went without a cup. Never. I have also coached and instructed for many years and thrown batting practice to batters from college on down for over two decades. Even with an L-screen, I wear a cup. With some of the younger players (12 or 13 and under), there are workouts and batting practice where I pitch without a screen. I wouldn't consider doing any kind or real coaching or pitching without wearing a cup. So why would I stand a dozen feet away from a pitcher, with my feet spread a yard and a half apart, staring down the barrel of an aluminum bat being wielded by a 200-plus pound batter without wearing a cup? And I played and sparred. I know how to make something miss.

I still wear a cup, because I view the reward of avoiding amputation of my genitals as being worth the risk of a little extra skin irritation.

(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.

There's nothing to prevent a base umpire from wearing any of these devices. Are they not worn because they are not the norm? Are we placing our personal vanity or appearance above our personal safety?

Or, are we making the decision that the chance of injury is so infinitesimally small that we forgo the added protection?

it's probably coming...heck base coaches are now wearing helmets after neck trauma tragically killed a man.

That's cool.

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.

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.

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.

Once, twice, three times a lady....almost!
 

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

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.

SDSteve,

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

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.

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.

Thanks for the support!

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?

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!

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.

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

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

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. :eek:

feels like being punched in the nuts without a cup.