Umpire photo

[SAump]

Usually when I blink, both eyes open and close at the same time. Perhaps this umpire image has some scientific explanation.


Photo Gallery - Yahoo! Sports

[umpjim]

It looks like an inside pitch. His nose was in the way of his dominant right eye seeing the pitch in close so he closed it and gave the left eye full pathway to the brain. Not sure if I'm being sarcastic or not. As I write it it's starting to make sense.

[Kevin Finnerty]

A blink out of fear of the ball grilling you can flutter a little, and with a shutter speed of 1/1500th of a second or faster, it might have the one eye closing as quickly as a thousandth of a second sooner than the other, and the camera will still freeze it.

[SanDiegoSteve]

Originally Posted by Kevin Finnerty

A blink out of fear of the ball grilling you can flutter a little, and with a shutter speed of 1/1500th of a second or faster, it might have the one eye closing as quickly as a thousandth of a second sooner than the other, and the camera will still freeze it.

And it is perfectly normal to blink on pitches coming toward your face. It is not a bad thing, but a natural part of the "fight or flight" mechanism built into our nervous system.

Totally bailing out on these pitches is a whole 'nuther story!

[TussAgee11]

Originally Posted by SanDiegoSteve

And it is perfectly normal to blink on pitches coming toward your face. It is not a bad thing, but a natural part of the "fight or flight" mechanism built into our nervous system.

Totally bailing out on these pitches is a whole 'nuther story!

If you can learn to stop bailing, you can learn to stop blinking.

[zm1283]

As a former catcher, I NEVER bail, but still blink on occasion. It even happens with very good catchers when a pitch is high and inside coming right at my face. I catch myself doing it maybe once a game.