masks
 

What is the recommended tightness for an umpire wearing their mask when working the plate? I have heard different opinions, so I wanted to ask the forum.

michblue,

Loose!

Basically, if you tip your head forward, the bottom part of the mask should fall away from your chin a couple of inches.

The rationale has to do with the way the mask is designed to protect your noggin'. It's not just the "cushioning" effect of the pads, but the ability to absorb and disperse the force (i.e., mass*velocity) of the ball.

The mask is designed to "spin" on impact, thereby preventing the force from being transferred directly to your skull. If you have the straps too tight, you defeat the design and the majority of the force gets transferred to your skull, causing your brain to bounce around inside your skull and your upper spine to experience "whiplash".

As in all things, do as you think best.

JM

Thanks JM. Appreciate the help.

The bouncing of the brain will also cause a concussion, correct?

Andrew,

Yes. In layman's terms, a concussion is a "brain bruise".

JM

And be careful with the low profile style masks. There was an aritcle a while back on the MiLB Umpires site that showed an increase in concussions with them. Keep it loose as mentioned before.

I've often wondered where the scientific research for this comes from.

Well,
 

The research is based on the same concept of F1 race cars.

The elimination of energy during a crash is based on the car releasing parts quickly and easily (with the exception of the protective cage).

If the mask is worn loose the energy is released freely and the mask either returns to the original place, spins around the head or flies completely off.

MLB sent an internal memo to all umpires mid-way through 2010 (after there were two concussions) instructing umpires how mask tightness was an important deterent to injury.

T

Tim C,

And I can safely assume that the memo to MLB umpires was recommending them to wear their masks loose?

Physics.

JM

Equation, please..

I was told from the very beginning when I started umping about the 2" thing. It was to be able to remove your mask quickly, and not pull your hat off everytime. Concussions were never mentioned. Seems like this was the norm way before 2010.

The reason I asked is because I seldom see the mask fly off or twist around. Might be a good theory in practice, but non-relevant in reality.

MLB can now concentrate on correcting the errors in the rule book.

You're kidding, right? If not, I can come up with several or a general explanation.

Rita

Had my mask come off completely once. Never felt a thing but it was several feet away. Have had it twist several times. And this was with the little guys.

Much preferable to taking it straight on and being loopy for the rest of the game. Had that happen too.

Rita

[QUOTE=Steven Tyler;794370]

The reason I asked is because I seldom see the mask fly off or twist around. Might be a good theory in practice, but non-relevant in reality.

QUOTE]

Add 1 as a "me, too" to what Rita said.

Had my mask work "as designed/ intended" on several occasions: mask spins off, or at least out-of-place, no damage to the ol' noggin or contents.

Had a younger umpire who "knew better" and kept his straps tight taken to the ER after a game when he started showing signs of concussion.

The timing of this post is ironic and tragic.

;-(
 

Matt:

I agree.

When there is an error in a race car it is so unforgiving.

T

[QUOTE=cbfoulds;794393]Saw an umpire in one of the playoff games who took a shot, mask twist sideway, and went down to one knee. I just feel logically speaking, there is no sure way to prevent a concussion. I can remember taking a major shot to the head in football and not feel a thing. It had no effect at all. Took a glancing blow another time, and had a headaches for three days. Back then it was called getting your bell rung.

Pie are round, cornbread are square................doesn't fly with me

Or did you find a radical new way to split the atom?

[QUOTE=Steven Tyler;794455]Of course not. But, there are ways of reducing the chances and the severity.

Since the subject was raised -- think, for example, of how much worse yesterday's racing accident likely would have been without some of the safety improvements made in the past.

That sounds rude.

As it happens I used to teach physics so if you want an explanation, I could come up with one for you.

But if your purpose for your question and your response is to be rude and obnoxious, I won't.

Rita

So you're saying, there is no right or wrong answer.

A mathmatical equation will produce the same answer each time, depending on the numbers plugged in.

So an object weighing X amount traveling at Y speed will produce a different answer for Z in this case. Kinda like that old question, "If a pound of ball bearings weighs as much as pound of feathers, which will hit the ground first?"

Gotta go saddle up my horse and ride fences now.

Assuming there's no air resistance, they will hit the ground at the same time if dropped from the same height above the ground. (Physics is a wonderful thing).

The reason you want the mask to pop off when struck by a baseball can be explained quite simply: Any amount energy required to pop the mask off of your head is that much less energy that is absorbed by your face/skull/brain. Less energy absorbed by the face/skull/brain = less chance of concussion.

Sounds like you've already had the concussion.

Ever wonder why a 200+ mph car crash usually ends up with no damage at all to the driver? Or why there was such a significant exception in Dale Earnhardt's case? (I would say Wheldon too, but I haven't seen a view of the crash close enough to see what happened there).

The reason is that in most car crashes, the car tumbles, pieces fly off, etc - the energy of such a huge collision has to go SOMEwhere. In most cases - it's spent with all of this spinning and flying apart. In DE's case, he hit straight on and had little or no disbursement of energy ... and took it all himself.

This is simple physics - but asking for an equation simply demonstrates your lack of understanding. There's no single equation - it's a dynamic system. But it's FACT that the energy has to go somewhere.

If your mask doesn't spin or bounce or anything, you're taking all of that energy into your head. And if you've never seen a mask spin or even fly off - then ALL of your umpires are wearing them too tightly.

Wow... that was unnecessary. Put it this way. If a fact doesn't "fly with you", consider it may be the receiver and not the deliverer.

No, she kind of said the opposite of that.

Sure... given identical input. We're talking about comparing two different situations though, aren't we? How much energy is absorbed by the head if the mask is tight ... and how much if the mask is loose. Two different sets of inputs to the "equation". The answer is - the energy goes SOMEWHERE... it's a zero sum game. If the energy does NOT go to spinning, moving, flipping off, whatever - the mask - there's only one other place for it to go.

1) Where do you work ball where there is no air resistance?

2) I would also think a glancing blow < of a chance of a concussion.

3) With all the variables, I don't think you can say there is a concise science to determine when or when not a concussion will happen.

2) correct, but not relevant. A glancing blow with a loose mask will lessen the impact when compared with a glancing blow with a tight mask.

3) no one is saying that. Just that the chances of a concussion are reduced.