I dont understand the umps who dont spend the money for the proper equipment.. lessee in the last nights 12U, I got pummeled.

I took a shot - pretty fast pitcher for 12, foul tip straight to the throat so hard my jaws clacked and hurt through the night... I wear extended frame and throat protector.. thankfully.

Shot to the finger.. thats a nice one.. nothing to protect there.. i know to use the catcher to protect my hands.. ooops..

Shot to the foot.. saved by proper shoes.

Foul tip under the catcher straight to my gnards.. saved by cup.. thankfully.

Man, something wrong with my Karma or what.

If youre new and dont have the stuff.. buy it and wear it.

I agree - and I get pummelled more at the lower levels, but it seems quite a few umpires around here don't bother at 10U and 12U.

OK... I've tried to resist this, but I can't...

Those aren't foul tips - those are foul balls - especially that last one! :D

Oh yeah!

If an umpire doesn't wear the proper equipment they need to hide behind the catcher in order to not get hit. How then could they call a consistant strike zone? If you are in the right place you will get hit, that's why you wear the stuff. Unfortunately, sometimes it will hurt even through the pads. I called a college game with a guy that didn't wear even a cup. From the bases all I could see of him was his head peeking out from behind the catcher. Needless to say the coaches were not real happy with the zone. He claimed to be a real tough guy though.

:)

Ive seen an ump not wearing a cup take a shot.. after 10-15 mins of suffering combined with the snickering from the girls on the bench and various statements / remarks from the stands.. the game was continued just fine.

I was a catcher.. I never have gone without one.. but the potential for embarrassment would be enough for me to wear one.

I'm 6'3" 275, work the slot and obviously
a huge target--- I get hit a lot too.
My gear keeps me fairly safe, even when
a catcher sets up on the outside of the plate.
A few years ago I got hit on my left hand
by a foul ball that bounced up out of the dirt
and my wedding band cut my finger.
After that I started working with tucking
my hands behind my thighs. It works.
I've since seen a few major league baseball
umps who do the same thing !

I too am not a small guy (6'2", 300 pounds)...wear all the gear. Several years ago when I was young and stupid, I wouldn't wear my gear because it was hot. I took a FOUL BALL off the shoulder. The pitcher was throwing (men's A fastpitch) around 95 miles an hour. I'm lucky it wasn't broken...by the end of the game (30 minutes later) my shoulder was black and blue and swelling.

Today, I wear plate shoes, shin guards, cup, chest protector, mask with extended frame and extended throat protector, etc. Don't even do the little girls without it.

In fact, I would be less likely to get hit in a college game.


Let's face it, if we use the slot then we are going to get hit.

Agreed. Got hit twice today, each getting more painful. Top one. The first pitch of the game was inside corner about chest high. How did I know? Let's just say I had a good look at it. WHACK!!! Right off the facemask. Catcher turned around and apologized. I asked if that was going to happen again. She said, "No guarantees." Apparently she was right. Bottom seven and the next to the last pitch of the game. (Hint: If you are going to buy a cup, make sure you buy something to hold it in place.) The pitch was about waste high and again inside corner, and when I squatted down to see the pitch, my cup shifted just a little. After about 3-4 minutes, I called the third strike and slowly walked with my partner to the cars. :(

New to the U corps this year. For slow pitch would it benefit me to invest in a plate shoe for protection or is it unlikely that I would get drilled in the toe? Any war stories for the slow pitch game regarding foot/toe jobs?

For slow pitch, and the younger girls, I think you're ok without the plate shoes. Our pastor took a baseball from a 12 year old in the toe last Saturday, and is black and blue - may be broken. Anything over 10U, I wear all the gear.

At 10U and 8U, I don't wear the chest protector - but I wear the shinguards (thrown bats) and facemask. I'm sure I'l be told 10 times now to wear the chest protector at 10U, but I've not seen the need for it, and I HAVE been hit in the chest a few times.

I wouldn't buy plate shoes for slow pitch. I don't do much, but what I've done I haven't been hit in the toe at all.

Heartily Agree!!!!!
 

I have already taken two shots directly (without any hindrance from even a glance off the bat or glove) to the cup, once in JR BB and once in JR SB. Since I use the prescribed box stance in the slot, I am very open to this kind of hit. I would NEVER, EVER do a game behind the plate without appropriate protection.

ALSO, to all the newbies out there, spend a little extra and get a GOOD chest protector. My first year I got the Allstar protector that has the strap-on shoulder pads. They don't overlap, so there is a small space there where the buckle is. Sure enough, I got hit with a high, hard fastball right on the buckle. Bought a Honig's K-1 the very next day.

I had a friend who was working 10U one time a few years back who separated a shoulder taking a foul shot off the bat. Lost the rest of the season.

The thing about protection is simple. You paid good money for it. It isn't doing you one damn bit of good if it is sitting in your equipment bag. I would rather have it on, be hot, and not need it, than to be cool and have that one time happen when I wish I had it on.

Speaking of working the slot, what is more embarassing that having your picture taken and put out on the World Wide Web showing you hiding behind the catcher as the person in this picture has?:

http://www.ntxe-news.com/artman/publ...le_15597.shtml

Isn't the pitcher leaping?

Is your first name Ron? ;)

I wouldn't wear anything special for slowpitch. Just watch the catcher during warmups, and you'll get a feel of where you should put your feet when you set up. Hopefully, you'll catch the pitch with your arch than your toes. Those don't hurt at all (at least not me, I've been hit there enough to become immune!!!).

That's just great, now you are going to have Ron "OZZIE" Osbourn bi**hing about another pitcher leaping and it not being called

Or is the tip of her toe even with the plane of the ground?

And outside the 24" pitching plate?

Man, forget about hiding in the slot, can you imagine what your back feels like, after a full day of calling ball in that stance? I got a muscle twinge, just looking.

Since I asked the question on leaping, I'll give my opinion. I don't think she is leaping (although I do think high-tech zoom lenses should be banned). And I wouldn't call it unless I felt she was getting a clear advantage.

Had a tournament this weekend...girl was throwing illegal...double touching, stepping, etc.I called a couple a IP's, but visiting coach asked me not to call it anymore, for the sake of keeping the game interesting. (Pitcher was a sophomore who only started pitching in the fall.) Then again, he was ahead 7-0 after the first inning...I wonder if his tune would have been different if the score was reversed?

I disagree strongly with this rationale. Seeing it clearly, yes. Clear advantage, no - should not be anything we are concerned about.Yup.

Does look kinda painful, doesn't it?!

How can you support that by rule?? I see nowhere in any rule book that says anything about not calling the IP if the pitcher "is not gaining a clear advantage."

How can I support that? It's a judgment call. If I feel she is leaping/crowhopping, doing anything to gain an advantage (which is what makes the pitch illegal) then I call it.

For example, look at that picture...is she leaping by definition? Probably, but I'm not sure where the ground would be in relationship to her foot. I was always taught, by some very good umpires, that if you weren't sure it was an illegal pitch, don't call it.

Had a game this weekend...college...where pitcher was pushing so hard off the pitching plate that she would pop here foot upwards, making the pitch a leap. But she only did it when she was trying to get "a little extra" on the pitch. Did I call it? I called it once, when it was clear to me that her foot popped upward before the pitch was released. After I called it, opposing coach wanted to called every time...but it wasn't every time...that's where the judgment comes in...we had a six inch hole in front of the pitching plate...It had to be clear to me that she was popping her foot up above the level plane of the pitching plate. MY JUDGMENT.

The minute we start looking for illegal pitches, looking for every minute detail, we kill the game.

Also had a HS coach this weekend tell me "blue she's illegal...she's stepping...but don't call it, because she only does it on the rise ball." You know what, she wasn't stepping but it looked like it.

All I'm saying is that from the superzoom of "worm-cam" the foot may be in the air, but as a former pitcher I fully know that the foot has to be at least a couple of inches up in the air or well outside the 24 inch line before even the best umpire will call it...if it's not obvious, you're guessing.

[Edited by FUBLUE on Apr 26th, 2004 at 12:07 PM]