New FP umpire - equipment questions

[BretMan]

I do both baseball and softball. The absolute worst "cup shot" I've ever taken was in a 16U softball game.

Pitcher was throwing in the upper-50's. Low inside pitch caught the edge of the plate, went past the catcher untouched and came straight up and under into the "narrow end" of my cup. Essentially, the ball drove the end of the cup upwards right into the most sensitive part of my anatomy.

I folded like a tent and things went black for a minute.

As bad as that was, I remember lying there thinking, "If I didn't have a cup I'd probably be dead now!".

When I first started umpiring, as a volunteer in a local league, I didn't wear a cup. A few close calls made be rethink that decision.

The first year I wore a cup. I took three hard shots off of it. Two were in softball and one was in baseball. Good thing I wised-up before it was too late!