Thankfully ASA and HS require facemasks

[NCASAUmp]

It's definitely a dangerous sport out there, and anyone who thinks otherwise is simply delusional.

At the Senior Men's in Burlington, I saw pitchers wearing this odd, bird-shaped face mask. Kinda took me by surprise at first, but I later realized, "wow, that's smart!"

Looked kinda like this.

[SRW]

Originally Posted by NCASAUmp

It's definitely a dangerous sport out there, and anyone who thinks otherwise is simply delusional.

At the Senior Men's in Burlington, I saw pitchers wearing this odd, bird-shaped face mask. Kinda took me by surprise at first, but I later realized, "wow, that's smart!"

Looked kinda like this.

We see the defensive masks all the time on the infielders, especially the corners and F1. In fact, at the Men's D Western last year, I'd say about 1 of every 3 F1's had them on.

Originally Posted by SRW

We see the defensive masks all the time on the infielders, especially the corners and F1. In fact, at the Men's D Western last year, I'd say about 1 of every 3 F1's had them on.

And it's not just the fast-pitch game anymore. The slow-pitch game, I'm seeing more and more pitchers wear all kinds of protection, from the hockey-style catcher's helmet to soccer shin guards to catcher's leg guards, even down to football linemen armpads on the non-pitching arm. On some occasion, I'll see batters (yes, batters in slow-pitch) wearing batting helmets because they're down-right frightened of getting whacked while running the bases.

[NCASAUmp]

Originally Posted by Ref Ump Welsch

And it's not just the fast-pitch game anymore. The slow-pitch game, I'm seeing more and more pitchers wear all kinds of protection, from the hockey-style catcher's helmet to soccer shin guards to catcher's leg guards, even down to football linemen armpads on the non-pitching arm. On some occasion, I'll see batters (yes, batters in slow-pitch) wearing batting helmets because they're down-right frightened of getting whacked while running the bases.

And frankly, I can't blame them. I had one fella last year get beaned in the side of the noggin from a throw to 1B from the shortstop. Poor guy got a concussion and had to be carted off by an ambulance.

I realize that in some cases, it looks silly. However, as I stated before, these are actually the smart ones. They value good health, and I'm all for that!