Ball in play......mask on:
High pop up......mask off and discarded away from catcher:
Lenski, thank you for your POV. Although I don't agree with it, I can respect it. The problem I have is you being intentionally obtuse to the fact that you can't blame the catchers for doing what they were either taught to do, or told to do by their coach. This is the fact that you cannot hide from....had the catchers not removed their masks in the first place, none of these incidents would have happened. Whether you coach this at a higher level or not is irrelevant.
As for Ruiz and Molina, they are making millions to put their body on the line for a game. That's their job. I could care less about them and what they do. I care only for the catchers I teach and their safety. Don't get me wrong, they are two of the best catchers in MLB but again, they are getting paid to do what they are doing and if they get a career ending injury, they are still well compensated and have millions to retire on.
The last time I talked to them, which was never, and I'm mostly sure the same is true of you, you are assuming that visibility was the issue. Couldn't it be just as easy to assume that they pop their masks since they are uncomfortable in leaving them on after year, after year, after year of taking them off? Human nature is such that we abhor change. I would venture to say that had they practiced leaving them on for pop-ups at their respective much younger ages, they would be leaving them on now.
We see this more and more at the collegiate level in SB. The ones that were taught to leave them on, are comfortable with it and practiced with it on catching pop-ups have no issue catching them and leave them on. But, the ones that were taught to take them off do so. These same players, although paid in a certain fashion to play for their college of choice via Athletic Scholarship for some, have no golden parachute.
So riddle me this. Why do college athletes, upon receiving a career ending injury, almost always lose their Athletic Scholarship money? Wouldn't you think that with the kind of investment that these college coaches put into their recruits that they might actually want to protect them to the best of their ability like many of us on here? Are you on the same page as some college coaches saying that those players can easily be replaced by the next recruiting class or is it just another case of them perpetuating a myth that was based on past experiences with ancient equipment and it's limited visibility because they have never evolved in their positional teachings as the equipment has?
This game, whether it's strategy, catchers equipment, bats, balls, etc. etc. is always evolving. The best coaches, no matter the level, evolves with it or else they become extinct. The new catchers equipment has evolved from the olden days. Not to have your teachings evolve with it, whether you're like the rest of the human race or not, is simply nuts IMO.
Just remember, most of these players, whatever the level of play, have parents and we prefer to keep our child's face just the same as when we last saw them.
Last edited: