Another Pitcher Hit in the Face

[riseball]

I guess it depends on what is considered a more substantial risk. Outside the use of a mask and maybe an EvoShield for pitchers and infielders, my take is substantial risk has been mitigated. Balls to the shin, arm, shoulder etc hurt but they aren't nearly as bad as a potential major injury to the face/head and heart.

I pitched and played 3rd at high levels of BB. I can only remember having one shot hit at me at third where I was in a defensive position trying to get out of the way. It ripped the webbing out of my glove and still made it to the fence.

To your point one of the touted benefits of a face mask is that it may prevent death. Given that a youth playing baseball/softball is twice as likely to die from a shot to the heart vs the head how do you reconcile parents having their child take the field in a bulky mask with its attached stigma and NOT wearing an unobtrusive heart guard? And why are baseball parents not nearly as passionate about this issue as softball parents?

I feel that it is inevitable that at some point masks like helmets become standard gear. It will be interesting to see what if any other injuries increase as a result.

 

[RubberBiscuit]

a local pitcher in the last 2 weeks where the human reaction to turn the head away from the incoming ball acted in time to take the facemask worn out of the picture and clocked her square on the side of the head.

I dunno man - I teeter back n forth with even bringing it up to DD that gives me the evil eye when I even think about the topic.

 

[ddtimes4]

Good post...i have been struggling with this one. DD has the rip it and worth and both of them slip off and blind her mid pitch when she starts sweating... She caught two lines drives last week in the circle...one for a double play. I have to do something.

What's the best mask out there? Thanks in advance.

 

[knightsb]

Good post...i have been struggling with this one. DD has the rip it and worth and both of them slip off and blind her mid pitch when she starts sweating... She caught two lines drives last week in the circle...one for a double play. I have to do something.

What's the best mask out there? Thanks in advance.

DD has worn a rip-it since 10U. Sunday Schutt had a booth set up at the tournament and she tried on their titanium model. It weighs less than her rip-it with a much more comfortable chin cup design. We purchased one, but have yet to try it out. It was $55.

 

[Dabears17]

Actually, no the risks associated with not wearing a seat belt are substantial and well quantified. The point is that every day kids are exposed to much greater risks, which parents deem as perfectly acceptable than not wearing a mask while playing softball. It is typically based on emotion that parents choose to mitigate some risks while refusing to acknowledge or disregard others. You cannot help but notice that there is a level of hysteria surrounding the use of masks by female softball players which is virtually non-existent in the realm boys baseball.

My daughter wears a mask of her own choice after getting hit in the forehead last year. This past weekend she was concerned when the strap came off her facemask and wanted it fixed before she pitched. She gave up one run and two hits in 6 1/3rd innings pitched in an 8u tournament this past weekend. Her coach thinks masks are unnecessary, but still pitches my daughter.

I know its anecdotal, but she loaned her mask to a 6th grade male baseball pitcher to use after he get in the eye by a bad hop grounder during practice a few weeks ago.

 

[00fpdaddy]

Actually, no the risks associated with not wearing a seat belt are substantial and well quantified. The point is that every day kids are exposed to much greater risks, which parents deem as perfectly acceptable than not wearing a mask while playing softball. It is typically based on emotion that parents choose to mitigate some risks while refusing to acknowledge or disregard others. You cannot help but notice that there is a level of hysteria surrounding the use of masks by female softball players which is virtually non-existent in the realm boys baseball.

Riseball, I love your posts, and your dd and you(bucket dad) made it thru to play at high travel level and to excel at college. Stop with the boys baseball non sense though. At 10U girls are playing 35-45 feet at the corners and pitching at 35 feet. Even you know that a good pitcher and a batter with sound mechaniques that the ball will rocket thru the middle or hot shots at the corners. Move up to 12u, 40 feet, 14u 43 feet. Corners pretty much the same playing distance. I forget the distances for the boys but I think by the time their 14 they pitch and 60'9in and 90' foot basepaths. They slowly move up the basepath distances while the girls play at 60' feet from 10u from the get go. Point of the post, girls have a less reaction time to field than the boys. There is a utube clip comparing the differences for boys and girls and their reaction times. Cant find it now, working.

 

[knightsb]

On a somewhat related note, the fields we played on this last weekend had dugout openings as close as I have seen to the batters box. All weekend long I reminded the girls if they had a direct line of sight to the batter, that meant a foul ball could also hit them. Sure enough, our last game Sunday, we were on the 1B side and one of our own RH batters fouled one right into our dugout. All the girls looked at me like I actually knew what I was talking about (a rare occurrence, I know).

 

[RetiredCoach]

Good post...i have been struggling with this one. DD has the rip it and worth and both of them slip off and blind her mid pitch when she starts sweating... She caught two lines drives last week in the circle...one for a double play. I have to do something.

What's the best mask out there? Thanks in advance.

The reason that my daughter did not have a mask on and, subsequently, got hit in the face was because she had issues with her plastic face mask and we couldn't fix it in time. She now wears a Schutt and is happy with it as is her sister.

 

[Amy in AZ.]

I wear Gameface. It was the first one available, years ago. The bottom of the plastic is broken on the chin portion, so I am in the market for a new one. I am happy to say, that most of my players wear them.

Evoshield is a great product to protect my heart. You don't even notice it. And, of course, I did not have it on this morning when i got hit.

 

[ddtimes4]

Definitely like the chin design on that Schutt. I will give it a shot. Thanks a bunch!