Gear of hypocrisy

[torpedo #8]

Is anyone ridiculing someone who IS wearing a helmet cage? Seems the other way around.. My point is that I'm not for ridiculing anyone, whether they choose to not wear one or not.

I stated that I thought the aesthetic of not wearing one looked pretty good, I also commented why is it mandated for TB and rec leagues when it is not mandated for travel baseball and little league when the metrics are seemingly very similar (pitched ball flight time, reaction time, etc).

TB does not mandate fielders masks, so why mandate helmet cage when the probabilities of getting struck in the face are IMO higher for fielders than they are for batters.

I never said you were or anyone on here today. In previous discussions on this form people criticized players for wearing protective equipment. I agree if you want to wear it, wear it. If not, that's on you

 

[knuckleballer]

My DD was in HS when face masks were first required. She and all of her teammates were dead set against them. In their minds the face masks were just necessary to pacify overly cautious adults.

But, wouldn't you know, during the first league game of the season, a teammate swung at a high and tight pitch that foul tipped directly into her new face mask. The ball hit her mask so hard it pushed her helmet off the back of her head so the mask was touching her nose. But no injury. I can't imagine how bad the injury would have been if she didn't have the mask.

On another note, Bonesaw mentioned the possibility of a baserunner with a face cage doing damage to a fielder. I never saw that happen but, before face masks, I saw plenty of baserunners get a bruised or bloodied face from an opposing infielder who put a full-swing swipe tag directly to the sliding baserunner's face. As the first base coach I found myself calling time out and running to second to make sure my player was not only okay but to make sure she didn't pop up to exact some revenge. Unintentional or not, they usually took the ball and glove to the face kind of personal.

 

[newnin]

On another note, Bonesaw mentioned the possibility of a baserunner with a face cage doing damage to a fielder. I never saw that happen but, before face masks, I saw plenty of baserunners get a bruised or bloodied face from an opposing infielder who put a full-swing swipe tag directly to the sliding baserunner's face. As the first base coach I found myself calling time out and running to second to make sure my player was not only okay but to make sure she didn't pop up to exact some revenge. Unintentional or not, they usually took the ball and glove to the face kind of personal.

Now that I think about it, I did see a lot of face tags at the 10u and 12u level that were stopped by the facemask. No matter how many times we worked on tags, they would always seem to put that tag up high.

 

[Bonesaw]

My DD was in HS when face masks were first required. She and all of her teammates were dead set against them. In their minds the face masks were just necessary to pacify overly cautious adults.

But, wouldn't you know, during the first league game of the season, a teammate swung at a high and tight pitch that foul tipped directly into her new face mask. The ball hit her mask so hard it pushed her helmet off the back of her head so the mask was touching her nose. But no injury. I can't imagine how bad the injury would have been if she didn't have the mask.

On another note, Bonesaw mentioned the possibility of a baserunner with a face cage doing damage to a fielder. I never saw that happen but, before face masks, I saw plenty of baserunners get a bruised or bloodied face from an opposing infielder who put a full-swing swipe tag directly to the sliding baserunner's face. As the first base coach I found myself calling time out and running to second to make sure my player was not only okay but to make sure she didn't pop up to exact some revenge. Unintentional or not, they usually took the ball and glove to the face kind of personal.

Ill tell you what Ive had my bell rung quite a few times. Everything from shots from opposing players to slamming into the ground at 20 mph. Then add on explosions.

https://www.discussfastpitch.com/threads/leave-your-helmet-on.40178/

Concussions are no joke. In hindsight, I'd rather get stitches, break bones in my face, or lose teeth than take shots like that. A scrape from some leather is not what Im worried about.

 

[newnin]

Ill tell you what Ive had my bell rung quite a few times. Everything from shots from opposing players to slamming into the ground at 20 mph. Then add on explosions.

https://www.discussfastpitch.com/threads/leave-your-helmet-on.40178/

Concussions are no joke. In hindsight, I'd rather get stitches, break bones in my face, or lose teeth than take shots like that. A scrape from some leather is not what Im worried about.

Saying a scrape from some leather makes me think you have never been tagged before. Ball inside of a glove, from a quick tag, hitting nose and teeth is definitely not a scrape from some leather.

 

[AW95SY]

Ill tell you what Ive had my bell rung quite a few times. Everything from shots from opposing players to slamming into the ground at 20 mph. Then add on explosions.

https://www.discussfastpitch.com/threads/leave-your-helmet-on.40178/

Concussions are no joke. In hindsight, I'd rather get stitches, break bones in my face, or lose teeth than take shots like that. A scrape from some leather is not what Im worried about.

Not sure how wearing a cage increases the likelihood of a concussion, or am I reading this wrong?

 

[Strike2]

You don't have to wear some "gladiator" mask on your helmet to be well protected. There are masks with with great visibility that fit on most helmets.



DD has fouled a couple of balls into her mask over the years, but has been hit in the face with a high/tight pitch more than that. It's not common to be hit in the face at the plate, but it's like a baseball catcher not wearing a cup. If you play enough, it will probably happen, and only takes one time for some serious and potentially life altering injury to occur. Similarly, if you slide enough, you're going to take a ball or tag to the head. Having a helmet and mask on can easily prevent injury.

The notion that wearing a facemask (helmet or fielding) presents a hazard to others or somehow makes you more vulnerable to injury is nonsense. I guess we can debate whether something should be a rule, but IMO, someone who doesn't wear some sort of face protection while at bat is an idiot.

 

[Bonesaw]

Not sure how wearing a cage increases the likelihood of a concussion, or am I reading this wrong?

For some reason Im not a fan of steel for PPE in sports where person to person collisions occur. Call me crazy. Maybe because It tends to be harder and less bendy than every other thing it comes into contact with.

I would like it if they made them removeable for baserunning.

 

[Rolling Hard]

For some reason Im not a fan of steel for PPE in sports where person to person collisions occur. Call me crazy. Maybe because It tends to be harder and less bendy than every other thing it comes into contact with.

I would like it if they made them removeable for baserunning.

Oh boy! The chance of the cage hurting an infielder compare to a chance of a foul ball hurting a batter or a hard tag hurting a runner is not even remotely comparable.

 

[Bonesaw]

Oh boy! The chance of the cage hurting an infielder compare to a chance of a foul ball hurting a batter or a hard tag hurting a runner is not even remotely comparable.

Ask maddie about that

Edit: removeable implies they take it off after they reach base.