Gear of hypocrisy

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Feb 25, 2020
953
93
I think without facemask this is a shoulder to shoulder hit. I think these are above average players as well(elite maybe?). Gets worse with less skill.

Screenshot_20210304-233121.pngScreenshot_20210304-233129.pngScreenshot_20210304-233336.png

Ideally for me, the baserunners should be forced to remove the steel cage. Just like they do all the other armor in the MLB. They can take a scrape to their face.
 
Apr 20, 2018
4,581
113
SoCal
Would love to see video of that play. Stealing home? What the heck is the umpire doing. The ump doesn't move an inch. Back to the original question, the cage hurting a defensive player is going to be very rare.
 
Feb 25, 2020
953
93
Would love to see video of that play. Stealing home? What the heck is the umpire doing. The ump doesn't move an inch. Back to the original question, the cage hurting a defensive player is going to be very rare.

I linked it previously go look for it.
 
Nov 18, 2013
2,255
113
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.

View attachment 21230

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.

These are adults who are able to weigh the risks and choose for themselves. Whether or not it affects their ability to hit the ball is up to them. The pitching they see in college is nothing like they’ve experienced in HS or travel so it doesn’t surprise me they want every real or perceived advantage they can get. If they believe a face mask inhibits their vision, it will. That doesn’t make them idiots.
 
Apr 20, 2018
4,581
113
SoCal
" If they believe a face mask inhibits their vision, it will. That doesn’t make them idiots. "
But if the reason they now believe a face mask inhibits their vision (it doesn't) is because macho college coach told them that only sissy wear mask then it doesn't make the idiots just gullible.
 

Strike2

Allergic to BS
Nov 14, 2014
2,044
113
These are adults who are able to weigh the risks and choose for themselves. Whether or not it affects their ability to hit the ball is up to them. The pitching they see in college is nothing like they’ve experienced in HS or travel so it doesn’t surprise me they want every real or perceived advantage they can get. If they believe a face mask inhibits their vision, it will. That doesn’t make them idiots.

College students may legally be "adults", but that doesn't have anything to do with this. There are plenty of demonstrable idiots well past early-adulthood. When I was in college and for a few years later (decades ago), I thought I was indestructible. I took risks that had little to no reward, even in the near-term. I'm very lucky that I didn't suffer an injury that would have literally changed the whole path of my life, or simply ended it. That's the "wisdom" that age and experience brings. Someone who risks life-altering consequences for an imagined near-term advantage is an idiot, regardless of age.
 
Apr 16, 2010
924
43
Alabama
DD was hit in the face mask by a Michigan signee a week ago. The ump was giving her about 6" off the plate so DD was dug in on top of the batters box line. The pitcher is good enough she isn't scared to come inside and DD wasn't going to back down after the first pitch was just inside about thigh level. Next pitch was up and in at eye level. The ball was barely off the plate inside and just clipped the front of her mask.

I am pretty sure DD will wear a mask next year in college because this was probably the 10 time this has happened during the time she has been playing. Best one was in 10U when the opposing pitcher was absolutely slinging it. It caught the front corner of her mask and spun her helmet almost completely sideways and snapped the chin strap. the had "carpet" burns on her ears from the padding but thankfully that was the worst of it.
 
Apr 20, 2018
4,581
113
SoCal
Evolving in the right direction. Only 19 of the 672 skaters to appear in an NHL game this season are skating without a visor. And every player that started in the NHL after 2013 is mandated to wear one.
 

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