Mask Watch

[knightsb]

Judson University

23 Katie Kirker FR P/OF R/R 5-6 Algonquin, IL Jacobs HS

 

[knightsb]

Virginia Intermont

 

[knightsb]

 

[chinamigarden]

LOL... I noticed that too!
I think her dad is an AC for Georgia.

Daddy ball? Actually I think people put too much emphasis on swimming because it's easy to spot. Plenty of good pitchers get away with it.

 

[4 girl's dad]

Cups, shin guards, helmets, or masks... its irrelevant! Protection comes in all forms. While we're at it, let's get rid of batting helmets too. If a pitcher can be expected field a batted ball traveling in speeds up to 90-95 mph, then batters should have no problem at all avoiding that measley 65 mph pitch.

EXACTLY!!!!!

It's just ignorant to say it means they have less confidence IMO. Me personally, I am much more gun shy now that I've been busted in the face than I was before. I've been hit a few times in the head in the last few years of coaching but after getting popped last year and still suffering from the damage, and probably will always have some issues, I recommend it to anyone who will listen. It was painful, set me out for a bit, and has been expensive. Plus the long term mental impact of when anyone says heads up, I'm ducking, FAST!! LOL



It was a missed warm up throw. Couldn't have been but 30-40 mph tops from a 10yr old. I kept all me teeth but had a deviated septum the is still messed up and will probably require another surgery down the road.

Why subject anyone in the infield to 60,70, maybe and 80 mph ball with no mask?


If anyone know a college coach that says no to the mask, please invite them to join DFP and let's have a grown up conversation on why they think the players don't need them.

 

[obbay]

I used to think hockey players who wore helmets looked feminine.
nowadays, it's basic equipment even though the game was played for years without helmets or goalie masks.

"...It seems pretty courageous for anyone to go into the goalie box without a mask. And Plante did just that. But, it took perhaps even more courage to enter the box wearing a mask. He was jeered and mocked by other players and the fans for years. I’m sure “sissy” wasn’t the only word that he was called. But, after a few years, other goalies thought it might be a pretty good idea and since one of the best did it, why not?"

I don't know who this guy is other than he was a goalie without a mask.
people who question the need for a mask are maybe not as obvious, but doing the same thing that fans did to voice their disapproval way back when Jacques Plante started wearing one.

...masks and helmets were not always the norm. It wasn’t until the late 70′s or early 80′s that players were required to wear helmets and even then, veteran players who began playing before the rule was put in place had the option. Gordie Howe played hockey until he was 51 years old and he never had his head covered.

there is always a "Gordie Howe" example, but there are also the examples of guys who would've lasted longer had they been wearing a helmet.

 

[obbay]

Baseball didn't used to have helmets and when they did, they didn't have earflaps
View attachment 5442
which weren't required until 1983 and then it was only new players, the others were grandfathered.

 

[chinamigarden]

The first baseball players to wear gloves were thought to be sissies. So what they thought in the 1880s , 1910, 1950, 1970 1983... Or 2005. It really doesn't matter what used to
Be. We know the risk and the equipment available
To reduce that risk. Let those who want to wear the mask
Without penalty

 

[CoachChristine]

I have pictures from an all star game in 1978. I'm at bat and there's a runner on first. Neither one of us was wearing a batting helmet. They were optional then and the league provided two of them for each team. I never wore one because I thought they were stinky and I couldn't hear out of them. There's no chance in Hades that I would ever let mine even bat at practice without one now. Kids are going to want to emulate their heroes, so I think this is going to have to start at the college level for it to become "acceptable" at the lower levels.

Oh, and I also have pictures from regular season the same year. Over the winter, I had been in a bicycle accident that damaged my top front teeth. I pitched the whole season with a catcher's mask on because I was scared of getting my temporary bridge knocked out and going through all of the dental pain again. I was so far ahead of my time, lol.

 

[crystlemc]

In our organization, we have a pitcher who is a Junior. She pitches 67-69mph, has a 5 year ride to USF, and wears a mask.