Say yes or no to the face mask?

[dbronstein]

I don't care about beer leagues. Iowa is ready to mandate that all female infielders were facemasks in HighSchool (fast pitch) It's sexism and nothing more, no reports of any serious injuries, no reports of deaths. I played hundreds of games, watched hundreds of others, nobody was ever hurt.
Parents, if you're so concerned, don't let them play. It is actually that simple, stop punishing female athletes, if they want to wear one, that's fine. NO MANDATES.
I was a pitcher, I was hit twice....I lived, life went on just fine. It's called a glove. Why is a teenage girls face more valuable than a boys? no mandates there....they're actually hurt more. Something deeper is at work here. Blame the parents, I haven't met one High school infielder that wants to wear one.

The difference is boys play much farther back in the infield. Comparing 12U for baseball and softball, baseball has 70 foot bases and the infielders usually play behind the baseline, and the pitchers are at 50 feet. In softball, the bases are 60 feet and many infielders, especially at third, play in front of the baseline, and the pitchers are at 40 feet. In high school, baseball has 90 foot bases and pitchers at 60 feet, again with the infielders playing behind the baselines. Softball still has 60 foot bases and pitchers at 43 feet. My son played a lot of thirdbase in 12U this spring - he was usually 75 feet from the batter. My daughter played a lot of firstbase in 10U, she was usually about 55 feet from the batter. Softball players are much closer to the batter than baseball players.

I'm not arguing for mandating masks, just pointing out that it's not an issue of gender. It's an issue of how close the fielders are to the batters. If you are going to say that softball infielders and pitchers should wear them, then you can certainly make a case that baseball pitchers should wear them as well. But the baseball infielders are much farther back than the softball infielders.

 

[riseball]

The difference is boys play much farther back in the infield. Comparing 12U for baseball and softball, baseball has 70 foot bases and the infielders usually play behind the baseline, and the pitchers are at 50 feet. In softball, the bases are 60 feet and many infielders, especially at third, play in front of the baseline, and the pitchers are at 40 feet. In high school, baseball has 90 foot bases and pitchers at 60 feet, again with the infielders playing behind the baselines. Softball still has 60 foot bases and pitchers at 43 feet. My son played a lot of thirdbase in 12U this spring - he was usually 75 feet from the batter. My daughter played a lot of firstbase in 10U, she was usually about 55 feet from the batter. Softball players are much closer to the batter than baseball players.

I'm not arguing for mandating masks, just pointing out that it's not an issue of gender. It's an issue of how close the fielders are to the batters. If you are going to say that softball infielders and pitchers should wear them, then you can certainly make a case that baseball pitchers should wear them as well. But the baseball infielders are much farther back than the softball infielders.

The claim that injuries are due to players not having the ability (time) to react is a pretty popular. Unfortunately except in rare circumstances science and empirical evidence does not back it up. Players may fail to react but only rarely do they not have the ability to react.

 

[29dad]

I think there are thousands of 3rd basemans that don't wear masks and play just as well as your daughter. In my experience the girls that did get full scholarships, had parents that never talked about it at the age of 14. It shouldn't be about money, it's about her wanting to play. The scholarship is about you. My daughter doesn't want to wear a mask, I have told her she absolutely should if she's afraid, she isn't. We don't talk about scholarships, we talk about the game. Whether she wants to play in College is entirely up to her. She has my support regardless. A 14 year old may feel differently about playing in College when she gets older. There is sacrifice (I can attest to that) and some are happy to stop playing at the High school level.

My only resposne is - wow, my DD was 14 when this thread began (16 now). I think the horse died somewhere around post #60, but the poor thing keeps getting beaten. Agree to disagree.

 

[Rocketech1]

The claim that injuries are due to players not having the ability (time) to react is a pretty popular. Unfortunately except in rare circumstances science and empirical evidence does not back it up. Players may fail to react but only rarely do they not have the ability to react.

Whether or not they fail to react or couldn't react in time doesn't really matter to me, the result is the same. Having a mask will prevent major injury to the face and that is a fact. As you know, pitchers are especially vulnerable immediately after they release the ball, they might be fatigued, they might slightly misjudge the line drive coming back at their head, or a hard hit ground ball can and will take a bad hop that no human reaction could account for, etc. As mentioned, it happened to DD a few weeks ago, line drive to stomach that she just couldn't get a glove on and she has stopped many line drives back to her over the years. That incident really drove home the point to me that she will never pitch without a mask. If TB coaches don't like players wearing masks than she won't be playing for them. Period!

 

[Eric F]

No, it's parents exploiting their girls injuries to ruin the game for the rest of the girls. Are these same parents demanding their boys wear masks? NO

How in the world does wearing a mask "ruin the game"? That statement is truly ridiculous.

I have long wondered why Little League doesn't require batting helmet masks, at a minimum. This makes no sense to me.

I grew up playing ice hockey with a full cage. I never questioned it, even though it's not what I saw the pros and college players doing (in those days, there were a few pros who didn't wear a helmet at all). We were required to wear a cage, so we wore a cage. Not one single time did it ever hinder our ability to play the game. However, it did prevent a lot of injuries. Today, a large majority of NHL players wear a partial face shield, and college players are required to wear full shield or cage.

IMO, the "I never needed one" argument is weak, at best.

 

[laker]

This thread has legs.

 

[29dad]

The thread that won't die. And I was the one who complained about beating a dead horse!! But I just read this great article from Stacie Mahoe and thought I would share.

Safety Equipment and Masks Necessary in Softball | StacieMahoe.com

 

[slingnit]

The thread that won't die. And I was the one who complained about beating a dead horse!! But I just read this great article from Stacie Mahoe and thought I would share.

Safety Equipment and Masks Necessary in Softball | StacieMahoe.com

I slaughtered this horse last Tuesday. I am afraid she's start'n to turn.

 

[Westwind]

Squirrel, Evert?

 

[slingnit]

But you ain't bona fide!