I've heard a few stories about plate umpires getting hit in the head with bats that slipped out of a players' hands. In a game last night, plate umpire Brian O'Nora (bio at MLB.com) was hit by a broken bat and suffered a cut on his head. You can see the video and read the full story here.
There's been some discussion about maple bats (and/or those with thinner handles) being more susceptible to breaking and that if they do break they do so in such a manner with they completely break off leaving most of the remaining bat vaulting out onto the field. (good article here on the subject)
And because bats frequently break and land away from the plate or even in the stands, my initial thought when I saw the headline was that it was a field umpire that had been hit by a flying bat. This was not the case, and the first time I've ever noticed a bat break off behind the batter.
Yes, the bat in this case was maple.
My suspicion is this could have been worse. Regardless, it's not hard to think that a hockey style helmet would have served Mr. Nora better.
But what if this was a field umpire who had been hit by a broken bat? Are we too far off from thinking that field umpires (or even the pitcher or other players) should wear some type of head protection? It's an interesting discussion, especially considering that 1st and 3rd base coaches in the minors and majors now require it in light of minor league coach Mike Coolbaugh's death a year ago by a line drive as he stood in the 1st base box.... not to mention the umpire that was killed late last year or early this one in a softball game by a batted ball as he stood between the pitcher's mound and 2nd base (note: could not find link to this story).
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5 comments:
Strangely enough I was hit in the head last week by a player who threw a bat after hitting a foul ball, and this was while I was in position behind the plate. I watched the bat get one full rotation and the handle caught the edge of my facemask while the head of the bat rotated around to catch the edge of my ear and strike me in the side/back of the head hard enough to break the skin from the impact. The bat in question was aluminum.
I have seriously thought about going to a hockey style mask after the incident, but I do wonder about visibility and ease of donning and offing the mask itself. And there is, of course, the often thought but rarely admitted issue of vanity in that a hockey style mask does not allow you to wear a hat. While that may seem a bit frivolous it's also important to remember that for an umpire appearance can be critical, from looking the part to how you appear to interact with other officials and players/managers/coaches, etc.
As far as the field protection goes, it's now fairly common to see softball players with translucent face masks in sub 16 age groups. It will be interesting to see if that translates upwards as they mature and if any of that will transfer over to the baseball equivalents.
i did a state tourment game,i know there know rule about throwing the bat, the bat hit me in the side off head and shoulder,he hit the ball but the bat hit me,i really beleave there should be a rule about throwing the bat,you should protect the ones you love to hate also.because some player do it because they dont like the call that was made,think about it thanks nate
I umpire a lot of minor league spring training and sim games in the Tampa area (when the PBUC guys are not scheduled). I am amazed the way bats are breaking. They used to crack, but not anymore. The seem to be breaking in pieces. Shards of bat go flying in all directions, or the bat splits in half entirely, with the bat head going flying off into the infield somewhere. Ash bats just don't do that. Maple bad. I take a nice piece of ash any day.
I personally think that the problem with the bat isnt the way they're made, but rather how players modify them after they get them. I mean, if you sand the handles down to nothing, a hard impact is going to cause the brittle handle to snap... it's simple science really.
I've thought about going over to the hockey style mask as well, but I'm mainly around aluminum bats so I wouldnt have to worry about one breaking, but instead a bat coming around and hitting me in the back of the head. Of course, it only makes sense that he would have been a lot better off with a hockey style mask.
And as far as protection for the field umpires go, I believe that they should at least have the option to wear a fielders helmet. The base coaches wear them now, so why couldnt they simply put the MLB logo on the front of a fielders helmet so that they'd at least have some protection for their head?
Super comments guys. Thanks for taking the time to share your thoughts.
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