MASK

[anonlooker]

If you can force your way to read the whole article here are some points:
Over a 5year period
767 facial injuries reported from the survey
42% were sports related equaling 322 incidents
17% where female equaling 54 incidents
23% of those where from baseball and softball equaling 12 incidents.
It goes on to say the majority of injuries were to batters.
It also goes on to state in the past 2 decades, the incidence and severity of facial trauma from all causes have steadily declined, and only 12% of all injuries are sports related.
Hardly and epidemic and I do not ascribe to the theory that if it saves one it is worth it. So I leave my argument at "leave it up to the individual"

Flame on

So in your opinion if 12 out of 100 girls suffer facial damage because a parent, such as yourself, will not make them wear face protection, for whatever reason, then that is OKAY!!!! That is as long as it is not your daughter that gets hurt.
I really feel sorry for you and I really hope and pray your dd never gets hurt because I don't know if you could live with yourself knowing you could have prevented it.

Pretty sure it's 12 "incidents", out of 767 facial injuries, or 1.5% of facial injuries, as opposed to 12% by your reckoning... a huge difference. And when you consider a "facial injury" might include minor injuries such as abrasions or bruises, the risk of a serious injury is significantly less than even 1.5%.

Now, try to calculate the odds of a serious facial injury... how many opportunities are there for the injury to occur... every pitched ball, I would warrant, millions and millions over the course of a season... and in the whole country there were only 767 facial injuries in all sports...

you have a better chance of winning the lottery than of your DD suffering a serious facial injury from a batted ball...

That said, and speaking to John's question, kids have a much greater statistical chance of being injured in an automobile accident. That is why when mine gets her license to drive, she will have to wear a helmet. But still no mask!

[neverhere]

Interesting stats, Batters????? Could injuries be declining because more girls are using masks?

Why did I get a mask for my DD? Oh ya.... I've seen a couple kids take one, the first I know the other got an ambulance ride and not sure how she ended up. OK, the one I know (not my DD) didn't have any broken bones or concussion, just the nastiest black eye and her eye turned blood red. Not in the stats I'm sure. It took this kid 3-4 months before she would get back on the mound, the following 10-12 months if the ball got hit back at her she would start crying and couldn't pitch anymore. I'm sure there are more that are not in these stats that have mental problems as a result, or worse never pitch again.

There are gifted kids out there that make fielding the ball look easy and you just have to say WOW! They usually aren't pitchers, anyone that has a pitcher for a DD knows how hard they work to be even a good pitcher, the coaches pull them aside during practice to work on pitching, they get pulled aside to warm up for games, they get less time to work on fielding than other players.

My DD works way to hard to be a pitcher to take the gamble.

[anonlooker]

Interesting stats, Batters????? Could injuries be declining because more girls are using masks?

Why did I get a mask for my DD? Oh ya.... I've seen a couple kids take one, the first I know the other got an ambulance ride and not sure how she ended up. OK, the one I know (not my DD) didn't have any broken bones or concussion, just the nastiest black eye and her eye turned blood red. Not in the stats I'm sure. It took this kid 3-4 months before she would get back on the mound, the following 10-12 months if the ball got hit back at her she would start crying and couldn't pitch anymore. I'm sure there are more that are not in these stats that have mental problems as a result, or worse never pitch again.

There are gifted kids out there that make fielding the ball look easy and you just have to say WOW! They usually aren't pitchers, anyone that has a pitcher for a DD knows how hard they work to be even a good pitcher, the coaches pull them aside during practice to work on pitching, they get pulled aside to warm up for games, they get less time to work on fielding than other players.

My DD works way to hard to be a pitcher to take the gamble.

There are probably hundreds of causes of mental problems in teenaged girls... I doubt getting hit by a ball ranks anywhere near the top the list!

And if the worst thing that happens to my kid in her life is that she never pitches again... well I'd have to figure the Gods are smiling on her!

"Or worse never pitch again"... Geez, where's your perspective? You think that's worse than mental problems? Really? No issue with mental problems, eh bub? Like friends are they, those voices in your head?

And really, most pitchers I've seen play on the infield when they're not pitching, and many of them make it look easy too. Kinda funny how the Ps also tend to be pretty solid fielders, isn't it? So baloney on this silliness that pitchers can't field.

Did you just come over from soccer or something?

Hmmm... here's a little something for you to play with when The Voices hit a crescendo...

[Bring it]

Spazdad:

For the record, you have no idea how I view things in my life. I agree that way to many decisions have been made that take away the rights of people to take care of themselves and have"dumbed down" America. I do not believe in zero tolerance in school...every case should be evaluated. I do not vote a straight ticket in politics because...well, there are many reasons for that, but mainly I believe each and every candidate should be evaluated. I do not believe in big government, etc., etc. etc.

I do, however, strongly believe that adults (and I am using adults as opposed to parents) have a major responsibility to do everything we can to protect children in society. Some adults simply do not take this job seriously, and as a result other adults are forced into making decisions they would prefer not to for the protection of the children. I do not like playing that role...I wish all adults would be responsible with their decisions...unfortunately that is not the case. Even with protecting children, I believe each situation should be evaluated. I simply feel the mask is an inexpensive way to save thousands of dollars in potential injuries or even death.

And by the way, if you make the decision for your child not to wear the mask, and she is injured, it does effect others. Insurance companies pass their costs through to other clients. If you do not have insurance, these costs are passed down through the hospitals. So yes, your decisions do ultimately affect me and others.

Above all, wearing the mask offers protection for the child so that they do not possibly have to go through life scarred because of the decison of an adult that should have been protecting them. I agree that we cannot eliminate all danger for our children in life, or even in this game. However, the mask does not tarnish the game, does not slow down the game, and as one parent stated, may even make her child more aggressive as a fielder because she does not fear getting hit in the face. It is a very cost effective way of protecting the three positions in the direct line of fire.

If my belief that protecting the girls should rise above everthing else in this discussion offends your sensibilities and makes me the bad guy, so be it. That, I assure you, will not ruin my day.

[outofnowhere]

Your cetainly working that analogy hard but wouldn't using your analogy the pitchers mask be more akin to the seat belt and seat belt law? Not driving would be anlagous to not playing and I don't believe anyone has suggested this as an injury preventer. If you truly believe it to be so rare and freakish I can accept that argument, but I think this is something that is trending to occur more, not less and too many people view this in terms of "didn't need it when I was a kid" which isn't relevant IMO

I will grant you that anecdotal evidence isn't debate, but I am sure there were people telling horrific stories about accidents where a seat belt could have saved lives prior to manufactures even accpeting that they should be standard equipment in cars.

Working it hard? You're being kind with that understatement. I was actually just trying to be really, really clear. The funny thing is that my first post was only intended to question the consistency of the thinking of folks. I had no intention of embarking on some cosmic crusade on behalf of one side, as suggested by my first statement in that post. Still not terribly interested.

Just to clarify, my "freakishly rare" comment was only related to teen driving accidents and was in no way intended to be applied to the frequency of the softball injuries being discussed.

I will offer this as what I consider a reasonable response to my own question: People aint Spock on Star Trek. Pure logic doesn't rule their lives and always dictate their opinions/actions. I may believe that kids should wear masks and should be required to do so. Even though the dangers from kids driving are greater and happen more often, and I am just as concerned about their safety, I'm okay with my kid starting to drive at 16. I will do what I can to promote her safety while doing so, but I will not stop her from driving.


I'm feeling pretty done with this about now.

John

THS AINT ABOUT DRIVING!!!!! OK, I THINK WHEN MY DD STARTS DRIVING I AM GOING TO MAKE HER WEAR A MASK IN THE CAR..... NOW DOES THAT MAKE YOU HAPPY SQUIRREL SHOT??


I STARTED A THREAD FOR YOU SO YOU CAN GO THERE AND BLABBER ALL YOU WANT ABOUT TEEN DRIVING.... THIS THREAD IS ABOUT THE MASK.

WEAR THE MASK, WEAR THE MASK, WEAR IT, WEAR IT!!!!!

[neverhere]

Very funny! The voice I hear says eat the rabbit, eat the rabbit, rabbit good!

The kids that come back after taking one to the head, face there fear works though it and are better for it. This is a stud in my book and hats off to the parents and coaches that help them thought it. You now have a kid that learned a great life lesson.

"or worse never pitches again" FYI the meaning: These kids never face the fear, ether the parents won't let them back or they just don't want to, they have to live with it for the rest of there lives wondering WHAT IF. Her kids most likely will never get a chance to play softball because of her fear. I believe this is worse.

Anonlooker, If your DD is on a 14u on up A team and is the starting pitcher and SS. Congratulations! You have the golden ticket to a D1 school. You should be very proud. IMO, most (not all) pitcher are not as good at fielding grounders as other player that spend more time fielding. I'm not saying they can't field or they're not good, just not AS good. They catch the ball better than most as they spend more time catching, that's why most end up at 1B. This now should be in another post.

Here is a challenge, spend the next month live pitching to a 14u-18u A team from the front edge of the circle without anything but a glove. If you don't leave a bunny poop I will never answer a post again. Oh crap, I just stepped in some bunny POOP, never mind just a chocolate chip, thought you started early.

[outofnowhere]

i started a new thread for john and guess who the first person to respond was???? good ol' spaz... being that he is a moderator, i am sure he knows who each and every one of us are. i would hate to think that he can go around and tell other people who certain people on here are, but then again, this is HB, you never know???

if you don't wear the mask, you kid gets hit, you'll never live it down.... just think about it that way...

dream weaver, i can make it through the night

[outofnowhere]

i started a new thread for john and guess who the first person to respond was???? good ol' spaz... being that he is a moderator, i am sure he knows who each and every one of us are. i would hate to think that he can go around and tell other people who certain people on here are, but then again, this is HB, you never know???

if you don't wear the mask, you kid gets hit, you'll never live it down.... just think about it that way...

dream weaver, i can make it through the night

You really are an azzhat. To make such false statements speaks volumes of your ignorance, not that your posting record needed and buttressing. I have no more access to members identity than you do unless a court would order our server to supply those records. I could care less who you are and wouldn't know who to tell this information to that would give a damn.
However, with the posting pattern of some it is fairly easy to determine who people are.
I think I hear the cornfield calling.

seriously, what does that mean?? cornfield calling?? and thanka again spaz, your too kind..