Face Masks

My little league has 1 or 2 kids quit baseball every year because they got hit in the face with a baseball. With the younger kids(12U) it usually happens when using improper technique under a fly ball, taking a foul ball when they are waiting to bat(maybe this is one reason why LLBI did away with the on-deck batters) or taking a wild throw in the face sliding into a base. They seldom get hit in the face with a pitched ball.

The older kids get hit in the face with pitched balls(pitchers are experimenting with breaking pitches or throwing hard but wild), hard line drives and grounders or diving back to base on attempted pickoffs.

Here's what I did as league Safety Officer. I got the league to purchase enough wire face guards to equip 7 helmets for all 10 Minor league teams. The equipment manager was supposed to get them installed but unfortunately he didn't. I had bought a new helmet with faceguard for my 11 y/o son. I showed it to my team parents at our preseason meeting. I told them my son was going to wear one and I recommended their sons wear one too. I asked them to vote to make it mandatory for all the kids on the team to wear them. They did so unanimously and a dad volunteered to put them on. Yes, the kids bitched and moaned but were faced with a united front of parents and coaches. After the first inning of the first game, I never heard another whine. Many parents from other teams expressed favorable interest in the face guards. Our team hit well and ran the bases well finishing much higher than anyone predicted.

There are 3 types of face guards. The clear plastic kind that Charlie Hayes started using after getting his jaw broken by a pitch. These get really scratched up and soon become opaque. Another kind is a 3 or 4 inch piece of plastic that hangs down in front of the jaw on only one side. The one I recommend is the full wire guard. You have to have a good fitting helmet for each kid. I am thinking of getting an adjustable size Cooper helmet with wire face guard for those hard-to-fit kids.

The Consumer Products Safety Commission has done a "Study of Protective Equipment For Baseball" available online. The Worth Sports Co(maker of the Copperhead bat and RIF baseballs) sent me a large folder of hardcopy data supporting their marketing of Reduced Injury Factor(RIF) baseballs. That data can be used to suport the use of faceguards also. Their phone is (615) 455-0691. I don't have their website bookmarked if they have one.

I hope this helps. Good luck with it. Be sure to tell your league officials they better have good liability coverage in addition to medical/dental coverage if they don't go with faceguards, safety bases, etc.