Throat protector....Yes or No?...Size?....Brand?, etc....

[wolfe_man]

9 minutes ago, GerryB said:

Anyone have this problem? I use a 6" throat protector. When there's a pop fly or something, I look up for the ball then when I look back down the protector has swung back and hooked the shell of my chest protector. Boom, off comes my mask. And I do have the throat guard in the right place and my Douglas pads are up to my neck. Thoughts? 4"?

Do you have a pic of you in your stance with gear on?  One from the front and another from the side.  The pics will show if you need the longer or shorter.  I'd recommend staying long.

I've had this issue before too.  Slight adjustments in tracking the ball can help it stop doing that.

[GerryB]

22 minutes ago, wolfe_man said:

Do you have a pic of you in your stance with gear on?  One from the front and another from the side.  The pics will show if you need the longer or shorter.  I'd recommend staying long.

I've had this issue before too.  Slight adjustments in tracking the ball can help it stop doing that.

Great thanks, I will do that. I should have had the picture from the start.

I should have been more specific too - this happens with clearly foul pops on urban summer ball fields where I have to know where the ball goes*, but I won't take my mask off for them. 

*basketball courts, homeless encampment, busy playground all behind the backstop and balls into these areas have sparked unfortunate reactions you need to be aware of.

[Aging_Arbiter]

IF I look up to find it, mask comes off and I then look at the catcher.......I'm not going to get trucked by anyone going for the out.  It will either be foul.......or he will take you to the ball.

[SeeingEyeDog]

8 hours ago, GerryB said:

Anyone have this problem? I use a 6" throat protector. When there's a pop fly or something, I look up for the ball then when I look back down the protector has swung back and hooked the shell of my chest protector. Boom, off comes my mask. And I do have the throat guard in the right place and my Douglas pads are up to my neck. Thoughts? 4"?

I haven't had one pop off my mask...yet. But, yes...I have this problem, too. I have taken to reflexively flicking at the throat guard whenever I tilt my head back.

I'm sure someone who has been to pro school will be along shortly to tell me I either need to stop doing this...or give up my dream forever of working the hologram plate for the Universe Series between the Trandoshans and the Ithorians...

~Dawg

[BT_Blue]

On 8/5/2021 at 5:00 AM, Thunderheads said:

I bolded what I was referring to

 

On 8/5/2021 at 5:36 AM, ArchAngel72 said:

@BT_Blue  I believe we are all wondering is , are you retiring?  OR did you not umpire this year?

Or are you taking next year off?

 

(Said in my best Frau Blucher impression) oohhh... date.

My last game for this year was 4th of July. As for next season... we shall see.

I dont want to hijack this. So I won't get into it more. I'll probably do my own post on it some time down the road.

[boyinr]

Just picked up an Adidas Icon and already put the TW pads and a 6” Wilson TG before it ever sees a pitch.  

[Scissors]

55 minutes ago, boyinr said:

Just picked up an Adidas Icon and already put the TW pads and a 6” Wilson TG before it ever sees a pitch.  

Show us! Here's my lineup: 

Adidas Icon with black mag pads and Zett

Adidas Icon with leather mag pads and 6" Champro

[Thunderheads]

Sorry to revive this, but this just a little PSA:

Throat guard ...... YES!!!!!!!!!!   My Samurai Shovel just could have saved me on Monday night.  Varsity, kid probably hitting low, maybe mid-80s?  Foul straight back into my  TG and upper area of my Douglas.  I stayed low after the shot, hands on knees and gathered myself ..felt fine, but had to take the TG out of the top of my CP (ball pushed it back and just at the right angle).

I'm fine, but ... without that TG there, .... I'm not sure what would have happened.   It was those thoughts after the game that concerned me, and made me want to share with you all.

Thunderheads = TOTALLY pro TG  

[wolfe_man]

16 minutes ago, Thunderheads said:

Sorry to revive this, but this just a little PSA:

Throat guard ...... YES!!!!!!!!!!   My Samurai Shovel just could have saved me on Monday night.  Varsity, kid probably hitting low, maybe mid-80s?  Foul straight back into my  TG and upper area of my Douglas.  I stayed low after the shot, hands on knees and gathered myself ..felt fine, but had to take the TG out of the top of my CP (ball pushed it back and just at the right angle).

I'm fine, but ... without that TG there, .... I'm not sure what would have happened.   It was those thoughts after the game that concerned me, and made me want to share with you all.

Thunderheads = TOTALLY pro TG  

Makes two of us.  Twice in the past two years I've taken throat shots while wearing a TG that would have probably crushed my larynx without having it on!

Both times it saved me, but I was left wondering what might have been had I NOT been wearing one...

I only wish we had better options available in the USA for lesser cost.  I hate spending $50+ on throat guards from Japan, but I hate the shoe-horn styles that are available here for $10-12

I like the Spyder's and Shovel's and Zett's.   The Zett is huge and thick and really is a great protector!

[LRZ]

Why would someone not wear a TG? As amateurs, we all have our lives outside of baseball to live as healthily as possible--why risk a serious, incapacitating injury? I'm a firm believer in wearing virtually any protective gear we think necessary.

[ArchAngel72]

I took a fouled back ball to the TG this year also.

It stopped the game for a few, I was fine but the Def Coach insisted the catcher walk the ball back to the mound.

Did I feel it yeah but on the mask pads and on the CP from where it pushed against them. It did a great job.

Here are my two. Only two updates not shown in picture. They both have the visor and AS flex harness now.. OOPS edit.  I also took off the older mag pad and put a top TW black pad on the silver mask to bring it down lower on the visor. that old black mag pad is a little too tall for my taste in where it stick the window.

 

 

[Stan W.]

I never needed a throat guard until the day I needed one....and haven't worked a game since without one........

[ErichKeane]

FWIW, this thread convinced me not long ago.  I picked up the F3 one and it gets in the way significantly less than I expected.  The hanging-kind ALWAYS annoyed me as a catcher, but I think the 'higher' chest protector makes it not get caught up at all.

[boyinr]

I have always worn a 6”. Then I got a Nike TI and an Adidas Icon. The 6” was just not working with the existing frame extension and my CP. I start every game with and remove it by third inning. I was left with a few options

1.  Go without one. Not a fan. 
2.  Chop the frame and incur the wrath of @MadMax
3.  Sell it. I really like it.  Thanks @Whosyourcaddy
 

During a couple of MLB games last week I noticed the PU with Nike frames wearing a 4” TG. I know one of them was Ryan Additon on the Red Sox Yankees game Sunday.  Today I picked up a 4” and I think that might be the ticket.  At least it is something to fill the void and stop the direct impact. 
 
 

[MadMax]

4 hours ago, boyinr said:

2.  Chop the frame and incur the wrath of @MadMax

Not wrath. Contempt. There’s a difference. 🤨 😉 

Would you take the sculpted fenders off an Aston-Martin DB10, just so you can bolt on oversized snow tires (you know, “for safety and comfort”), that would otherwise rub on the wheel wells? Would ya?! 

You’re a freakin’ barbarian if ya do. 

[BT_Blue]

2 minutes ago, MadMax said:

Not wrath. Contempt. There’s a difference. 🤨 😉 

Would you take the sculpted fenders off an Aston-Martin DB10, just so you can bolt on oversized snow tires (you know, “for safety and comfort”), that would otherwise rub on the wheel wells? Would ya?! 

You’re a freakin’ barbarian if ya do. 

My problem, and I think @tpatiencehas a bit of the same mean streak, is that I enjoy poking the bear that is MadMax on the "cut off the horn the Nike".

I know... I'm sick in the head and should probably seek help (not for messing with Max but for chopping a Nike). But I just can't help myself.

[tpatience]

4 hours ago, BT_Blue said:

My problem, and I think @tpatiencehas a bit of the same mean streak, is that I enjoy poking the bear that is MadMax on the "cut off the horn the Nike".

I know... I'm sick in the head and should probably seek help (not for messing with Max but for chopping a Nike). But I just can't help myself.

 

8 hours ago, boyinr said:

I have always worn a 6”. Then I got a Nike TI and an Adidas Icon. The 6” was just not working with the existing frame extension and my CP. I start every game with and remove it by third inning. I was left with a few options

1.  Go without one. Not a fan. 
2.  Chop the frame and incur the wrath of @MadMax
3.  Sell it. I really like it.  Thanks @Whosyourcaddy
 

During a couple of MLB games last week I noticed the PU with Nike frames wearing a 4” TG. I know one of them was Ryan Additon on the Red Sox Yankees game Sunday.  Today I picked up a 4” and I think that might be the ticket.  At least it is something to fill the void and stop the direct impact. 
 
 

He’s all talk, he won’t actually do anything 😂😂

[ArchAngel72]

16 hours ago, boyinr said:

 Today I picked up a 4” and I think that might be the ticket.  At least it is something to fill the void and stop the direct impact. 
 
 

Please before actually doing a game take out the mask and CP on and make sure when you are down the Guard WILL hit the CP and stop.  If its not long enough and just swings up and out of the way, it is NOT doing its job.   Everyone is different in size and build and I know now after being taught how to hang the TG and how its supposed to work, that a 4 inch one is WAY to short for me.

"something to fill the void"  does not leave me with a warm fuzzy feeling it will function correctly.  I would hate like heck to see someone get hurt due to that. 

[boyinr]

On 8/16/2022 at 10:48 PM, BT_Blue said:

My problem, and I think @tpatiencehas a bit of the same mean streak, is that I enjoy poking the bear that is MadMax on the "cut off the horn the Nike".

I know... I'm sick in the head and should probably seek help (not for messing with Max but for chopping a Nike). But I just can't help myself.

I would have never chopped the Nike!!! The Adidas on the other hand might have met the hacksaw.  Instead,  I am going to send it to Tony to get it powder coated flat black and load it with TW tans. 

[midtnump]

On 8/16/2022 at 5:33 PM, boyinr said:

I have always worn a 6”. Then I got a Nike TI and an Adidas Icon. The 6” was just not working with the existing frame extension and my CP. I start every game with and remove it by third inning. I was left with a few options

1.  Go without one. Not a fan. 
2.  Chop the frame and incur the wrath of @MadMax
3.  Sell it. I really like it.  Thanks @Whosyourcaddy
 

During a couple of MLB games last week I noticed the PU with Nike frames wearing a 4” TG. I know one of them was Ryan Additon on the Red Sox Yankees game Sunday.  Today I picked up a 4” and I think that might be the ticket.  At least it is something to fill the void and stop the direct impact. 
 
 

I love the 4"  throat protector. Like you I have the 6", but the 4" works a lot better. 

[BT_Blue]

5 hours ago, boyinr said:

I would have never chopped the Nike!!! The Adidas on the other hand might have met the hacksaw.  Instead,  I am going to send it to Tony to get it powder coated flat black and load it with TW tans. 

The only regret I have ever had with a mask (ok... there are two, but the second is just a bit of a case of traders remorse) was having Tony chop a Nike Titanium I had acquired. Especially when if I was going to do it, to do it to the Nike Titanial (basically steel) that I also had.

Chopping it made it a little harder to sell and when it did, for less money than I would have liked had it been intact.

(The second one was agreeing to trade a Rawlings TI frame for a AS MAG frame. Not actually making the deal. But forgetting that I had sent the Rawlings to Tony to do in Gunmetal and it looked AWESOME!)

[MadMax]

13 hours ago, BT_Blue said:

Especially when if I was going to do it, to do it to the Nike Titanial (basically steel) that I also had.

And my biggest regret is not acquiring this Icon Titanal from you. 

For those recent to our U-E readership, Titanal is a proprietary name for an Aluminum+Steel alloy that brings the best traits of the two metals together – lightweight-ness and resistance to deformation of aluminum, with just enough malleability and “clean” welding of steel. Aside from (cast) magnesium, this Titanal is the holy grail of umpire masks.  

[BT_Blue]

8 hours ago, MadMax said:

And my biggest regret is not acquiring this Icon Titanal from you. 

For those recent to our U-E readership, Titanal is a proprietary name for an Aluminum+Steel alloy that brings the best traits of the two metals together – lightweight-ness and resistance to deformation of aluminum, with just enough malleability and “clean” welding of steel. Aside from (cast) magnesium, this Titanal is the holy grail of umpire masks.  

I would have been more than happy to have sold it to you. I don't even remember where it went to.