Official Review: Wilson MLB Titanium Umpire Mask with Two-Tone

[JimKirk]

Official Review: Wilson MLB Titanium Umpire Mask with Two-Tone

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[MadMax]

“… officially endorsed by Major League Baseball.” 

Ah-ha! Let it be known, that with this statement, the MLBU who addressed our group in 2015, and claimed / stated / decreed (whatever word is synonymous with “pompous self-deigned expert”) that “titanium masks are dangerous” is a liar, and/or doesn’t know* what he was talking about. 

@JimKirk, Ty has to be careful in what he states. Titanium is denser (more dense) than aluminum, true, but it is half as dense than steel. In fact, it has the highest strength-to-weight ratio of any (pure) metal. What this means, is that if you compare an Aluminum rod to a Titanium rod, with equal weight, the titanium will be thinner by 40%. By contrast, if comparing a Steel rod to a Titanium rod, with equal strength rating, the titanium will weigh half as much, as well as being half as dense. Thus, when you remove weight from both, you make the steel rod hollow, while the titanium rod can be thinner. 

Voilà, we have a winner. 

The predominant reason we have more steel masks than titanium is due to the manufacturing process (bending, welding, coloring, etc.) being far less expensive with steel than titanium. 

* – in fact, I (now) maintain that the MLBU knew exactly what he was saying, and why he was lying… he was a shill for Wilson, who at the time, was in the midst of a QC/CS/PR crisis with their titanium masks, and were losing money hand-over-fist on them being returned and needing to be replaced.