nick mahrley/broken bat

[dumbdumb]

https://www.si.com/mlb/umpire-nick-mahrley-carted-off-field-after-being-hit-by-broken-bat

[Velho]

Here is a direct view of the video

 

[SeeingEyeDog]

Wow, that is scary and could have ended up far worse...hopefully, he makes a full and speedy recovery with no lingering injuries...

~Dawg

[MadMax]

8 hours ago, Velho said:

Here is a direct view of the video

Scary. At the top of the list of Scariest Possible Injuries to a Plate Umpire, alongside a fouled-off ball or pitch to the throat, undeterred. 

Here’s a slowed-down, zoomed-in view of it – 

In 2022, Nate Tomlinson took a nasty broken bat to the face, in which the thin stem of the broken bat managed to fit between the bars and cut Tomlinson’s face just above his nose and eyes. It was a simply shocking event, and Tomlinson really avoided a serious injury. (See Topical Rant A, below)… 

Kerwin Danley was hit by a broken bat in 2009, which knocked him down and out. Granted, Danley had several hard, high-velocity impacts, and he was likely very susceptible to concussions. Do note that Danley was a HSM wearer. (See Topical Rant B, below)… 

Of course, how can we forget the 2020 broken bat that bloodied the indomitable Joe West? 

Back in 2010, a broken bat assailed Todd Tichenor and Phillies catcher Carlos Ruiz, knocking Ruiz from the game. 

While each event of an umpire potentially injured by a broken bat is alarming, and any injuries need to be assessed with seriousness, I do find it perturbing that the game is stopped, and everyone shows great concern for the Umpire (uppercase U) – they should! This is serious stuff! However, when I was working a Spring Training intrasquad game for the South Side club of the 3rd largest city in the USA, and one high-profile Player with the initials EJ broke his bat and hit me in the bicep with the barrel end… no one – and I mean no one – other than the trainer seemed to notice, or care. Stop the game? Oh hell no! Just get EJ a new bat, and is the PU (me) still upright? Yes? Good. Keep going! 

Topical Rant A: This injury to Tomlinson could have been much, much worse. Lacerations are bad enough, and no laugh-it-off matter, but what if that shredded bat had scraped, gouged, or lanced his eye(s)??? That’s a real possibility! And that’s potentially a career-ender! Granted, these Pro U’s have the best of insurance and healthcare, but aren’t we amateur umpires equally exposed to the same risk (if we work wood bat leagues)? If we are, and this is a real risk, then why aren’t we granted the latitude, free of derision or criticism, to wear shatter-resistant lenses as PU??!! Why are there “evaluators” stating that it’s a “bad look”??! 

Topical Rant B: Note again, that Kerwin Danley wore a HSM. In the case of the broken bat hitting him, the HSM’s overall head protection likely prevented a much more serious injury. However, he was still knocked out, and still exited the game. Additionally, according to Danley’s Wikipedia page, he received at least 7 impacts to the head, with 6 of them necessitating Danley to leave the game (as PU) and be replaced (as PU, at least). Each of these were with a HSM. What does this mean? It means that a HSM is no “more protective” than a traditional mask against frontal impact, especially and specifically in how it correlates to concussions. So that Umpire, in a 80-person class of umpires in 2015, who poo-poohed titanium masks as “dangerous”, and instead held aloft a Wilson Shock FX and claimed “this is what you need”, was full of sh!t and didn’t know what he was talking about. Come to find out there were other things going on behind the curtain, but the moral of this story is… there is no perfect anti-concussion / head protection system on the market, partly because not every impact is the same each time, not everyone reacts to an impact the same way and it is the reaction to the impact that manifests as or induces a concussion, and… manufacturers – and one manufacturer in particular – have been negligent about caring and developing a better, more protective system for us.

[dumbdumb]

update on Marhley

https://www.9news.com/article/sports/mlb/nick-mahrley-exits-mlb-game-after-broken-bat-hits-his-neck/73-a6877c82-217a-43a0-bbb2-3f36484c4d29?ref=exit-recirc

[JSam21]

9 hours ago, MadMax said:

 

 

Topical Rant A: This injury to Tomlinson could have been much, much worse. Lacerations are bad enough, and no laugh-it-off matter, but what if that shredded bat had scraped, gouged, or lanced his eye(s)??? That’s a real possibility! And that’s potentially a career-ender! Granted, these Pro U’s have the best of insurance and healthcare, but aren’t we amateur umpires equally exposed to the same risk (if we work wood bat leagues)? If we are, and this is a real risk, then why aren’t we granted the latitude, free of derision or criticism, to wear shatter-resistant lenses as PU??!! Why are there “evaluators” stating that it’s a “bad look”??! 

 

I have yet to have anyone say anything to me about wearing sunglasses or clear lenses when working the plate. I've tried out wearing clear lenses on the plate for night games on turf to prevent pellets from getting into my eyes. Just got tired of swapping out the lenses on my glasses. 

[834k3r]

 

9 hours ago, MadMax said:

Topical Rant A: This injury to Tomlinson could have been much, much worse. Lacerations are bad enough, and no laugh-it-off matter, but what if that shredded bat had scraped, gouged, or lanced his eye(s)??? That’s a real possibility! And that’s potentially a career-ender! Granted, these Pro U’s have the best of insurance and healthcare, but aren’t we amateur umpires equally exposed to the same risk (if we work wood bat leagues)? If we are, and this is a real risk, then why aren’t we granted the latitude, free of derision or criticism, to wear shatter-resistant lenses as PU??!! Why are there “evaluators” stating that it’s a “bad look”??! 

1 minute ago, JSam21 said:

I have yet to have anyone say anything to me about wearing sunglasses or clear lenses when working the plate. I've tried out wearing clear lenses on the plate for night games on turf to prevent pellets from getting into my eyes. Just got tired of swapping out the lenses on my glasses. 

My experience matches that of @JSam21. I used to not wear any glasses at all when behind the plate, but after watching Tomlinson's injury video I promised myself to never again not wear lenses. My Radars and my Flak 2.0s both are really easy to swap lenses for me, especially considering the consequences (albeit very rare).

[dumbdumb]

On 8/26/2024 at 1:38 AM, MadMax said:

Scary. At the top of the list of Scariest Possible Injuries to a Plate Umpire, alongside a fouled-off ball or pitch to the throat, undeterred. 

Here’s a slowed-down, zoomed-in view of it – 

In 2022, Nate Tomlinson took a nasty broken bat to the face, in which the thin stem of the broken bat managed to fit between the bars and cut Tomlinson’s face just above his nose and eyes. It was a simply shocking event, and Tomlinson really avoided a serious injury. (See Topical Rant A, below)… 

Kerwin Danley was hit by a broken bat in 2009, which knocked him down and out. Granted, Danley had several hard, high-velocity impacts, and he was likely very susceptible to concussions. Do note that Danley was a HSM wearer. (See Topical Rant B, below)… 

Of course, how can we forget the 2020 broken bat that bloodied the indomitable Joe West? 

Back in 2010, a broken bat assailed Todd Tichenor and Phillies catcher Carlos Ruiz, knocking Ruiz from the game. 

While each event of an umpire potentially injured by a broken bat is alarming, and any injuries need to be assessed with seriousness, I do find it perturbing that the game is stopped, and everyone shows great concern for the Umpire (uppercase U) – they should! This is serious stuff! However, when I was working a Spring Training intrasquad game for the South Side club of the 3rd largest city in the USA, and one high-profile Player with the initials EJ broke his bat and hit me in the bicep with the barrel end… no one – and I mean no one – other than the trainer seemed to notice, or care. Stop the game? Oh hell no! Just get EJ a new bat, and is the PU (me) still upright? Yes? Good. Keep going! 

Topical Rant A: This injury to Tomlinson could have been much, much worse. Lacerations are bad enough, and no laugh-it-off matter, but what if that shredded bat had scraped, gouged, or lanced his eye(s)??? That’s a real possibility! And that’s potentially a career-ender! Granted, these Pro U’s have the best of insurance and healthcare, but aren’t we amateur umpires equally exposed to the same risk (if we work wood bat leagues)? If we are, and this is a real risk, then why aren’t we granted the latitude, free of derision or criticism, to wear shatter-resistant lenses as PU??!! Why are there “evaluators” stating that it’s a “bad look”??! 

Topical Rant B: Note again, that Kerwin Danley wore a HSM. In the case of the broken bat hitting him, the HSM’s overall head protection likely prevented a much more serious injury. However, he was still knocked out, and still exited the game. Additionally, according to Danley’s Wikipedia page, he received at least 7 impacts to the head, with 6 of them necessitating Danley to leave the game (as PU) and be replaced (as PU, at least). Each of these were with a HSM. What does this mean? It means that a HSM is no “more protective” than a traditional mask against frontal impact, especially and specifically in how it correlates to concussions. So that Umpire, in a 80-person class of umpires in 2015, who poo-poohed titanium masks as “dangerous”, and instead held aloft a Wilson Shock FX and claimed “this is what you need”, was full of sh!t and didn’t know what he was talking about. Come to find out there were other things going on behind the curtain, but the moral of this story is… there is no perfect anti-concussion / head protection system on the market, partly because not every impact is the same each time, not everyone reacts to an impact the same way and it is the reaction to the impact that manifests as or induces a concussion, and… manufacturers – and one manufacturer in particular – have been negligent about caring and developing a better, more protective system for us.

as normal - you are spot on with the things you mention. however, i personally like to come from the food chain angle of Management who have all the pull, players who have the 2nd most pull and then the left out, downdrodden, second class citizens and others of which the umpires fall into this group, always have, and unless things change, always will. and this in no way means things over time have not gotten better at all.

i think mr o'nora should be in the above picture set if you can find that video which i cannot find (did mlb or somebody yank it), yet, but i can find the article of his broken bat injury episode. why not cancel maple bats if they seem to be the culprit, (good ole ash bats worked for years/maybe bamboo would work now, who knows if thats legal and does not break)/ or maybe maple is not injury worse and it just seems like they are worse.

just let umpires use the equipment (with maybe some adjustments for those who are great at retooling things, while a potential sap like me have no skills in that area. once again, those with an advantage against those without), the players use, but modified to make the color black, since apparently other team colors would make us look too playeree rather than that professional look, if it stuck out from the need to conform to uniform. and what about the concussion issues that will never go away as MMA6 alluded to in which the perfectly placed pawn/nut can still find that injury spot no matter the covering. if a catchers helmet has a lot of padding in the back, and rather than have the less padded brim in the front, they turn it around making the less padded brim in the back and the more padded back in the front, why not let umpires wear the helmet backwards with the brim in back. that just means your own fellow umpires or former umpires working on the off field positions just don't care about you, much less the monied bohemoth Wilson care about you for making umpire equipment. if they care, it is only about the players, so once again let the umpires wear the MLB catcher's protective gear, if you can get it, the same ways they wear it, just with the umpire uniform clothing over the outside.

mm6. you know good and well the ole if you get hit by the ball, unless a headshot, you are too ignore it no matter how bad it hurts, and make sure not to rub it. that is pretty much the ole players code for themselves (never let em see you sweat, i mean hurt). and did you really think they are going to be out there for you. maybe the player but not you (remember you are just an umpire). you play the part of the adversary, or enemy in sheeps clothing.

bottom line, some things will change for the better, little by measley little over time for the lowly umpire. maybe be a trainer, you ever thought about how few spots there are for trainers, at least those 2 you see in the dugout, although with players getting all that personal care that might have changed to a plethora of trainers today.

 

hey, where is that whole robot umpire army to tag in and out, with the former human umpire army for every position. what if the robot blows a fuse. bet they rush out to fix it. or has it been malwared in the software. where's crowdstrike to the rescue.

https://www.pjstar.com/story/sports/2008/06/25/plate-umpire-o-nora-hit/42290315007/

 

[The Man in Blue]

I’m not impressed or concerned about name brands.  For years I have worn safety glasses (clear and tinted) on the plate.