Safety

Last year my daughter was pitching when someone lashed a drive right past her head. With the age of new bats, the speeds that a ball can shoot through the pitchers mound are terrifying. My daughter acted like it was just another play. After some coaxing, she did admit it shook her up a bit. As a dad, it scared me to death! It not only shook me up but it took the game away from me. As the manager, I had a hard time functioning the rest of the game. The next inning, I struggled to give signals to the batter from third base and simple strategies were being ignored. Of course by that time my daughter had forgotten about it and went about the game. I couldn’t do that. I could not help thinking about how a matter of a few inches could have changed her life.

Now I want to go out and buy every item of protective gear there is. Put her on the mound with some sort of pitcher’s version of catcher’s gear. It is easy to want your child to wear safety apparel but the real challenge is to get them to want to wear it. I am afraid of my little “baby” getting hurt and she is afraid she may not look “cool”. Guess who is going to win that battle.

This year we have a plan to put forth an effort both financially and through instructions to promote safety. Fielder’s facemasks and chest plates are becoming more common. Wearing this equipment is also becoming more accepted. We will have this equipment and apparel in the equipment bags and available to purchase. Many kids like mine will want her own facemask. We will have them available and on hand to purchase at the same cost we get them for. We are also investing in new bases that fold on impact when sliding into them. This will reduce ankle and leg injuries.

I am just about positive that every time my daughter struggles on the mound this year, it will be because of that “stupid” face mask her dad and manager (same guy) is making her wear. I’ll take the complaints and nasty looks over seeing her get hit, and deal with the kind of pain she would be in, if she wasn’t wearing that “stupid” face mask.