Wearing a catcher's mask for warm-up pitches

How may times have you had to remind a player or a coach to wear a proper mask that has throat protection when taking warm-up pitches? Too many times for me.

This last weekend I had a coach who was warming up a pitcher in foul territory in the outfield without a mask and without a spotter. Having no spotter was not an issue in this case because teams that were playing could not hit that far. The ability of the catcher, in this case a coach who plays competitive men’s ball, does not factor into whether or not they need a mask – they need a mask!

when I approached the coach he was very indignant and questioned that there was such a rule and that he had seen instances all weekend of players/coaches not wearing masks. When pressed he moved off the diamond to the soccer field and stated that there was now nothing I could do about it then. Not so.

Rule 3. Equipment Section 6. Protective Equipment a. Masks states “all catchers must where a masks, throat protector and helmet” (Note: this does not include a batting helmet). In the clauses that follow it is very clear that this applies on or off the diamond and to players, coaches and non-team members. Failure to comply after a warning will result in whoever is catching being removed from the game. If the catcher is not a team member the coach of the offending team will be removed from the game.