Randy Smith: Umpires Can Take A Real Beating

Earlier this week as Boyd-Buchanan was hosting Baylor, home plate umpire Ken Chase probably wished he had been calling the bases. Chase who is one of the area's best umpires was hit on three different occasions and twice in the same place by foul balls. The last time, he had to be checked out by team trainers and believe me there is nothing funny about it. Despite all the equipment one can wear when behind the plate, protecting your arms and legs is hard to do. 

I spent eight years as a TSSAA umpire in the local association and many times I would come home with a big bruise on my arm or a banged up hand. As an umpire, that's something you have to expect, however you can't think about getting hurt or as the late man in blue Terry Cordell always said, "Trust your equipment."

When I first started calling balls and strikes back in 1970, everyone used the old "balloon" protector, which was cumbersome and it also didn't allow you to see the strike zone as well as the chest protectors do today....however it did protect your hands much better because they were behind the protector. Plus, despite wearing a catchers mask doesn't always protect you from taking a hard shot to the head or face during a game. A couple of times when behind the plate, I was hit very hard by foul balls and once it knocked my mask completely off. Suffice to say my head was spinning for a few minutes.

If they're not careful, base umpires can also face some unintended dangers. Being hit by batted balls really isn't that common but when you do get hit by a hard line drive, it hurts like the devil. It happened a couple of times to me and being hit hard once eventually led me to retire as an umpire. In other words, my reflexes were declining and I was having a hard time getting out of the way, so when that happens it may be time to hang it up.

Wearing good equipment that fits well is very important for an umpire, especially to protect that "special place" that guys have. Wearing a cup inside your pants is something that every man I ever umpired with insisted on wearing. There was one time however. I forgot to put my cup in the big bag I carried to each game. I was behind the plate and boy was I nervous about getting hit in that "special place." Thankfully, I avoided getting hit "down there" and after the game was over, one of the coaches complimented me on how well I moved behind the plate for a big man. I told him, "You'd move well too if you you were back there behind the plate without a cup!"