For those of you who shoot from inside the fence; what kind of protection do you you use?

We shoot mainly from the dugouts or from outside the fence on a step ladder for anything over about an eight year old game but as we expand our coverage I expect to have to improvise and may wind up exposed to stray balls.

Personally I'm not going out there without some safety precautions. I haven't survived 30+ years of bridge construction and rough necking only to get taken out by a baseball

So........how do y'all do it?

Marty

best thing you can do is where a helmet (i never do) and PAY ATTENTION.

Marty,

So far, I have shot up to college level ball, on the field with no protection. After 3 years...knock on wood....I haven't been hit hard.

It is something I think about everytime I shoot. Might be time to grab a helmet or something...

I 2nd the pay attention...

Marty, for LL I'm with no protection and I'm usually in or near a dugout or somewhere behind first or third base. Got a few strays but nothing bad. For HS and MiLB, I'm as much out of the way as possible....MiLb is in the photo well and here is a story with that. Shooting the AAA Yankees 2 years ago and there was a young intern who always had a habit of sitting on the top step (ground level) of the photo well. We were on the 1B side and I cautioned her to get below...RH batter Shelly Duncan is up and he could slice one down. She doesn't heed my caution and Duncan jacks one down our way and I hit the ground. She's up on the top and had the camera up to her face shooting a burst. The ball hits her on her trigger finger and knocks her down the steps. Finger nail has part of the MLB emblem on it and now she's about to go lights out so I sat her on the seat and called the trainer over. She still sits on the top. PAY ATTENTION is sound advice and try to conceal as much of the body as possible.

Here's to a safe season for everyone....

Frank Lauri

Absolutely ALWAYS PAY ATTENTION. In 32 years I've only had a few close calls ... and being aware of what was going on helped to avoid problems ...

Frankly, I don't have a problem shooting through chain link for baseball, softball and tennis. I consider such fences an asset for safety rather than a liability. The odds are great that you could shoot 1,000's of games and never get hit ... or it could come on the very next pitch ....

I remember the year Joe Losch of LLB Inc. walked around the corner in the well behind home plate at Lamade Stadium during one of the early games ... that point in the fence had a 12"x15" hole in it so we could shoot the pitchers from that angle ... Joe caught a 80 mph fastball, that got by the catcher, right on his cheek .... never saw it coming ... Joe survived the ordeal but had a VERY nasty bruise ... we ALL walked through there from time to time ... now that spot has a piece plexi attached so that can't happen.

Most of the time for baseball and softball, I use a second camera triggered via PW's or a foot switch, usually setup to work home plate or second base ... even if I am not behind a fence I will setup so I can hide behind, or duck behind corners of dugouts or whatever other structures I can find ... when I am in a situation where I need to, or want to focus my attention on other areas of the field, I'll ask someone to work and protect my blind side .... I'll even pay them or buy them lunch to help in some situations ...

Thanks guys. Pay attention is my motto! But as I rapidly approach the age of fifty and taking into account all the brain cells I killed when I was Dann's age, I am sad to say, my reflexes aren't what they used to be..........

Dann, young and daring I'm looking at helmets, maybe something with temple protection. Any ideas?

Jon, clearly you have no idea of how my luck runs If anything happens anywhere it usually happens to me!

Frank and Butch....Yikes! those are the kind of stories that make me nervous about getting on the field!

I would like to share Frank's sentiments and wish everyone a safe and productive season too!


Marty

Marty the thing that comes to mind with a helmet as witha ball cap is the bill that tends to get in the way..thus forcing those who wear the ball caps to turn them around. Only thing that may not would be a catchers shull cap helmet...but then there is no temple protection.

Frank Lauri

+1 to what Frank & Butch said... Otherwise, Cat like reflexes and shoot with both eyes open!

Marty: You're on the right track with your thinking, though I don't have a solution for you. It'd be worth buying a batting helmet and finding a way to get rid of the peak. When I shot NCAA baseball, if I wasn't protected by my shooting position (dugout), I shot without my eye to the camera (this was shooting batters from the first row of the seats in short right or left field). Figured out a way to get the camera aimed, then took my head away from the camera and shot. Thinking that staying alert is enough would be akin to believing it's okay not to wear a seat belt while driving as long as you're really careful.

No protection at all but like everyone said, PAY ATTENTION. Take note of the batter where you are shooting from. 1st base side, if right handed batters, foul ball is likely to come your way and vice versa. If throw is coming from 3rd base and shortstop, ball is coming your way.

yes, PAY ATTENTION
Getting hit by a baseball is not fun.I was in the media pit at the Mudcats' Stadium ( MiLB in my area) and first day out shooting and had a hard foul line drve miss my ear by about 5 inches. I looked the other way for a moment and heard it whizz by.

At the 2008 AllStar game, had a richcheted line drive hit the Cats' dugout and tagged me on my shoulder. Players jumped out of the way to let me get hit and did not like that too much!

Just to add to the PAY ATTENTION, is to remember that a flying baseball is not the only hazard. Slung/splintering bat is a good one. I think I still have a bruise on my right shin from last year... the hit caused me to fall, and thanks to my sports photographer cat like prowess , I avoided falling akwardly or ontop of my camera.

+1 on the pay attention. Although you can't always count on that. Once 2 years ago I was focusing on a pending play at second and was drilled by a line drive. I took a shot right to my knee cap.

butchM wrote:
Absolutely ALWAYS PAY ATTENTION. In 32 years I've only had a few close calls ... and being aware of what was going on helped to avoid problems ...

Frankly, I don't have a problem shooting through chain link for baseball, softball and tennis. I consider such fences an asset for safety rather than a liability. The odds are great that you could shoot 1,000's of games and never get hit ... or it could come on the very next pitch ....

I remember the year Joe Losch of LLB Inc. walked around the corner in the well behind home plate at Lamade Stadium during one of the early games ... that point in the fence had a 12"x15" hole in it so we could shoot the pitchers from that angle ... Joe caught a 80 mph fastball, that got by the catcher, right on his cheek .... never saw it coming ... Joe survived the ordeal but had a VERY nasty bruise ... we ALL walked through there from time to time ... now that spot has a piece plexi attached so that can't happen.

Most of the time for baseball and softball, I use a second camera triggered via PW's or a foot switch, usually setup to work home plate or second base ... even if I am not behind a fence I will setup so I can hide behind, or duck behind corners of dugouts or whatever other structures I can find ... when I am in a situation where I need to, or want to focus my attention on other areas of the field, I'll ask someone to work and protect my blind side .... I'll even pay them or buy them lunch to help in some situations ...

Holy Cow, I remember that. I was right next to Joe. It was a non TV game and the camera wasn't there. Joe got nailed. You mean to tell me that we were sitting next to each other in that dugout and never knew it?

As long as we're telling war stories, here's mine. This particular dugout is located straight across from first base. The distance from the base line and the depth of the dugout would lead you to believe that you are safe from batted balls unless they somehow defy the laws of physics, and for the most part you would be correct.

But what we failed to calculate was the alignment of the first and second base line with where this kid was sitting. So sure enough in the pregame warm ups the throw from second gets by the first baseman and clocks this kid in the forehead and bounces the back of his head into the wall behind him. He didn't even see it coming. (maybe he should have been paying attention)

The paramedics checked him out and he actually played the game but it was a real eye opener for me.

BTW......his mama bought this photo.

Ha! I remember when I coached Little League, the most dangerous moments of the game were between innings when my team was warming up and I'd yell "balls in!" Everyone in the dugout had to take cover. Crazy kids...

Just remember: shit happens.

Russ Isabella wrote:
just remember: **** happens.


.......that's my other motto

Marty

I look to see if it's a right handed or left handed batter. And I look to see if he/she is swinging early or late. And I watch the batters footwoork and stance to see if he is trying to pull it. I look at the pitcher to see if he is throwing heat or junk.
If the pitcher is throwing heat and the batter is swinging late the ball is going one way. If he is swinging early, it's going another.

I look at the infield and outfield to see where the fielders are located and where and watch the defensive coaches move their players.

I played and coached sports so I am aware of game situations and I use that.

Warmups can be dengerous of you end up in the line of fire as the players warm up between innings. I have had more close calls by balls being thrown to the dugout or talking and putting myself behind the first baseman while warming up the infielders.
Each infielder will have a different angle for his.her throw to first.

If a batter hits a turf burner towards me...... I sometimes will move beside the dugout for his at bat. No sense in taking that chance.

I only shoot high school from the field.....college from the stands....Ernie Shore Field is pretty easy to shoot at.

Good thread/question, Marty.

I think about this issue of safety during baseball season, but just don't know how to deal with it other than being very aware of what's going on. Like I always tell Sean when we step onto a sideline or baseline or anytime we're shooting sports...keep your head on a swivel.

What gets me is shooting MLB and being a photo well, literally 10-15 feet from a third or first base coach who is wearing a helmet!!! I totally understand why they are wearing helmets, but it certainly makes me think about how dangerous the photo wells and shooting without the protection of a fence can be.

When I use to coach youth baseball I would always tell the kids that when it was time for "balls in" to throw them on the ground--not in the air--to the dugout. One kid just never remember to do that and I couldn't count all the guys he hit as he lobbed balls toward the dugout!

Heck, just last summer Sean's team was playing a game and I was just being a dad, kicking back in a lawn chair watching and out of nowhere I got nailed right in the temple with a ball. Felt like someone hit me with a bat! Thought it was going to knock me out. Turns out a couple of guys were "warming up" behind the dugout...at a spacing of probably 25 yards! These were high school freshmen, who should have known better and I let into them about how stupid what they were doing was and they were luck they didn't hit some toddler.

Moral of these stories...keep your head on a swivel because what Russ said is very true!