baseballrules

Ed Hickox was seriously injured when he got hit on the head with a 90-plus mph baseball…and he was wearing one of the best protective masks.

The veteran Major League Baseball umpire has suffered loss of hearing and several concussions from encounters with foul tips that have ricocheted back into him.

Hickox is still recovering from his latest “headshot” last April, but the long-term prognosis for a return to work is good.

“Everything’s gotten a whole lot better the last few days,” said Hickox 10 days after his second surgery of the summer to replace a titanium prosthesis in his left ear. “The first few days (after the second surgery) were a little rough. The doctor is very confident that it will work out. We just have to give it time. I’m hoping for a clean bill of health by the end of the year.”

Hickox was behind the plate April 18 during a game between the Cleveland Indians and New York Yankees at the new Yankee Stadium when a 90-mph pitch in the sixth inning tipped off the bat of Ben Francisco and struck the center of Hickox’s mask.

Yankees catcher Jose Molina aided Hickox as he staggered backward. Hickox tried to continue, working into the eighth inning, before leaving the game.

For Hickox, it was like being hit by lightning — twice.

On May 15, 2005, he took a headshot while working a Chicago Cubs and Washington Nationals game at RFK Stadium. That accident left him with some hearing loss and he had to have surgery to insert a titanium prosthesis to replace a broken ear bone.

The prosthetic was knocked loose in the latest incident in April, but the recent surgery appears to have been successful.

When he does return to umpiring, Hickox will do so with even less hearing than he had after his first incident. However, the 47-year-old umpire joked it’s not all bad.

“I don’t have to hear any complaints from one side,” said Hickox. “If it gets bad, I’ll let my wingman at third base take care of it. If I don’t hear it, he’ll let me know and we’ll take care of it one way or the other.”

He has also kept busy working as a detective with the Daytona Beach Shores police department, which he does in the offseason. He is limited to desk duty now, so that has him writing arrest warrants and working some fraud and counterfeit check cases.

A licensed pilot, Hickox has only been able to get in the seat once this summer. Afterward, he decided he should curtail his flying until he is fully recovered.

His MLB crew has had a tough season. Crew chief Jerry Crawford also was hit in the mask one game and later in the season had to come out of a contest because of back spasms. Tom Hallion took over behind the plate and was struck in the chest when Tampa Bay Rays catcher Gregg Zaun failed to get any leather on a tailing 90-mph fastball.

Today, many of us will enjoy hot dogs, family and friends, and baseball. We all hope for sunny skies.

Let’s remember, though, what this day is really all about — our freedoms and those over the years who have had to fight to preserve them as part of our armed forces, with the pen, or with their vote.

Let’s also remember George Washington, Ben Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, Sam and John Adams, John Hancock, Paul Revere, Molly Pitcher and the many others whose names are known, slightly known, or remain unknown. They helped us become the greatest society in the history of the world.

Take some time between this year’s birthday and the one in 2010 to read about the founding of this country and learn more about what these people did more than 230 years ago.

Great article by Bill Smith in the Charleston, West Virginia, Daily Mail, about umpires controlling the game. Yes, controlling it is fine, but don’t ever think that you are bigger than the game. That is something most umps understand, until some of them make it to the major leagues. Several of those high paid umps need a reality check.

This first posting is a bit late since major league baseball already is completing its first month of the season, but many other lower level professional leagues are just coming out of extended spring training. This past weekend, at least in my area, little leagues were having their opening day parades. So, maybe we are just on time to shout PLAY Ball!

So many people write about baseball, especially about their favorite MLB teams. This blog will not focus on any teams or players. Instead it will cover baseball from the actions and views of the umpires along with the rules of the game. Yes, we all criticize the umps, but we will talk about the good decisions, too.

We will refence MLB umpires often, since that level of play receives the most attention. But, we also will find information about the other levels of professional baseball along with college, high school and little league news, when appropriate. Softball umps and rules also will have their discussion opportunities here.

Some other areas we hope to explore: profiles about famous and infamous MLB umpires from other eras, taking a look at the umpires in the Baseball Hall of Fame, looking for books about umpires and umpiring, finding movies that provide significant attention to umpires and exploring the rule book.

I invite your input on stories and encourage you to share all you know about umpires and the rules. Feel free to praise and to be critical. But, above all, be fair. Input from umpires is very welcome here and will be very helpful in educating all of us about the flow and rules of this great game.

I leave you today with one thought: When we play a pick-up game for fun, we can always holler for a “do over.” For organized games at any level, we can never put the final scores in the scorebooks without an umpire.