Trust me, this is not a subject I would bring up lightly. But, having been out of work for a few months and able to enjoy unlimited TV broadcasts of Major League Baseball, the majority of players are no longer wearing cups!

Really, watch the games on TV and concentrate on those bulges you've always wondered about. They're not there anymore. One of my personal favorites is Rich Aurilia with the SF Giants, and there is no longer the enormous bulge he always displays!

I seriously think there might have been a change in MLB rules about requiring players to wear cups? Maybe The Umpire would be able to shed some light on this, if he's monitoring this board.

It's real. They are not wearing cups anymore and you can see it for yourselves live or on TV!

Seems like a really bad decision on the players' part, unless they just can't take the chaff of everyday wear...

Some teams have baggier uniform pants than others. And they've gotten baggier in recent years.

I don't know if it's ever been a rule that the player had to wear cups. For certain positions it's obvious they have to wear it (catcher). You'd think they'd all wear them since they have to bat, and a ball could hit them. We had a thread on this before, and in it I mentioned that ex-Phil Doug Glanville fouled a ball at the plate and it bounced up and hit him there.

I don't think any MLB players (except catchers) have ever worn cups. Jockstraps, yes; but, no cups. Why would they?

ummmmmm.... because a baseball flying at 90mph at your crotch is not a source of pleasure?

Ever tried running with a cup?

When I played floor hockey, as an "out" player (meaning not
as a goalie O_-) a cup was a hindrance. As a goalie, it
was a great help. You'd get twerps shooting the soft felt
puck there to hurt you, but end up giving me an easy save.

I don't notice many football players wearing cups anymore
either, although I don't see them as prone to being laid
prone with a shot to their "family jewels".

A joke from the old BBC comedy series "The Two Ronnies":

"A sprinter won the 100m in a record time. Being so elated,
he later ran the 110m high hurdles, thinking they were the
low hurdles, and shattered his own personal best."


Bob Dog

On "The Dan Patrick Radio Show," Ron Dibble used to be asked about baseball players and cups (for some reason, Sean Salisbury was rather obsessive about the subject) and Dibble said that, on the teams for which he played, very few players--excepting catchers--wore cups.

~Adam

Bill,

While I do not personally go and check to see who is and who is not wearing a cup, I know enough to confirm that many MLB players do not wear them. Catchers? That's a given, as are pitchers. One does not want a screaming liner going right smack into the family jewels.

There are no rules governing such equipment. Instead, it's just the laws of common sense and, for many, comfort.

BTW, unless we're working the plate, most MLB Umpires don't wear cups, either. wink

I must be crazy then! I just swear that in the last many many years I have seen MOST MLB players wearing cups (I just watch out for those things!), but just this year it struck me that many players I constantly watch the private regions of, are no longer wearing cups!

Trust me, my observational skills are without challenge when it comes to this subject. eek! wink

Hey Bill, you're not crazy, I've noticed it recently too. Definitely with players like Rich Aurilia who always had an XXX Large cup, now doesn't seem to have as big a bulge. And there are certain players you can tell they're not wearing a cup, like Steve Finley, because there's almost nothing there except a small bump. (No hit on Finley, just talking about comparisons to the past.) I don't think it's always been that players gave up the cup, for awhile I though many players had that bulge.

I wonder if it's because more and more players are wearing compression shorts and just don't want all the tightness and chaffing from the additional cup. Or it may be a sign of technology, a lot of cup makers have products that are more form fitting and less bulging, I mean, check out the sports jock store in Outsports for example.

Bill, I think we should start an award for the baseball player proud enough to wear a cup! wink

I, for one, am eternally grateful that Jim Thome has never worn a cup. Pictures of The Anaconda are plentiful and some of them leave NOTHING to the imagination.

The players I've seen dressing in locker rooms seem to pull on these long compression type shorts that have a built-in basket-type pouch. The pouch isn't as hard as a "cup" but it is sorta tough enough to be protective.

Give me the Anaconda.

No seriously, pics of the Anaconda would be greatly appreciated.

Well, if the players don't want to wear cups then someone should invent a small 'air bag' type of device which would inflate on impact. Talk about a box.