Everyone knows that mouth guards are required for contact sports like football and hockey, but for whatever reason many people leave baseball off the list. The purpose for this article is to show you that baseball and softball are indeed contact sports and that mouth guards are for baseball and softball too.
If you have watched baseball or softball long enough, especially youth baseball and softball, you have probably seen a lot of “contact” on the diamond.
Not only do little baseball and softball players forget to let go of the bat after they hit the ball, but sometimes both big and little players forget to hold onto the bat tight enough and it goes flying after they swing.
Not only do some players like to crowd the plate, but sometimes pitchers can’t control the location of their pitches. Combine these two factors and nasty injuries can occur. Many players have suffered facial injuries and lost teeth over this combination.
We all have seen major league players make throwing errors, this happens even more often in little league. Errant throws, or throws to players who are not looking for and prepared to catch are very common issues that can lead to injury.
Line drives can come screaming off the metal bats that young players use these days. Combine those line drives with players who have varying levels of defensive proficiency and accidents can happen here too.
We have also seen players of all ages collide when trying to make a play in the field or running on the base path. These collisions can result in all sorts of injuries including facial injuries.
Conclusion
It might seem silly to many people to use a mouth guard in baseball or softball. However, when you think about it, baseball and softball are truly contact sports. So even if it saves you just one trip to the dentist a mouth guard will be well worth the investment.