Adam,
I was not leaving out catchers. You guys take more physical abuse than anyone on the field. I'm pretty sure you are not giving up ANY of the proective gear you have.
My point was aimed at idea of a hard hit ball (ground ball or line drive) coming back at the pitcher. Especially off Aluminum bats! Pitchers get hurt every year, many very seriously. A pitcher is also the only fielder who has to work around an uneven surface when he is fielding balls. Why any pitcher would not utilize a cup is beyond me.
While wearing a cup does not mean that getting hit in the groin will not hurt, it will help protect against serious injury there.
As rhbaseball said, It only has to happen once. Ask Ben Rothlisberger if he thinks helmets are such a bad idea now. They were not a big deal to him when Kellen Winslow Jr got stupid with a motorcycle. I have a feeling now his attitude towards them may have changed.
There are times in life where a young man will make decisions to "prove" how tough he is or show off how much of a man he is. Most of the time it is just showing how foolish & stupid he is. Not wearing a cup would be one of these stupid choices.
I noticed there is a thread in the General Forums area about the son of one of the members here who was seriously injured just the other day. He was a pitcher who got hit in the face with a batted ball in the Cape Cod League (Wooden Bats).
True accidents happen often in this game and we feel bad for the player and his family when they do. I responded here in the players only area as a concerned dad when I saw the title of this thread. I think its extremely important to make sure that all players wear the appropriate protective equipment when they play sports. There is NEVER a good reason to not wear a cup when your playing baseball.