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Finally received my All-American 15" CP that @catsbackr graciously gifted to me. Attached are the pictures of the results from a local upholstery shop that agreed to repair the foam cover. I am beyond floored. The only thing changed was she added new Velcro, and used 3/4" wide instead of the original "1 wide Velcro strips. I will be taking @catsbackr AA CP to them next to redo his padding cover.

That looks great! @mbkcoach and I were talking about this very thing last summer, and I was pretty sure at that time that an upholstery shop is the way to go to get pads replaced or refurbished when you can't get the original manufacturer to do it. This is proof positive.

It looks great. Congrats!

ALL - PLEASE JOIN ME IN CONGRATULATING OUR VERY OWN @maineump FOR HIS SELECTION TO THE 2018 LITTLE LEAGUE WORLD SERIES!!!!

Hello, I'm an brand new umpire in Nebraska. I'm getting into this with my two teenagers. My son is 13 and my daughter is 15. They have both played baseball/softball since they were 6 or 7. They wanted a job that would help them make some money, offer flexibility around their travel ball schedules, and the cherry on top was they got to be involved with the game. I had previous experience and a contact with a local umpire association since I coached travel ball for almost 10-years. After attending the kick-off meeting I decided to join my kids in umpiring. I figured I have to take them to the training anyway and will probably have to get them to games as well. I could do some games myself and help out. There seems to be a shortage of umpires in our area. Right now we are looking at the gear we need. I've spent the past week browsing the equipment forum. I finally decided to sign up today. Can't wait to learn from everyone on this site.

I'd be remiss if I didn't acknowledge the passing of Doug Harvey. I just wanted to share his HOF Speech because it shows his character and his respect for amateur umpires. NY Times Story: https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/14/obituaries/doug-harvey-dead-baseball-umpire.html Baseball Hall of Fame story: https://baseballhall.org/discover/hall-of-fame-remembers-doug-harvey

REALLY?! He invited trouble. He got it.

John, that CP looks awesome! I love the thought that it will have new life, too!

AMEN!!! Many moons ago, when I first started, I can still recall one of the most impactful pieces of wisdom that my mentor uttered in a post game. Surprisingly enough, not only do I still use it, but I hear it from others. Learn to umpire WITH the rulebook, not BY the rulebook. This too referring to different POEs as @wolfe_man had mentioned.

Hand soap and water. Don’t use chemicals, they will eventually destroy your shoes.

No. Only RLI requires the obligatory throw from generally behind the BR to generally in the direction of 1B, but don't get me started.

Nothing will fix this problem...natural breakdown of the foam