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The 2020 NFHS Baseball Preseason Guide has arrived and I have an odd question ... Accompanying the front page article on the new DH rule is a 1/2 page above-the-fold picture of an umpire talking to a coach and making a lineup change. The umpire has his lineup card out and is looking down at it while wearing his mask. I was taught —and firmly believe — this is extremely bad form. Any time you are going to talk to someone face-to-face you should be removing your mask. I was taught that you should even remove your sunglasses when having a discussion with a coach as a professional courtesy. (I will admit I am bad about that one because I pretty much wear sunglasses all the time and just forget that I have them on.) What say you all?

https://www.outwestofficials.com/collections/baseball-jackets/products/performance-plate-coat-by-out-west-officials

I agree wholeheartedly, especially about sunglasses. You make eye contact with the manager, and you are being genuine and heart-to-heart. You are respecting his dignity and thus he should respect yours. As for the mask, I have seen plate umps take off their mask to check a swing with U1. Too much! OOO! But, even if you wear a helmet, take it off to do administrative things. BTW, do not EVER put your mask or helmet down while you are working something. I did a European tournament once when the PU stuck his mask by the throat protector into the fence while he did the plate conference. Some of us colleagues promptly wire-tied his mask to the screen! That was a hoot! But the lesson is that once you take the field, have your headgear with you at all times. You look professional! At the WR Academy, you went EVERYWHERE (except the mess hall) with your mask and indicator in your left hand. I think they were trying to impress something on you. Mike Las Vegas

@Thunderheads lock it up por favor!

I will include the throat guard, extra harness, and the bag as well.

No ... the Adidias is either Titanal or hollow steel @MadMax can help here .... you can also do a search within the equipment forum for adidas mask and probably find what you're looking for.

Here's the thing...Before the proliferation of "travel ball"...When travel ball WAS just a few elite teams, rec ball wasn't that horrible. Now that travel ball has extended to include just about every kid that can catch, hit and throw, there's not much left in rec ball, and that's why the 14u rec game is worse than the 11u travel game.

I want to push back against this philosophy, that this is a 50-50 call, and so either call is equally justifiable. INT is a major infraction, with a major penalty: we remove runners from base and award the defense outs. Both runners and outs are precious to the offense, especially outs. The offense gets only a fixed number of those in a game; compared to OBS, with its awards of bases and, possibly, runs, on which there is no limit. We want INT to be BIG, obvious, and clear to any observer. The best INT calls prompt the runner's coach to yell at HIM, not us. Our officiating philosophy here must be: when in doubt, it is NOT interference. Borderline is not an infraction. We could debate whether the runner's intent to interfere is really as clear as all that, but it doesn't matter. Even if you think it more likely than not, it's not obvious enough to warrant an INT call. Compare it to the play where the runner reaches out to hit the throw: that's INT.

If R1 failed to execute a legal slide then he cannot do anything that hinders or impedes F6 in completing a possible double play. With that as the rule would you have interference? From your description, it sounds like an easy call. Also, please note that intent to interfere is not required. Sent from my SM-G975U using Tapatalk

Search YouTube for baseball instructional videos. Not all are good, but you may find something that speaks to you. Look at the old NCAA Umpire Bulletins, too.

I built my WakeWear plate coat on a summer weight sport coat. It’s a 44L, has very simple lapels, and a “box split” at the back instead of a center split. A seamstress custom-made ball pockets, and relocated the main button so when closed, the coat fits perfectly. Total cost? Less than $100. The amount of “field cred” it brings? Priceless. I wore it for 3 plates out of 25 plate games I had for the summer circuit, and I will have opportunities this fall, winter, and spring in Arizona... especially on night games. Plate coats look killer on night games.

Look forward to seeing your review. We have a guy in my association get one. So I'll see it in person soon.