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Assuming the SB rule is the same as the BB rule: 1) This isn't "tangle / untangle" -- that can only happen in the immediate vicinity of home plate and nearly immediately after B becomes BR. 2) It appears to me that F5 was the protected fielder. So, BR would be out for INT.

Another example of why it is so important for coaches/managers to have a decent knowledge of the rules. If this happened to a coach with adequate rules knowledge, he would have lodged a protest in a heartbeat.

There's a 4th category @MadMax. (In the best David Attenborough voiceover)Perhaps the most pernicious of all umpires is the one who employs the MSU approach. There is no limit to age or or experience level for this most unpredictable of baseball arbiters. Each situation that may challenge the MSU umpire's comfort level is met with an astounding ability to confabulate edicts that have no connection to any rule set, yet satisfy the pressing need to engage in a courtship display with coaches where they are the dominant force that keeps the five game schedule on time for the true king of the jungle - the all powerful tournament director.

just some stats from the Feb. 20, 2026 MLB umpire press release the below were the 29 umpires selected to work 2026 Major League Spring Training alphabetically those with numbers and no numbers(although that may have changed) sleeve No./total prior yrs. as call up/total games after 2025 no#-maybe now# John Bacon 70/7/426 Evin Johnson Brock Ballou 41/4/254 Louie Krupa Steven Jaschinski 65/1/20 Felix Neon James Jean 61/2/124 Austin Snow Edwin Jime(slash on e)nez 75/3/288 Sean Sparling Austin Jones 77/2/157 Pete Talkington Tyler Jones 39/1/24 Mitch Trzeciak Dexter Kelly 56/1/15 Bryan Van Vranken Jacob Metz 94/3/195 Charlie Welling Jonathan Parra 30/2/125 Dillon Wilson Jen Pawol 95/1/20 Derek Thomas 53/3/314 Willie Traynor 45/1/66 so the 7 with most games after 2025 were Bacon, Thomas, Jimenez, Ballou, Metz, A. Jones, Parra/Jean 125 to 124. Most call ups have at least 3 years as a call up before full time, but a couple may have gone up after only 2 years as a call up. 3 umps are in their 3rd year right now. will check on most recent hires for a possible 2 year call up to full time later. for new ones going up this year, you can keep up with them courtesy of umpscorecards and well as games done by the veteran call ups this year. mistakes were probably accidentally made above added later today???? on brand new call ups guessing on number of games for the umpires working for the first time that are in 2026 umpscorecards records. i am giving a series of 3 games for half of the plate jobs and a series of 4 games for the other half of the plate jobs, so accuracy on 8 plate games with all being a 4 game series could be off by 4 games total. sorry. and of course if they just did a game at first and a game at third due to a double header it could be less. Visconti only 2 years 2018, 2019 with 250 games, FT 2020 Krupa 28 games so far, Neon 14 games, Wilson 21 games.

Not substantiated by rulebook citation or terminology. This was called by a (plate) umpire who falls into one of three categories... either: A) An elder (in terms of years of experience) umpire, who has never progressed, and has become calloused in his rulebook knowledge, interpretation, and application... B) A "younger" (again, in terms of years of experience) umpire, who has not really done "enough" games or gained enough experience to interpret balks "correctly", and whose training has been largely text-based (devoid of illustration / visual examples)... C) An umpire who has been over-influenced or directed to "get more __________s" (in this case, balks) by a coordinator / assigner / mentor / "evaluator" who treats such calls as merit badges, or some kind of Pokemon cards to collect.

FWIW, this is what my shoulder looked like after taking confirmed 96 uncaught. Yes I felt it. Yes i had to make sure my body was still intact, but limited bruising and little actual pain. YUP, I am referring to that almost unnoticeable red mark at the top of the shoulder.

I might have a problem... I've spent a lot of time tinkering with all of these CP's. I had a few days of free time trying to clean up the house and discovered I had a large surplus of parts from past projects that never came to fruition. So I spent the last couple days finishing all of those projects I've had going on. I don't have time at the moment but I'd like to offer some break downs on all of these and what changes I made. For now I'll offer a quick breakdown. Starting at the top is the newest addition and the only stock CP I have in my collection. The GD Enduro. Below the GD, leaning on the back of the couch, are my two +POS Cobra V1's with reconfigured shoulders. To the left (on top of the chaise portion of the couch are my 3 F3 V1 frankensteins. 1 of the is a full plate swap from the retired WV Charcoal. The other two use the chest plates from an ADAM XV an some hodgepogded shoulder pauldrons. Back to the middle, on the seat of the couch are my 3 retrofits. On the left is another WV Charcoal. On the right is a Small WV gold. These two were retrofitted by Ump Guard. In the middle is my Team Wendy retrofitted Riddell Power. Down at the bottom propped against the front of the couch are my 3 Adams/WV gold frankenstiens. Not sure what to do with all of these long-term. I'll probably be posting a handful of them for sale. It's just going to be a matter of which ones. Before listing anything for sale I would like to do some more detailed breakdowns of all of them with pictures showing what they all look like in full gear.

Update: While I am still unable to run, I have returned to umpiring high school baseball in the past few weeks. I have done 11 games behind the plate so far. I anm hopeful that my nerves regenerate enough to let me run again, but I’m thankful to be up and moving and able to work games again. I didn’t realize how much I needed it! Thank you to each person who commented or shared. It’s all helpful and appreciated.

There’s a confession – by the industry – to make on the Adams XV. The orange foam on that one? It wasn’t D3O. 😲 Yes, the Schutt XV was true-blue (err, orange), genuine D3O. Schutt was able to employ it on the XV, at a relatively scandalous price point (≈ $89), because they had sourced it from D3O for their football helmets and high-end shoulder pads. Schutt has had a terse, toxic rivalry with market-competitor Riddell, and has lost several lawsuits between the two. This put Schutt in a precarious position in 2018, when they were acquired by a private equity holding company. The PE firm restructured them, and their assets, and split their departments up (ie. sports). Officiating gear was relegated to the Adams sub-brand. As a consequence, Schutt lost its relationship with D3O, and their Adams gear could not use it. So, starting in 2018/19, the Adams XV’s were equipped with a generic EVA foam, dyed orange. Here’s where I need to disclose a secret, and confess – I didn’t use it. When my original Schutt XV plates gave out (cracked) in 2019, I was given a “new” set of plates from an Adams XV, sans the foam jacket, and transplanted my genuine D3O foam vest to them. To its credit, that D3O has lasted 10 years of near-constant use, primarily in SW-USA environments, and in MLB velocities. Not. A. Hiccup. So we’ve disclosed, the Adams XV is not real, genuine D3O. Only a Schutt XV from 2015 (debut) to 2018 has it. But even then, the D3O being used on the Schutt is not the same D3O on Davis gear today. It has evolved, of course. Same “mechanics”, but it has certainly improved. One of the big telling points, as you’ve noticed, is pliability. It’s less springy, more… spongy. More like putty than trampoline. That allows it to conform to the user’s shape more/better than simply sitting atop it. Someone a page back mentioned heat-bending the plates, and the XV wasn’t particularly good at it. Like its football pad cousins, the XV’s plates were primarily cast in ABS, but with a twist – because they shared the same molds as shoulder-pad plates, Schutt had “perfected” their shape to be as low profile, curved, and thin as possible, and likely optimized the recipe with a hardener so the resulting plate held its shape instead of creeping (flattening out). That, or they might have used polycarbonate (which is used for football helmets), which would explain the high-shine gloss finish on a brand-new XV. Note that Douglas, Wilson, Champro, Champion, and pre-Cobalt All-Star CPs all were… semi-gloss… more like satin. Telltale ABS (without an additional lacquer or finishing spray). Point is, polycarbonate is a b!+€h to heat-shape. I know… it took me many, many hours to shape my original XV, cycling between a heat gun and a freezer. Yup, the freezer. However, the +POS Cobra, the All-Star Cobalt, and now Davis DX-family CPs use HDPE (high density polyethylene), which while more expensive, retains its shape better with less material required.

So I posted a question/concern about the temperature range capabilities that Derek was kind enough to provide a thoughtful answer to. Have since used the DX30 in multiple high school games in the (alleged) low 50s with wind chill and took a couple of solid hits to the foam and with no issues. Very happy since it's incredibly comfortable to wear. I kept it inside the truck cab instead of the bed to be sure to keep warm just in case. And of course its in the 40s today. Sheesh.

I took my first glancing blow in my Enduro on Saturday. Varsity ball, batter fouled one back off my arm/shoulder guard - I didn't feel a thing beyond the impact! CP fits great, is aerated for cooling, is comfortable to wear and protective. Everything that one could ask for in a great CP!

Here is my review of the Gerry Davis D30 Enduro. No umpires were harmed in the making of this video. @DerekGDS had nothing to do with this....... https://youtu.be/kFZvw5wRon8?si=BNwKCuKZz3mn57hA