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What's the first rule of Fight Club? NEVER talk about fight club! What's the first rule of Crossfit? NEVER shut the F*#K up about Crossfit! Hahahaha. You're welcome.

Going to need to make one in Navy for backward states like Georgia.

I fully endorse Spence on this one, primarily in rarity factor. The Zigs were an ideal design – light, responsive, and with a really nifty, low profile metatarsal guard. Indeed, their demise wasn’t due to a flaw or deficiency, but because Reebok’s parent company, Adidas, doesn’t understand baseball and doesn’t care about umpires. In fact, Adidas pulled Reebok out of all Team sports and confined its focus on CrossFit. Ugh. CrossFit?! Really?! If you have access to a pair of Reebok Zig plate shoes in your size, I say get ‘em. If they don’t suit you – which is why I’ve not owned Reebok myself, as they don’t fit my arches – then you still have NB’s available... at least until 2019 and the inevitable UnderArmour models.

Just got mine back from cobbler. Hope he gets @MadMax seal of approval. I wanted real leather straps. And the double rectanglular hoops hold the DF straps pretty good.

I'll take the blame, if it's warranted! One thing you, my fellow umpires and colleagues, must have picked up – I'm quite thorough in my descriptions and explanations. I don't want anyone to feel duped or blindsided in their purchase choices. You wouldn't be making a bad choice of either of those, @Tborze. The Champion P2xx is a very solid, protective piece of gear, and both of them – the Schutt/Adams and the Champion – are both tremendous values at their price points. Same could be said for the Champro, or the +POS, or the All-Star. And yes, the Douglas and the Force3 are a high price point, but at the end of the day – and this is applicable to all seven CP's I just listed out – do you want to be paying your money to a company that will progress and improve their gear, and invest in using new, modern materials, or, at the very least, try to keep production and employment here in North America? The alternative is paying for a CP that uses arcane design practices, outdated materials, produced overseas but priced so as to maintain a Big League (exclusive) license. Sounds appealing, doesn't it? But hey! The Big League guys wear it, so it must be alright... right? There are no longer any secrets to modifying the XV in this latest HDX variant. Schutt actually observed, addressed and progressed their product as it was in use in the market – they just never publicly acknowledged it, nor privately thanked guys like me and @Razzer who made modifications on their own, likely inspiring or motivating Schutt to make those improvements. To wit, there is no longer a need to remove the default Y-yoke harness and install D-ring anchors and rigger straps on the shoulder arch plates so as to use a Flex-style harness. It now has rather streamlined bicep guards (if you're into that kind of thing), and also continues to include and allow the attachment of an abdomen extension. To really achieve a close fit, I would recommend busting out the hairdryer and heating up the shoulder arch plates and chest plate and heat-shaping them.

@The1yankee said: "Only stings for a minute, lol." Good luck with that. When/if you start calling college baseball I want you to hit me up after you take one off the bicep or wrist or elbow or gut or inner thigh and tell me it only stings for a minute. I took a foul ball off my left knee two days in a row in the same spot. My old Wilson DaviShins didn't do their job. I literally cried, couldn't stop the involuntary pain tears that second day, second hit. Limp-Walked all the way to the right field foul pole and back trying to walk that one off. Bought my Force 3 Shins that evening from my phone in the parking lot before I left the game site here in KC. Hahahaha!

I thought I had a good handle on this type play, now I'm wondering.... With R2 on second moving on the pitch, B1 hits a grounder in the hole at short. F5 comes over to field the ball, but it passes through his legs. As F6 is about to make the play, R2 inadvertently brushes into him.When the play ends, R2 is on third and B1 is on first. a. the play stands b. B1 is out c. R2 is out d. R2 must return to secon answer C. regardless of the ball passing F5, even if he deflected it as long as F6 has a play on the ball, R2 must avoid him. Interference is the call....all codes. (Different story if the ball hits the runner )

and Navy it shall be. With some red accents?

No! Just no! Adds weight, doesn't really work. Wear a 6 stitch or an 8 stitch hat. Wear your mask harness loose. So loose that your mask should hang off the hat and your head and spin off your melon when you get hit. (notice I said when, not IF?) My .02...........

Even smaller colleges. My moms hometown, Defiance, oh, n Defiance college. Chad Billingsley n a few other good mlb pitchers played at Defiance. Very small college with a rep for churning out major league pitchers

Omg Dave, I hope I don't. That sounds like that hurt, making me rub my knee. Would you agree, its almost like that ball has a second mind, and finds that spot, at the moment, any pitches that whistle coming to the plate, ummmm.......????? I'm sure its one thing callin lower level ball, but to call some minor, major, or Intl, teams, I got a ways to go!

Don't buy plate shoes because of looks. Safety first. And the New Balance come in wider widths.

My two cents... If you have the chance, go with the Zigs. They're the most comfortable shoes out there. I can't confirm this next bit but I've been told by MiLB umpires that the V3's have a tendency to tear and fall apart.

Washington County-...I'm not a native, but only W. Pa. folks understand the appropriateness of the "jagoff" title..

By the letter of the rule, it WOULD be a catch. The ball is still in flight if it hasn't touched the ground, a runner or an umpire. In fact, even if another fielder catches the glove before it touches the ground, it's still a catch by the letter of the rule.

I am..at least OBR. If an infielder deflects a ground ball, and the ball then contacts a runner, (unintentional on the part of the runner) it is NOT interference, regardless on if another infielder had a play on the ball. However, the runner still has the responsibility of avoiding a fielder who has a play on the ball.

Very true. Conflicts and EJ's are just part of the gig sometimes. Kind of like nailing a pitch on the outside corner for strike 3 or getting a banger on the bases in the last inning of a must-win game; you are probably going to hear about it even though you made a great call.

Thankfully, those reports end up in front of the same people who are creating the video.

Dammit, @BT_Blue, I read your post too late... My fellow Vulture just reported back last night – he was asked in to do a simulated game for Padres pitchers. When we're PU for these games here in Phoenix, we outfit ourselves with 2 ball bags (at least! I've been tempted to get a third!) so as to carry multiple ball types – Major, Minor or Foreign (I was PU for a game versus the Korean Nat'l team, for example). As they're prepping for the game, the ball tote (singular) is carried in and dropped at the backstop – all Big Leaguers, baby. Wide-eyed, my fellow Vulture fills his ball bags and heads to the plate, whereupon the first catcher hoists off his mask and introduces himself – Austin Hedges. Unfortunately, he doesn't remember the particulars of the mask he had (only one guy in the Vulture group needs to be the tech-nerd). Annnnnd Play! PS - Oh, and on that note, by being PU on these games, we are getting the chance to see (and try out!) some really top-notch masks. I held a FM4000MAG in my hands (it's like it's not even there!... but look at that Jay Leno chin!) and tried on several Mizuno masks that you just can't get here in the States, including a Mizuno Titanium. Yes, I'm gobsmacked-in-love.

Jos. A. Bank in North Kansas City did mine last year. No questions asked. Looked great. $10/pair. Good luck. I have friends here who have used other branches of Bank and some who used Men's Wearhouse. No big deal if you don't. Only you and some of your fashion conscious partners will ever notice. Unless it is a point of emphasis for your assigner and other crew members. No biggie unless you are working games that are on TV regularly or working toward that level, seriously working for it, or an anal, ex-military, clothes horse fashionista like me. Ha!