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Love the Honigs, especially the squared off look, the tan color, and the non-standout logo. They fit my chin nicely, more so rest on my chin “shelf” nicely. Also, thick-ish, so I feel like they have some protection to then even though they are just foam inside. Biggest thing, they fit in and look nice in different frames. I’ve had them in Nike, Wilson titanium, alum, and dynalight, Adidas, Diamond, All-star, and the Honigs frame over the years. Looks good in all of them.

I think the phrase is .... "Swing the bat, meat."

It certainly is. So is getting pickle and mustard correct by the burger flipper at McDonalds. I’m not entitled to walk back into the restaurant, slam the burger on the floor and scream at the crew member they suck and that they need to get a clue about making sammiches. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

When to end a game because of weather or darkness

@MadMax: I know we had our disagreement over Navy still being a viable colour for umpires back a few years ago. I'm fine with all my black shirts, but I just didn't, and don't, want to chase fashion solely for the sake of chasing fashion. (And I feel there IS a faction of umpires that *do*, out there in the wild.) But I'd like to reach a hand across the aisle, not least of which because the decision has already been made by umpires in general, but ALSO because I think we have a mutual enemy. I think you and I should be able to get together and agree ..... ..... those all-blue Dodger uniforms suck. And suck hard.

sent over to the Transaction Experience page .....

Ask Denkinger or Joyce about "most difficult" - soft flip to first base when you're watching the base and listening to glove...and never hear anything. If all umpires are doing their job, calls around the batter's foot being out of box, or whether or not the batter was in the box when hit by their batted ball, should be very difficult to make....because they're watching something else. I would imagine "hard" calls to make (or not make) would be avoiding the tendency to "make up" for prior mistakes.

Maybe "adults" in a rec (you know, short for 'recreation') league shouldn't be worried about the correctness of balls and strikes and just hit the F*#King ball.

A few MLB guys are rocking Honig's pads also .... Nic Lentz is one of them (on a Wilson Ti frame [I believe])

We have to remember, the All-Star LUC-Mags are a different animal than their standard LUC siblings – they're oversized, greater volume, and have that reinforcing plate inside of them. The only manufacturers that make leather-clad pads of any worth are Belgard and Honig's. Wilsons – despite originating as a leather goods company – are crudely made and full of primitive foam and wool as their rendition of "padding". They're like leather-encased sausages. Same goes for MacGregor and Rawlings. Champro is even worse. All-Star does make leather pads rather well, but the simple LMX pads don't have enough volume for us, nor include the reinforcing plate. Force3 can't be included in this discussion (yet, @JimKirk ) because their pads are designed for use on the dual-framed Defender masks only. That's a shame, because other than All-Star in the LUC-Mag pad, no one has placed any advanced materials into a leather-clad mask pad. Force3 actually places a laminate of Kevlar, Memory Foam, and EVA foam inside! With that said, Belgard makes an exceptionally well-designed pad. They are the only ones I've ever seen that not only use premium leather, but also arrange the padding into segments, complete with chin relief. Sure, these features drive the price up, but the primary reason these pads cost so much is the import tax / fees! Why? Because it threatens Wilson's (and other manufacturers') grip on the market! If you can't beat them (on quality), invoke a trade law or regulation, and keep 'em out of your territory! Even if you have moved all your production out of the USA and have it done nearby in low-cost China!! Honig's is, perhaps, the next best thing. Their leather is supple, and not only do they cut the pads to more accommodating shape, but they also have padding volume inside that creates that all-important standoff distance. True, except one lone catch – the stuff isn't made in the USA. It's made by USA-origin companies having all their products made in China, and then shipped over for maximum profit.

If this game was played under OBR/MLB/NCAA rules only the batter needed to touch 1B and R3 touch home for the run to count under a game winning HBP. If the game was played under FED all runners needed to touch their advance base and the appeal of r1 would be a force so no run would score. @flyingron this is the second appeal thread you have kicked.

This should have been a time play so if R3 crossed before the appeal (even if the appeal were valid), then it should have counted. I have my doubts about the appeal being valid. Are you saying this is the bottom of the ninth (walk-off) situation? Even if that is not the case, wouldn't R1 had to attempt to continue past second base after failing to touch it in order to make a missed base appeal?

Take the bolded out of your vocabulary.

Why assume he was passing judgement on NYT's business model? Maybe he was simply letting OP know that he couldn't read it and therefore couldn't engage in conversation about it.

Couldn’t agree with you more. Especially when you’ve got a relatively large and/or paying crowd, and it’s not quite an official game (in length) and/or the score is tied. Compounding that is you have that sick feeling that you’re passing this on to another crew who will be just as miffed as you would be at having to pick up and complete your game, and catch all the grief that the two clubs probably are harboring at “the umpires” for suspending a “perfectly good game”. Sure, in the leagues I work, there is ultimately an admin that is making the final “action” call, but I still have to be the one that takes them off the field, and I’m the one that has to mitigate the coaches, groundskeeper, and that admin deciding what to do. According to @Stk004, @KenBAZ, @The Short Umpire, @tpatience, @Tksjewelry and other guys who know me / have worked with me – “You’re outta here!” / “You’re done!” / “You’re ejected!”… hardest and rarest call for me to make. 😉

Got a black one - thanks @acpar72