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Just wanted to come on here and say Thank you to everyone on this site since it started for being a sounding board and place of learning as an umpire. Over the last 2 years I have fought an ankle injury that no longer allows me to work at 100% and I have decided to hang it up after 24 years. I always said I wouldn't be "that guy" and would stop when I can no longer work to my potential. I will miss it and I wish everyone who is on here the best of luck and want to thank you for the learning, entertainment and advice over the years from both afar and as an active participant since 2006. Soon I will be posting all my gear and uniform items on here to anyone who may need anything before I post them elsewhere. Again I appreciate everything and look forward to hearing stories while off the diamond!

You've determined your own answer... ... sand the back of your head, and apply some pine tar.

<Sarcasm><Skepticism> Who is "we"?? This is my game, and in my judgement, that 13-year old kid doesn't / shouldn't need to have another set of batting gloves, or an (oversized) sliding oven mitt spilling out of his back pockets on his scrawny arse! He's not wearing his uniform properly! This wouldn't be tolerated back when I was playing! Heck, I know I'm right on this one! We discussed it at our association meeting at the Kiwanis Lodge back in January. Louie even brought out his casebook! Even though we had this new guy in the group, who had just gone to Ump School, what does he know? I've been calling ball games while he was in diapers. </skepticism></sarcasm>

Tried it. HURTS!!!!!!!!!!!

"bUt hE dIdN't dEcEiVe tHe rUnNeR!" Kudos to an MLB umpire calling this in an MLB game. For the rest of us: Call the elephants, ignore the mice.

We've been selling these for a while and they're well liked. I generally wear a wide but I find these to be quite comfortable in the D width and they have good breathability.

Nope. There’s absolutely no way that’s a “production” “Power 13”. Those are football shoulder pads, likely off a “skinny” set (such as for QBs and Receivers), and riveted to a bridge plate, and to an edged foam pad beneath. Sure, they did a pretty nice job for a one-off, but there’s over a dozen “red flags” that paint this as a one-off, scratch-built CP… made with Riddell parts. If you think you’re biddin’ on or gettin’ a mythical Riddell Power… you ain’t.

Rules citations aside, let’s go with your gut intuition – you felt that (your) Runner did something improper (by not re-touching 3B on Last Time By (LTB)). You said as much. Now, the defense might have been tipped off by you directing your Runner to retouch, but they were compelled to appeal. Obviously, an umpire witnessed how your Runner improperly ran the bases (and didn’t touch 3B LTB), otherwise he would have signaled “Safe” on the appeal; we are trained to not call Out a Runner who we did not see do a violation or improper action. So you’ve got yourself (your Runner’s coach), the other team, and at least 1 umpire who felt he did something improper. I think your Runner’s in the minority. Who are these others?* *- the real effect hits home when you say this in Jerry Seinfeld’s intonation.

The umpire's likely an idiot. Or you're leaving out important information. ARod screamed in the fielder's ear as he ran by - there is nothing in the OP describing a similar action. Simply saying/calling "foul ball" isn't interference...mainly because "foul ball", even if improperly called by an umpire, would/should never prevent a fielder from continuing to make the catch. Edit: ARod also screamed something like "I got it" - so, beyond the fact that the proximate scream itself which would startle/distract the fielder (which should be enough), the words would also reasonably cause a fielder to back off from the catch..."foul ball" would not, so we're left with whether or not the coach's actions startled/distracted the fielder.

A little mask lineup for you guys today. I’ve got four different setups, and I’m curious what you’d change! [emoji3595] Top Left — All-Star Titanium This is the mask I used when I was still catching. I still absolutely love the way this one feels. It’s got black Team Wendy pads paired with an Umplife harness. [emoji3595] Top Right — Honig’s Pro Line Navy Honig’s Pro Line frame with tan Team Wendy pads and a navy Honig’s harness. What I wear for Michigan high school games. [emoji3596] Bottom Left — Honig’s Pro Line Powder-coated Metallic Sky Blue by Tony at Mask It Sports. Paired with black Honig’s leather pads. (Shoutout to@MadMax for the color combo!) [emoji3596] Bottom Right — Davis Mirage my newest addition. Haven’t used it in a game yet but looking forward to trying it out! Man this thing is LIGHT. What pad color combinations should I try next? I’m especially curious about red pads on the navy Honig’s. [emoji837][emoji838] I’m also considering moving the tan Team Wendy pads over to the Davis Mirage. What other pads are y’all rocking with your Mirage? Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I sanded the back of the helmet and then applied some pine tar. Seems to be working, but the helmet itself seems to be kind of large. I wear a 7 3/4 hat and the L/XL helmet seems to slip around.

Having tested both CPs, the Davis is way better than the POS. My crew tested out the POS when we were in Akron and it didn’t fit one of us very well. And they gave us the 12 and 14 inch to try out. Davis is the way to go

Reservoir OfficialsView the full article

I umpire JV, Varsity, and Legion (Junior and Senior). I moved to the Enduro from my AS Cobalt CP and have not regretted it a single time. It feels slimmer, and I haven't felt anything when invariably the F2 in front of me doesn't do his job. A peer of mine who does JuCo ended up getting one and he loves it (he moved to the Enduro from the Gold W as well)--told me he took a 90+ mph fast ball off the shoulder and didn't feel it. I don't have any experience with the Mk2, so can't really provide any feedback there.

did delauter "make an attempt" to go to second on the overthrow at first to double him up in the top of first in chicago. he went back to first kind of fast. @johnny08 might be the only one who can find the play and show it. gary darling, "I've called it an attempt for less than that" when asked about one of his partner's making that call. there was no play made on him, but just wondering if there had been a play and they tagged him before he got back to first, would anyone have called him out for making an attempt to go to second.

Absolutely 100% Don't go looking for these. They should present themselves.

FWIW, I would rather miss calling a balk than calling a balk that isn't there. One of the all-time worst balk calls I've ever seen occurred in the 2005 NCAA Super Regional between Cal State Fullerton and Arizona State. (Coached by Pat Murphy) As I recall, it was the bottom of the ninth and Fullerton had runners at second and third with one out in a tie game. The obvious call was to intentionally walk the batter to set up a force at any base. Unfortunately, the ASU pitcher was called for a balk (borderline call at best) for not coming to a complete stop on the third wide pitch, thus scoring the winning run from third. The NCAA coordinator at the time, Dave Yeast, danced around like he was on American Bandstand as he tried to defend the call on ESPN the next day. All is well that ends well though, as ASU won the SR and advanced to the CWS.

Have the two pair on the left in the upper photo and love them.

Common sense and fair play. Pitch is thrown behind the batter and it hits the batting glove in the back pocket. Are we really going to keep the batter at home plate? No. We are not.

Watching it live, I saw it immediately and thought he definitely did. Alomar looks like he did, as well since he pointed back to first (which you don't see here as it cuts off just before).

Yes... because the proper location for them is in the back pocket when not being used. This has already been established by rule and common sense.

I thought this was for those parents who need to pump up their young pitcher. Lets them measure how much stress and pressure they are putting on them.

Unfortunately I have not been able to find either of these two on there. I've found Champro, Champion, and an off brand called Teyva. Do you happen to have a link?

Selling a SSK Mask Used for $125 OBO + shipping Thank you

Official Review: Mizuno NEO Daichi 10 Black & White Field ShoesView the full article

Some MLB umps, as we all have, occasionally kick a rule. My 2008 BRD notes the previous NFHS difference with OBR/NCAA where the B-R can’t overrun on a walk in FED but can in OBR/NCAA. The only comment in that Youtube video asks for a cite. No reply is given.

No. Not to be pedantic, but 2 batted balls – and their conditions – supersede this. One is a Balk (in NCAA & OBR), the other is a Catcher’s INT (CI). Okay, sure they’re both INT, and kill the (live) ball, but they don’t result in an Out.

Warning track?! I’d have him run… the bases!! Properly. Touching each and every one, in order. Do 1 lap of the bases for each teammate on the roster, who he shortchanged / underserved by being a dumbass. Do ya got a 25-man roster?

So following the runner's "logic"...if he had run all the way back to second base, stopping one step short of touching it, would he be able to proceed directly to home over the mound because he had already touched third base? As a coach, my message to this coach is simple: your player is an idiot. Besides that, he explicitly ignored his coach's instructions. 1. I'd bench him the remainder of the game for the latter 2. At next practice he'd be doing a few extra laps around the warning track for the former. When you do what the coach says, you're in the clear if the coach is wrong - it's fundamentally operating with cover. If you don't do what the coach says, FAFO.

@gally7778 showing mid-late December but that's subject to change.

The "last time by" the base is the touch that matters. See relevant rules and interpretations in this video from Close Call Sports:

"5.09(c) Appeal Plays Any runner shall be called out, on appeal, when: (1) After a fly ball is caught, he fails to retouch his original base before he or his original base is tagged; Rule 5.09(c)(1) Comment: “Retouch,” in this rule, means to tag up and start from a contact with the base after the ball is caught. A runner is not permitted to take a flying start from a position in back of his base. Such runner shall be called out on appeal. (2) With the ball in play, while advancing or returning to a base, he fails to touch each base in order before he, or a missed base, is tagged;" And from the MLBUM: Passingbase.pdf

I had somewhat of the same problem. Go to the All-Star website and buy Large padding for the "SC900". Once you get it, use a combination of the XL padding and the large padding to get a better fit.

Like this one? Yeah, it draws a bunch of attention. It's only really an option on a "still wearing 🤬 navy" game, or an Eric Gregg -throwback game. If @DerekGDS issues red pad socks before sky blue or sand-tan... I'll toilet-paper his house. #DoNotNeed

What? He's allowed two pumps.

Davis Mirage with Custom All-Star FM4000 Pads. Shout out to @concertman1971 for doing me a solid on these impossible to find pads.

Don’t be absurd! Those aren’t black. If ya get the call right in 115° heat, or during a steady rainfall, and you are in an existential quandary (“Why am I here??”), does your style of footwear really matter?

Crease for sure on my base caps. Far more difficult to crease my skull though.

Crease! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Mark me in the camp of patent leather too. I blame it on my military time (21 years). I see the umpire uniform as exactly that--a uniform. And I try to look as professional as I can when in uniform. Patent leather is part of it. Same reason why I have my plate shoes prettied up by Leather Luster. But if we're trying to offend each other for comedic effect, I personally think the Reebok Magistrate shoes look like a war crime. Point being, we all have a different sense of style and that's okay.

I'll poke at this. Things are good, but we are not in the golden age yet. When @DerekGDS finally threatens the other companies enough that they finally begin innovating also, then we may be there.

We can argue all day about the strike zone. The most important element is, is the umpire consistent? Batters can adjust if an umpire is consistent. If the umpire is not consistent, then it's everyone for himself.

Looks like there was even a thread here! I see some improvements I would make, but that is the concept.

If money was truly irrelevant, then why are we thinking so small, friends? An “oversized” indicator? Psshawh, I got your oversized indicator right here… Every field would have a working scoreboard, and an attentive scorekeeper or, absent that, a remote that I (as PU) or my partner can control during the game. Heck yeah, make the BU pay attention to the game! Every college field would have a clock, too, with again, at least a remote that the BU can manipulate. Heck (again!), these should be on HS fields too! If money was truly irrelevant, every Varsity -rated and college-used ballfield would have lights, too.

Got basically 3 things coming to our offerings. The shoe furthest to the left is what I am guessing is what UA shows. 1. Plate shoes in all black 2. Shoe 2nd from left 3. And below

In my entire NFHS season this year--and even going back to last year--I need 0 hands to count the number of times a batter has been hit by the ball on whatever protrudes from his back pocket. I actually had 2 HBP this year where the ball hit the batter's dangling sleeve. Point being, I think we're making more out of this than is warranted.

@MadMax, my outrage goes beyond that, although I wasn't as vocal in my post. Somewhere along the way, that was LAZILY changed from batting glove to "sliding glove." Have you ever heard "sliding glove" used? Have you ever heard NFHS use it? No. This was an editorial change made by somebody who didn't like what had been previously handed down, and slipped it by. A "sliding glove" was never meant to fit completely in a back pocket, but a batting glove could. But then, why would we be bothered to actually FIX a rule? To add insult to that injury, it disregards EVERY example in the sentence before it specifically called out as "worn correctly and normally."

GD Mirage Liquid Gunmetal by Tony at Mask-It

Douglas shins are 2nd to none!