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Please. We are humans and its an amateur game. Go ahead and say hi and acknowledge them.

Hey guys just got through it. For context, this was my first time ever umpiring and I was behind the plate with a nice more experienced guy on the bases. I’m not working with my assigned mentor until next week on a varsity scrimmage. This was a high school freshman scrimmage, teams were decent. I also never got any work behind the plate in a batting cage or any other official training, but I managed through it. Hardest ball for me was a breaking ball at the knees. I set up in the slot and kept my head still, but I feel I could have been more consistent. Although I didn’t hear the coaches complain much. I’m unsure how much leeway to give these pitchers on the zone. I have another scrimmage tomorrow and will be on the bases so a little less stress and a chance for me to work more on positioning and rotations. I definitely hustled, covered 3rd when I needed to, etc. today. I did forget to signal infield fly once and a couple of other things. If one wants to get “good”, I can already see the need to go to a professionally run clinic or pro school where they hammer you behind the plate. I only was able to read online or watch videos on YouTube, but one needs to be in the slot to really “get it”. Overall it was stressful, I thought it was somewhat fun lol. Here’s to tomorrow’s game 👍

Decided to don the new rig last weekend. Felt great. Looks good.

Here’s the thing, SH0 (and everyone else reading this thread). I know you/we are right in using the proper position on any Outs with R3 only – C. I’ve attended MLBU Day Camps. I’ve moved (from Wisconsin) to Arizona, and attended umpire development sessions here. I’ve worked alongside multiple disciplines (levels) of umpires. I’ve worked in multiple states and regions, in a wide variety of leagues and events. I’ve worked dozens-to-hundreds of games in all systems beyond solo – 2-, 3-, 4-, and 6-. I’ve become expert-level at all roles/positions in them (U2 is still the most challenging & dynamic, and why I love it so). In preparation for those leagues and events, I’ve attended camps, clinics, and training sessions; some, wherein “special” mechanics / rotations are discussed (the one we’re talking about hasn’t been, FYI). I’ve attended HWUS. I work alongside Professional (Big P) Umpires. I work alongside, and am considered a professional umpire (those who make umpiring / officiating a profession, and do extensive college ball). In none of those places is the advisement or directive of “you shall… “ or “you should… “ move to B with R3 only and 2 Outs. Yes, I’ve witnessed that position being used. The user is always one of two types – a “newer” (I can’t say younger, per se, but it usually is) impressionable umpire, and an “older”, “crustier”, more “self-authoritative”, more stubborn umpire, who not only is physically deficient on moving about the ballfield (that can certainly be forgiven), but also goes to great effort to justify why he does it, and impress on others – especially “newer” umpires – that this is the way it should be done!!! These guys frequently find friends and allies in local associations. My advice to you ( @RBIbaseball, others… )? Screw “them”, and do it right. Position yourself in C so that you can be present and observe a potential play upon R3, and when you have a batted ball, read where it’s going, and get your ass outta your stance and across the centerline towards 1B. Show it to ‘em, prove it to ‘em. When I move back to Wisconsin, I know this is one of “feral” mechanics (it’s not advanced; “advanced” implies refinement. This is feral. It’s been improvised, makeshift, ad-hoc, and allowed to fester and rot in little local associations across the amateur baseball landscape) I’m likely going to encounter and have to remove to bring Wisconsin (back) up to modern times. R2 only? C. R2-R3? C. R3 only? C. R1-2-3? C. Number of Outs is inconsequential. This is the way.

... and a number of cases in LL for that ball being fair - and everyone standing around for a long time as PU blows out their elbow silently pointing fair over and over. 😂

I'm the one that's been testing out these new CP's. The Apex and DX are both very comfortable CPs. I'd say both will stand up to baseball (or softball) impacts without any question. I haven't taken any major impacts yet, but I've had some punches and so forth to try it out and no causes for worry in my opinion. I only work up to Varsity and 18U baseball, so I am only seeing 85-90 top speed, or less, most of the time with rare exceptions. They both look pretty good under your shirt also. The DX looks very looks natural at the shoulders, no linebacker appearance here. I didn't have to size up for either one of these under my regular umpire shirt, they fit fine under my current shirts. The DX is very thin and offers a much lower profile that rivals F3 v3! The Apex is a bit more round in the chest, think more barrel-chested, but still doesn't make you look any larger than most other CP's (Wilson Gold, Platinum, etc.) out there does. While I like both of these, I am a bigger fan of the DX. I love the all black design with minimal logo appearance. The neck, wings and belly extension can be removed. I wear it without those on it and it is very comfortable with enough flexibility to be able to throw a ball back to a pitcher. It is lightweight too. When using my UL harness on it, I forget I have it on sometimes. It's very comfortable to wear. The pad jacket is thin, yet somehow soft and supportive at the same time. It's not hot in Ohio yet, so can't speak to how well it'll do in the heat, but so far it feels like it'll perform every bit as good as any other CP I've had - and I've pretty much had them all except the Power. My recommendation is to pick up one of these models if you're in the market for a new CP. I am not paid to say that either. I sold all of my other CPs and have been using the DX mostly, but I do like the streamlined appearance of the Apex also. Due to a bit more stand-off, the Apex actually provides more security than the DX - but I'm willing to trade the added safety for a lower profile personally. I'll try to upload a pic or two once I get home. If there is anything specific you'd like to see, just let me know.

Exactly right! Thank you! My wife and kids have been the biggest supporters of my umpire avocation. She comes to nearly every one of my games if she is able to. I would not have the enjoyment of umpiring if not for the support of my wife and kids. Not only is she my biggest supporter, she is my best evaluator, as well. Many of my partners over the years know how good she is at evaluating, and they often ask for her to evaluate them when we're on games, too. I understand there is a time and place for it, and so does she. But when I go to the fence to get a drink of water, I'm happy to say hi to wife, kids, friends that took the time out to see me work. Many of my umpire colleagues wish their spouses would come to their games and get the support that I have been blessed with receiving. How many umpires do you know that their wives show no interest, and often little support for any of their hobbies? Probably plenty, I know I do. You're damn right I'm going to acknowledge her at my games.

Hello everyone, Michael here. So we are now official. We are UMP Guard Retrofit LLC. So I wanted to give a brief description of what me and the team does at UMP Guard Retrofit. We basically do the same thing Team Wendy did back in the day, replace your old couch cushion foam with brand new closed cell foam, recreating the pad jacket. To get your pad replaced the cost is $160 not including shipping, we offer rivet replacement, fidlcok attachments, and so much more. You might be asking yourself, why should I get my CP pad replaced by you guys? That is a great question, first, let’s start with breathability, not only is our pad a half inch thick it is also breathable, why is this, the main reason our pad is breathable comes down to 3 things, lightweight, breathable materials, and breathable foam. Our pad weighs about 10 ounces, compared to a traditional west vest that is about 9-11 ounces lighter. We like to pride ourselves in that we have retrofitted chest protectors for umpires from Little League all the way to the MLB. This year you will see MLB umpire John Libka wearing our CP pad when he is behind the dish! Following are some photos of our work, more to come. Rivet Replacement, Fidlock Replacement, and Pad Replacement… only at UMP Guard Retrofit

Ooh, just thought of another one... NFHS, not coming to a complete stop in the set position when there's nobody on base.

You make a good point here Champ! It's important to self-diagnose something is off, get checked out if you're having lingering or excessive (your call again here) issues like we're trained to identify in others - and take time off and rest! Never rush back as it only increases the likelihood of the next impact causing more severe and/or longer-lasting damage. I've had a mild concussion (AS MAG on foul back in a JV game) and didn't realize it until I was having the worst plate game of my life the following day. I honestly was thinking of retiring after that one, I did that poorly. I was apologizing to the kids, F2's, coaches - anyone that would listen... when it hit me and I had that proverbial light-bulg moment - I must have a concussion! It felt like I was looking out of my eyes sideways, I just couldn't see a pitch well at all. I had no headache or other typical signs, other than my vision was"off". I called my assignor and took the rest of the week off and went back at it the next week with no further issues. It's very important to err on the side of caution and be responsible for your own health here. Don't be ego-driven and try to tough it out. It's too your advantage to rest up and recover and don't come back until you're ready.

I would highly recommend taking the time to explore the archives and carefully review Max's contributions, as I believe you will find it to be an enlightening and worthwhile endeavor. Additionally, I suggest reflecting on your emotions and giving them thoughtful consideration before crafting responses. Remember that not every comment is meant to be insulting. It's easy to misinterpret tone in writing and I doubt any insult was intended.

You might be trolling but if you don’t know Max’s opinion on the Schutt you haven’t gone very far into the archives of the website… 🤣

Yep. It's better to be out wishing you were in than in wishing you were out. And, that applies to baseball umpiring, too.

There is absolutely nothing wrong with having verbal communication with your partners, especially those that you haven't worked a lot with. I know it puts my mind at ease when I hear my partner behind me telling me what they are doing. It allows me to be proactive to check something off of my mental list and move to my next area of responsibility.

This is the best post-game postmortem you can do. Identify the points when things started slipping away so that you can stop it the next time. My personal opinion and approach, I do not allow ANY jawing back and forth between coaches. NONE. Shut that $#!+ down yesterday. If they are ACs, then they get even less leeway. You (hopefully) wouldn’t let two players go at each other, so do NOT allow coaches to go back and forth. From a game management perspective, almost all of my worst games started spiraling this way. Talk it down as soon as it starts. Issue the team warnings immediately. The key is not to escalate it yourself, though. Calmly let the HC know that NOBODY is to yell or even speak to the other team. There is NO reason for opposing coaches to talk to one another; all subs go to you and get announced by you anyway. Maybe an unpopular opinion: depending on the run-rule, I wouldn’t be letting up completely at 16-1. If there is a 15 run-rule, I want an insurance run or two. This is especially true in tournaments when you have more games to play. Put it to bed, save your pitching, get off the field before a player gets hurt, and rest up for the next game.

I'm with Jimurray. No balk in HS varsity and below. Especially in youth ball, where F1's twitch and wiggle all over the mound, this is way to picky. Football officials would call this kind of violation "too technical." If the explanation of the call has to start with, "technically..." then we shouldn't be calling it. Balks should almost always call themselves. This one doesn't.

"HAHAAHAHAHAHA. No." - Nestor Cortes & Johnny Cueto

Let's give it up for Brother @Rover125! In less than 24 hours he went from babe in the woods to our brother baptized in the glorious fire of The Game and Our Craft. Congratulations! ~Dawg

Rover125. Glad you made it through OK. My advice: Read this website daily. There are some outstanding umpires here and you'll get plenty of good advice. And, don't be afraid of asking questions. Most mistakes by newer umpires are made because they haven't yet learned the correct procedure.

56 umpires are attending the inaugural installment of UPC’s week+-long camp (check it out! www.umpcourse.com ), and they’re informed that they’re about to call live baseball games (MSBL) in 1 hour. About 30 umpires look totally spooked, like deer in headlights. Another ten or so look like they knew this is coming, and start mentally preparing themselves. A few look emboldened, like an extreme sports adrenaline junkie about to jump out of a plane… on a skateboard… while juggling flaming swords… you know the type. Four guys look completely at ease with it, like it’s another day on the farm. These are the first four PUs. They were chosen for a reason. Everyone else looks visibly apprehensive, else tense. One PU – yours truly – promptly decides to cut the tension to ribbons, and since he came prepared, fishes out his blue (what else) Bluetooth speaker, queues up his umpire’s playlist, and unleashes this upon the room: Tension eviscerated. Others on the playlist? Rolling Stones – Out of Time Hootie & the Blowfish – Time Pink Floyd – Time Styx – Too Much Time On My Hands The Lone Bellow – Time’s Always Leaving Jackson Browne – Running On Empty Electric Light Orchestra – Mr Blue Sky Sense a theme?

If a guy landing in the Hudson River is hailed as a hero, I think you'll be fine missing a few calls. 😉 I apologize in advance, as I have a dark sense of humor . . . but when I read you were nervous about the game I thought "totally normal." When I read about your profession . . . I was in tears, laughing so hard my wife had to come see what was wrong with me. I can't imagine too many more things more stressful than that (maybe the guy in the tower). Others have asked most of my questions, but I haven't seen these answered yet: How did you get into umpiring? How did you get this game? Who has been working with you (or, as it seems, NOT working with you)? I came to it a bit later in life also, mainly due to waiting for my kids to outgrow their games. There is nothing wrong with that, and I believe it actually gives you better perspective. Hell, my first game, my shoes fell apart. Literally left the sole of one behind when I was button-hooking in on a hit. You'll do better than that. 😋 Like the gang has said, it gets better every time. You just have to be willing to be patient with yourself. As for stress and your personal situation, hopefully umpiring can become the stress relief from all that. A couple of hours on the dirt, focused on a baseball game with the best seat in the house . . . leave the world behind for a bit. Towards the end of my previous career, I had to spend a few weeks visiting customers at their homes so they could yell and scream at me. Some damned engineer and his supervisor thought it would be a good idea to build a substation (electric) in the middle of their neighborhood. Oh, and it wasn't even improving their service, it was to fed the pot plant on the edge of town. Anyway, I was having lemonade with one old couple who were big baseball (Cubs) fans. They started asking about me and how I ended up being the guy who had to come talk to them. I told them about all the jobs that I have done where people scream and yell at me (I went from the call center, to collections, to public relations where people can yell at me in person!). I told them that I was married and had four kids. The old man asked, "Well, what do you do to relax from all that?" I said, "I umpire." "Something just ain't right with you," he laughed.

It’s funny how one poster says, “Launching the bat in the air like that is not only disrespectful but also dangerous...not to mention childish”. Then says, “If I'm ole miss he's getting thrown at tomorrow”.

I am confident that is intended to be a lightly used accent color. But hey if enough people have interest in looking like the Savannah Bananas I'll see what I can influence. @ousafe that is already planned in the general design parameters. Our higher end shirts currently us a neck lining with our FNX fabric which lowers ambient temperature and wicks moisture faster then our polyester fabric. These shirts will have a similar neck/collar lining and sweatband. Something similar may be found under the arms as well.

This may be why I'm in Category #2. I only do LL and have only worked solo twice in 10 years. I do like different looks but I don't have the patience for being a clothes horse. I've significantly downsized what I lug around. Out of respect for the game, I bring multiple jerseys (and my plate gear) to every game no matter what we've agreed to in the pre-24hr+ sync up. I don't leave everything in my car 24/7 for multiple reasons so it's a hassle. Heck, I'm annoyed at how many dang hats I have and most of them were free from the leagues.

Yes, order of occurrence. BTW, I don't usually verbalize (much less point) "ball's on the ground." I generally don't need to do that: my safe call in such plays is so slow, usually by the time I signal safe, everyone already knows about the ball.

Watch this latest snip from Force3, featuring the Defender v2 (v3?) HSM : Watch it again, carefully, and note the tester's head... It doesn't move (much, if at all). The entire forward (main) shell of the HSM compresses, deforms, and rebounds around his head. That's all the kinetic energy at work, dissipating into the mass and mechanisms of the Defender. Looking at this, where or how is the concussion occurring? Well, like I pointed out, what we don't see is the wearer snapping his head back, recoiling at the shock of being hit. This is what causes the concussion!!! It's not the kinetic force of the impact that's doing it directly, but instead, it's our own REACTION to it that causes our head to snap back, and our brain to slosh to-&-fro within our skull! Now, granted, this wearer has been alerted and knows it's coming. We don't exactly know which pitch is going to get us, but be assured, it takes awareness and preparation – on each pitch – so as to best mitigate an impact. One advantage that I have is an extensive background as a catcher and hockey goalie, where I would be impacted by baseballs or pucks to my mask. If I didn't outright know they were coming, I can say I almost expected them. Similar can be said about soccer, in that instead of letting the ball hit your head, you prepare and ready yourself to propel your head to the ball. No one mask frame is better or worse than another at "preventing concussions", provided it is intact. So, the MLBU that stood up in front of our class and claimed that titanium masks are/were "dangerous" was full of $h!t. Of course, rightly so, a great deal of the protection is in the pads (and to this end, Wilson and other manufacturers have been woefully deficient). All-Star and Force3 have taken this one step further, by employing geometric and mechanical features, respectively, to significantly aid in reducing the amount of kinetic energy that affects the wearer.

Disclosure: I have a close family member who has lived most of their adult life in a wheelchair following a spinal injury. They have limited use of their hands and no use of their legs. They do not umpire and I would like to offer the following responses: 1) How do you know? Have you seen him work? And we have all seen partners who work games who don't get up the line as they should... 2) How do you know? Have you seen him work? Angle over distance, right? Maybe he doesn't get the ideal distance moving from the plate to get FPSR but, I promise you he gets the angle. 3) How do you know? Have you seen him work? 4) How do you know? Have you seen him work? I promise you...if YOU have thought of all of this, someone in a wheelchair has too. Maybe he doesn't wedge it up as he should. Like all of us, he is doing the best he can and I'm sure like all of us, his first priority is knowing his capabilities and getting himself to where he needs to be and minimize the risk of injury to himself or those on the field. 5) So maybe he doesn't work wet fields. Over the course of a baseball season, I'm sure there are lots of opportunities for him to work under his ideal conditions. 6) Conjecture and speculation...we don't know. Again, maybe he doesn't work turf fields. The bottom line is...people may have questions. People may not understand. People may want to pass judgement. I see a man in a mask, wearing our jacket, and grabbing strikes umpiring a baseball game. As far as I am concerned, that's our brother and I'd take the field with him anytime and I hope all of you feel the same way. ~Dawg

The brain jarring around inside your head, even though it is a minute sized brain I have, is the reason I turned back my games for the rest of the week. Did not want to risk further damage by running around the field. 5 games.

Just don't go out from inside, especially in the two umpire system. You most likely aren't going to get any better look at the play and you've taken yourself out of anything else that could happen, leaving one person to cover 4 bases and multiple runners. I am a much bigger proponent of working to create an angle and keep yourself in the play. Every time I've seen someone go out from the inside in the 3 umpire system, it has been on a no doubt moonshot that didn't need someone out on it and they have all been in a camp setting. I would ask "Why did you go out on that ball from the inside?" The answer was always, "Well we need to go out on balls challenging the wall, right?" My response, "Brother, that was challenging the county line, never mind the wall."

Can people stop including pictures of their bare feet in these threads?

… and let’s say it all together… No Runners On → No Balk

I'm not ready for them and I'm not gonna focus on them. Nobody has demonstrated that you can throw in one direction without flexing the leg. If a coach wants to key his runner on a knee too bad. Somewhere in MLBUM there was and might be some wording about back leg knee pops. I never understood it and calling knee pops is above my pay grade.

I don't think you understood the gist of the catcher's box nitpick. Prepitch by rule F2 must be in the box at TOP. No umpire at TOP is looking at where F2 or F3v is.

Even though the league I work is "LL" I tell the managers before the game that I will honor dead ball appeals. I am more interested in teaching the kids (and adults) to pay attention more than to go through the hokey pokey, as you put it.

Oh they're great all right. So great, that some of us will call time before the hokey-pokey gets going and ask Coach what he wants to do. When he says "Appeal," we make sure it's the right runner at the right base, ("which runner? what did he do?"), and then rule on it. Can be a game saver. Always a time saver.

more and more I like the sound of verbal dead ball appeals. I've never done HS so don't know if it's worse than it seems but getting 10yr olds to do the hokey-pokey on this is excessive.

Maybe the poster was high?

My good sir, I have the plausible possibility of advancing significantly in college baseball within the next 2 years (and I already do independent pro)… and I’m 48. In fact, what set me on this course was being evaluated by MLBU… when I was 39. Yes, I was too old to be a MLBU, but that didn’t end my aspirations, nor journey, to high-level baseball. @Velho, if you think Rich’s advice is cool (and it is 😎), have I got one for ya… I’ll start a new thread about it later tonight, but in a nutshell, I was reminded / re-inspired from my (younger) interests in archery and target-shooting (biathlon, specifically 🎿). I was absolutely fascinated by Olympic biathlon athletes when I was a teenager, primarily because they could exert themselves at peak performance, then arrest their heart rate so as to sight and shoot at a target the size of a half-dollar (approximately). I got really into archery, too, because as a catcher, I could directly affect my pop-time with drawing back a bow repetitively. There’s a breathing technique that comes out of this target 🎯 shooting that I’ll share with you over on that new thread topic. Incredibly helpful for those pitches that come after a rotation to 3B, especially.

Without getting into too much detail or sounding condescending about the literal impossibility of every action described in this play, I'll say that unless R2 over slides third base and is tagged out after doing so, the final outcome of this play is bases loaded and still two out. With BU saying there was no tag the only logical follow-up question, if only for morbid curiosity, is "then why did you call him out". You need to ask that because there is one scenario where the runner cannot be out by rule, and another where he can be by judgment (and then it's solely his decision to whether or not he changes his mind)...and you must understand what the BU saw to make that determination. Though if he's clear there was never any tag that might be moot anyway. If you don't see a strike it's a ball (F2's learn not to get into the plate ump's way)...if you don't see a swing there wasn't one (again, F2's learn to let the ump see what they need to see).

I know this is true, because I won't work 4-6 games per day and I always offer to help with the better tourneys in my area. I'm willing to take days off work and works Thurs - Sat (Sun is church and I won't work, another reason I don't get used, but I digress)... but do I get games assigned to me? Nope. Assignor, who calls me one of his best guys per what a peer told me, called me with my games for the first big tourney coming up in Summer around my area... guess how many games? Zero... but he told me not to worry, he'll get me some games. Last year, I filled in when a guy went down and worked his last game and got paid 1.5 normal rate due to emergency fill in - but that was it for a four day tournament. I'm not mad at him either, I understand. It's so much easier to put Tom & DIck on Field 1 for the day than to try to fit me and some other person in there for two games and then get another set of guys to finish the rest of the day. I blame fellow umpires as much as the assignors and the tourneys. Quit accepting that many games in one day. I don't care who you are, I've never seen an umpire yet, working 15-18U games with 2 hr 15 min no new inning time limits, who is as fresh and sharp in game 4/5/6 as he was in games 1/2/3. We say it's not about the money, then why else are we working 4-6 games a day when we know we can't be sharp? Are we honestly saying that we chose to work 10-12+ hours in the blazing sun for fun times then? If we'd stop letting them force us to take 4+ games per day, then we all could get a small piece of the pie and still enjoy the day doing what we love responsibly and more efficiently. In my area, it's not so much we can't find enough guys but the younger guys who are willing to work all the games on one field for every day are the ones that get used... and many times they are not the best umpires. But until assignors change this "butts in seats" method of assigning, then it will continue for the foreseeable future. PS - I'm not mad at some of you guys that do take and can work 4-6 games a day out of necessity. I'm speaking more about those that do it because the assignor doesn't want to work hard and try to get more umpires involved.

I wanted to take a moment and thank all of the Umpire - Empire crew for being so kind and generous with their time, and trust. I wanted to also thank @Razzer for as he spent some time talking to me about my product. I would also like to thank @MadMax and @wolfe_man for their continues feedback and help. As many of you guys know, I am 17 years old, my goal one day is to be a mlb umpire, this is simply a project to do along the way. I hope to retrofit many more protectors as my years go on. I will say this, I hope I never become a wilson sporting goods, heres why. Because If I ever ever made a product like Wilsons @MadMax would have me removed from the site in fear that I would take over the Wilson industry and he wouldnt have the opprotunity to buy wilson products and burn them. Anyways, I hope to make a meaningful conection with everyone I work with, I hope that one day, when I die, I can leave a legacy, of honesty, respect, and determination, that goes for my business too! I want everyone that has their protector retrofitted by me to feel like they are being treated with respect. I hope one day I can make it to the MLB, and if I do that will be awesome, but if I dont, that just means God has other plans for me, one thing I can say for sure is this is a new chapter of my life, and a new begining of something great! I hope over the years I earn each and one of your guises trust, whether its me retrofitting your protector, and jsut talking baseball with you guys! I wanted to say thanks! Thanks for your time, Michael Materasso Psalm 91:2

Infield fly or not, if a runner is on his base on a fly ball, he's protected from all but intentional interference (the specific wording might vary by code).

Winner. I don't care how close you are, it is easier to see a thrown ball beating a runner from a distance than a tag down on the ground in a cloud of dust at a distance. Odds be damned.

The baseball mechanics are your cockpit procedures. The baseball rules are your air traffic rules. The baseball field is your airspace. Time to fly.

I still get pre-game nerves--similar to when I stand up to give a presentation in front of people. Once I get dressed for the game and start the pre-gaming with my partner(s) the nerves settle down a bit. Once we start the plate meeting though, nerves are gone--it's game time. I think that's normal for most of us at whatever level we work The Craft. It's entirely possible that you may not be in a place where you can put your utmost into your games. While only you can decide for yourself, I encourage you to give the scrimmage a shot. If you can't focus solely on the game, then maybe your life outside the backstop should take priority--and that's entirely possible based on your post. If your equipment is solid, then your injury risk should be small. Ultimately, only you can make the call whether you can umpire this season. If you can't, you owe it to your assigner to tell him as soon as possible. I'm sure he would rather you be honest with him if you can't work games, than work games when you're not able mentally to work effectively.

Mental health in umpiring is a real thing. Taking care of yourself is job #1. Find an umpire colleague you can bond and share with - I've found the fellowship in the ump community helps a lot. While I do have a bit of nervous excitement before that first game of the season, I find it's like riding a bike. Once the game starts, it just kind of flows and muscle memory kicks in.

It's preferred only by this who can't move well enough to get over closer to first and who don't understand angle over distance.

The popular opinion can't be wrong . . . and depending on the level you are calling, dozens, hundreds, thousands, or even tens of thousands of people will let you know the further back you are, the better the view you have.

Dawg, did you not see who thoroughly answered before me? If there’s anyone on this entire forum who knows how to solve umpire gear problems better than me, it’s @wolfe_man. I’m just more… loquacious about it. If I was to suggest something, I’d be looking at those rubber/vinyl straps some companies use on high-end luggage pieces… or Pelican will use on their watertight storage boxes.

When I am commissioner, the use of vines within 6 parsecs of an MLB stadium or any other inherent design flaw that would lead to lodged or loss of sight of the baseball by the umpires will be prohibited... ~Dawg