capnumpire

Bought these 3n2 shoes on a whim last year and Love them. They are not the best looking but they sure are comfy. I removed the velcro flap and have had no problems. They are easy to clean also.

Hey Trout; Everyone knows ties go to the Umpire!

Cover this in your pre-game. Tell your partner to give you what you've got. 99% of the time it will be a "no he didn't" ( in B & C ) but you will both look like a team and satisfy the catcher/coach who asked you.

This might sound crazy but when I do solo JV games I still give signals. Not emphatic ones but enough to keep my head in the game. Time plays Infield fly, tag ups and the like. No one notices but they reinforce your game skills for when you do have a partner.

Anyone notice his # 00... I got a kick out of that.

Done! Hope it helps...

Hi there; Just received my +pos Mag. mask on Saturday after using the Wilson Lite mask for the past two years. I decided on this mask due to it's advertised weight, 15 oz, and cost,( 80 ) plus it isn't a low profile mask so if that is what you are looking for than don't buy this one. This mask is MUCH lighter than my Wilson and I felt that my vision was much improved. Let me say WOW! What a difference in weight and ease of use. The pads are a bit smaller so I may change them out in the future for the quick dry ones but for now I give the +pos an A. I did an 11U aau double header Sunday a.m. Had the dish 1st and was impressed with everything about this mask. No head shots yet so that may change the A rating but for now it's real nice to have a lightweight mask. The harness was easy to use and adjust, basically pre broken in. I know there are other Mask's out there that are light but this one is Really light and I like it! ( so far anyway ) Hope this helps. Mark

Thanks Pete, I'll figure this game out before too long! Thanks again Mark OB

Thanks for the input guys! Rich, he was not in contact with the plate. I don't know what he was trying to gain from this but he was certainly violating 8.05 (g). Although, I admit, I wasn't sure what at the time, just that he was doing something wrong. My partner was just back from foot surgery so he was a bit rusty and I just finished 6 weeks of 12U ball on the small diamond so I was a little overwhelmed being back on the big field. Everything else was fine, rotations, signals, base coverage, all but this one play. It didn't affect the outcome either so that was good. Thanks again guys, my off season work will certainly include a Balk video so I will be much better next year. Mark OB

Last night 15yo Babe Ruth game. Runner on first 0 outs, Pitcher takes his signs while not on his plate ( he was stradling the plate "with" the ball )then starts to come to a set after receiving his signs and throws to 1st, runner safe, he never put his foot in front of the pitchers plate. I balk him and send the runner to second. Needless to say the defense went beserk. My reasoning for the balk was that the pitcher was beginning his pitching motion and it was purely an intent to deceive the runner.He had brought his hands together but had not come to a complete stop. It even caught my partner off guard but he agreed with me that there was an intent to deceive. Rule 8.05 (g), the pitcher makes "any" motion naturally associated with his pitch while he is "not" touching ( he wasn't) the pitchers plate. I'm pretty confident I made the right call and stood my ground while the defensive coach argued. I sat him down pretty quick and got on with the game and there were no more problems. What do you think? Thanks in advance; Mark OB

I'd be okay with the crown if it had ear flaps :D

I probably wont be wearing the red one too often (that's the teamwork one) so I'll deal with it. The powder one is Smitty and I do like those. It's nice when you can try a shirt at a bargain price to see what you like and don't like. They had good prices on jackets too, if you or anybody else is interested.

Hey kcfan102; Look at the side bar and click on jerseys. They have a good deal on individual shirts also. There is a minimum shipping charge of $8.95 so you have to factor that in also. I just bought two shirts, Powder and Red, and a couple of indicators for $57.00. Not bad when you consider Smitty shirts go for around $27-32 each. The other brand was teamwork. They had the red shirts I'll need for Friday games. (Red shirt friday's show support for the troops) It may be worth a try.

I guess the bottom line would be to check with the associations/league officials in your area. They may or may not have rules that would clear this matter up. We all have our own opinions and they are all valid but where I live and work there are rules in place that would prevent somebody coming out of the stands to finish a game unless they had a CORI done. If there are no rules in place then have at it. If you did suspend the game the punishment for the coach should be to pay the officials that have to come back and finish the game, for you may not get the same people the next time, and we all know we don't work for free! We are here to enforce rules that are written for the good of the game so if there are rules written that validate coaches shouldn't we enforce them too. Again I agree that we can't be checking every coaches credentials before every game and that we have to assume ( there's that word again! ) they are qualified to coach. I'm talking about the OP about bringing someone in from the stands to finish a game. Just my:2cents: Thanks for reading Mark OB

Hey Larry; That's low man! :crybaby2:

Larry; There is no ID with the CORI, the leagues are responsible for getting them done. As long as someone from the league or school is willing to take responsibility for the anonymous someone from the stands to take over I'm fine with that. If I, however, have to be responsible it's not happening. I agree with you that we are not there to judge the qualifications of coaches or their assistants. We must assume ( I hate that word ) that they are qualified and that any protective procedures put in place are done. Just as they assume that we are qualified to do our job. It's funny but the kids may be better off sometimes with the anonymous someone than their actual coach. It would certainly seem to be in this particular case. The CORI is not a perfect system but it does protect the kids to a point. Someday something better will come up but until then we can only use what we've got and sometimes that is simple common sense. Thanks for reading Mark OB

Here in Mass. any coach/asst. must have a Criminal Offender Record Information done on them. (CORI) If not you may not coach. I would have to make sure this had been done otherwise game over. We can't just take a parent or adult out of the stands to help out. It gets a little complicated here in the NE. At least we'd have an excuse. If we let anybody come in to finish the game and anything happened we'd be up the creek. Liability and such. I guess it's different everywhere though.

Infield fly, if fair, which it looks like it is, so the batter is out and the force removed so R2 would need to be tagged because the ball is alive and the runners may advance at their peril.

:question1::D:D Thanks, Same to you!

Hey Warren; Would you actually run a kid for this? Being new I'm trying to figure out what my thresholds will be. I'm fairly patient and feel I'm fairly even keeled, but I guess it will be up to me to figure out where these limits will be. I don't want to be too quick but I also want to show I won't be a pushover either. I'll figure it out I'm sure. Thanks Mark OB

That's funny, but I don't call it follow up nagging I call it incentive. Right before I hit the pay now button.:nod:

My wife/seamstress asked me to try on my "plate pants" one more time before she hemmed them. I put on my new diamond feather lite shins and my New Balance plate shoes, stood before her highness, squatted 22 times and declared the pants fit to be hemmed. She then asked me to try on my "base pants" and lo and behold she had them backwards. But I found out that in a pinch I could easily wear my new Smitty base pants with my shins without any problem. They are almost combos. There is no binding or uncomfortable stretching. The plates are bigger for sure but it's nice to know that I won't have to go scrambling if I mix up a plate/base or have to do a solo when I thought I was doing a base. You get the drift.B) I'm very new to the "business" but this was a pleasant surprise. I'll try the poly/wools as I get on with Umpiring, I promise! But for now these will do just fine. Thanks for reading Mark OB

Kevin, Warren, and everyone else; Thanks for the advice about the mask. I tried it and am turning into a pro. I'm going to move on to the six stitch next and master that. As far as taping your CP. Make sure you use a good 1.5"-2" cloth tape. It's pricey and sometimes hard to find but worth it, it's like duct tape for athletes. When the nylon tape gets wet from sweat or just plain water it starts to get mushy and that's when you'll have to change it. You could go radical and sew it, but with the tape you can adjust it easier. Just my two cents! Thanks for reading and all the help. Mark OB

Thanks Warren. That does make sense. I'm going to give it a try. This may be the reason I'm not getting better at taking the mask off without pulling my cap off too. Thanks for the tip Mark OB

Hey John; I'm pretty new at this too and what I'm finding, at least with my CP/Wilson Platinum is that if you wear it around the house with a shirt over it it will start to mold to your shoulders. I also bend the shoulders in after I take it off. You kind of roll it inward a little and this seems to be loosening it up quite nicely. As far as the straps go. It seems that they loosen up a little. What to do here is find your comfortable spot. Get in your crouch and find where it is most comfy and secure, especially around your neck/collarbone. You don't want to be adjusting it every time you get up and go down. When you find this place simply take off your CP and get some good cloth tape. Wrap your straps so they stay snug and you should have no problems. I do this with my suspenders for my Bunker pants and never have a problem. (I'm on the FD) You may have to take your CP on and off a few times to get it right, unless you have some help but it doesn't take long. As far as your mask goes, I may be wrong but I think you want it kind of snug. If it were too loose and you got hit it would be like getting hit with a punch verses getting pushed really hard. I'm actually sitting here with my mask on practicing taking it off without moving my cap. I'm only getting it right about half the time. LOL:banghead: Again these are only my suggestions and I'm new. Hopefully you and I both will hear from some vets and they can correct me and help us both at the same time. The tape thing for the straps does actually work. I've been doing it for years. There may be an easier way. Maybe we'll find out. Good luck Mark OB