Stan W.

I actually saw a forfeit on the grounds @Beerguy55 states...... On field fight.....Umpires efforted to cool it off, then benches cleared, and it got really ugly. UIC stood back writing uniform numbers down. Once sanity was restored the original instigators, a few assistant coaches and those that came off the bench to join in were ejected. Game forfeited.

you could use Vinyl letters. They are available in pretty much all colors and multiple fonts. Available at most craft stores. Put them on when the cap is new or wipe down the area with alcohol to make them adhere longer.

I had 2 pairs of TW pads and to be honest, I could never get any satisfaction from them. My first pair I got came in a trade I made with a retiring umpire. The quality of manufacture was poor as the stitching was amateurish. I changed them into my gamer mask and gave them a good try. I never could get them to fit my mask correctly and they never softened up to fit my face. I eventually passed them on for free to someone who wanted to give TW a try. I bought another pair and I found them better in most aspects, but they just didn't wow me in any way. I went back to Honig's Doeskin mask pads. Just my .02

Aghhhhhh............won't this one ever die....

I had one of these...( a long time ago) back when everything I wore was +POS) absolutely excellent protection..... a regular furnace!..... used it for a few years, sold it......saw it last year still in service.....

I never needed a throat guard until the day I needed one....and haven't worked a game since without one........

between McGriff's and Officiating.com those were the days of "Dodge City" internet sites. Rough and tumble, yes! and it was clearly the deep end of the pool but there were some amazing contributors ....and some good information was made available. Ultimately the personal issues made it untenable.

absolutely! which is why you often hear the infielders yell out TAG! once the bag is touched to remind the other players the force is removed and a tag is needed.

The only person I know who definitely had a pair of Nike Plate shoes was Tim Christensen. Tim C. or Tee (internet names) worked with NIKE to develop a prototype plate shoe. Now this was a long time ago, but if I'm not mistaken NIKE felt the market was too small for the effort and return on investment. That being said, Tim still had the prototypes.......

oh how I miss my friend Mike....

and my favorite.....Day game or Night game?

I remember that as well.......and I hated that interpretation.....that was early in my FED career and I'm glad they changed it

Mine isn't funny but it's something I'll never regret. I called the Police. I umpired his game on a storybook beautiful day. It was Blue sky, sunshine and baseball. I know he was nine or ten years old. My memory of him is not all that clear until he came to bat. I was umpiring a kid game as a favor for my assignor. I saw the pitch that came hard at him, I cringed knowing he was going to be hit and I watched him crumple when the ball hit him square in the body. He went down and the tears flowed..... I bent to help him, and try to comfort him. His coach ran out and we lifted his shirt to see the mark the ball made. And then we saw it, it was already red and angry looking. But when lifting the shirt, I saw the other marks the angry purple bruises that only fists and adult hands can make and way too many to be accidental..... He tugged his shirt down and got up and he said he was fine. He took a moment to dry his tears and kid like ran off to first.The game, of course, was more important than his getting hurt. I was the one who called the police. I'll never regret that. His coach bought the hotdogs after the game, more to delay the departure of the team, while I called the police. I heard later he was taken out of the home and his parental abuser was charged. I heard he moved to live with relatives. I never saw him again. I wonder so much about this boy. How could anyone do that to a child. On TV now there are ads for reporting child abuse....and the reason most don’t is "how can I be sure?". I can tell you that I was, that day, and remain today, 100% totally sure. The evidence of the beatings that boy was taking left me no grey area.... I wonder if baseball was his refuge from the monster. I wonder if he is ok. I wonder if he ever knew how much he has affected my life and my relationship with my son and with the boys I umpire. I wonder if the coach and I will ever be able to meet and not talk about that day......so far its the first thing we mention when we meet after a long off season. I wonder how many others are out there. I wonder if he is happy. Best thing I ever did on a ball field?.....I called the Police.

all done by ZOOM

I got to add my all time example... HS player strikes out on a smoking fast ball right down the middle....takes his bat and slams it on the plate 3 times very loudly saying F@&K..F#$%..F*&^...( everyone in the complex heard him) I look over to Coach and told him he needed a replacement for # 18....he had been ejected for profanity.... The Player Dad says: whats going on? The Player says: I just got FING ejected! The Dad say: what the F&^% for? The Player says: for something I FING said! The Dad says : what did you FING say?........... Coach just looks at me and shrugs his shoulders....

Biggest ration of crap I ever got was doing a HS Varsity game. Damp day, some morning rain and a misty afternoon. The field was in good condition due to design and hard work by home team. We got through 4 innings until a driving rain chased us off the field.....a half hour delay and eventually we called the game for wet conditions and severe lightning..... The home coach went off not so much as to what our explanation was but because the girls varsity softball team played on during the whole scenario........rain and lightning Sorry coach, I followed the rules for the game I was assigned.

I'm sure many of us know Umpires who are well known to hold on and use gear well beyond the time the gear should have been relegated to a museum. I have my favorite items of gear, but I have upgraded anytime I felt there was a far superior item on the market or if I have encountered some gear failure. In my travels and especially at some bigger tournaments, I've seen umpires use gear that was well beyond the safe zone it was expected to survive. Masks with broken welds, bars bent well beyond tolerance, CPs that sag well below the throat and hang off the shoulders. I know I still see ribbed CPs out there and I gave that up in the 90's. It makes sense that there is an expiration date on gear and its ability to protect. Everything degrades over time. ( my knees remind me ) I have often urged new members to replace gear I felt was going to be not sufficient to the level of ball they were aspiring to or moving up to call. I have a standard request at my HS chapter for those upgrading, to consider donating gear to bring the deficient up to a safe level. I know our equipment isn't cheap. And you can only inform some Umpires...they will do as they wish. I do remember a time when I was trying to move up and one of the questions that was asked of me by colleagues was " Is he invested in umpiring?" ... The question related to did I invest myself in umpiring through training, study AND the necessary and proper gear ! so it goes beyond the protection level in many cases. Look after the umpires that come along.....advise them when you think they are putting themselves in harms way......

I switched out the mesh pads on my Zero G rigs......one with Honigs black leather pads and one with Navy Nike leather pads.......

I owned a BB2000, great protection!...but like many things developed back then there were drawbacks.... Heavy.. rigid and an absolute furnace!.... Now the guy who bought it still wears it and loves it!

I have a pair of polywools, with less than a season use, get snagged on a chain linked fence as I cleared a fielder on a foul pop up.....tore a perfect 1 inch by in inch "L" shaped tear........outside thigh area.....I applied an iron on patch from the inside of the pant leg. If you didn't know it had been torn you wouldn't notice it at all........

At my levels, I cannot see any way that the described tag in the OP would not be called an Out.

My reference to a "fist fight to see who gets the plate" was a reference to be who "controls the game"................not just to park there.

I think at all levels we have umpires who are better at B/S and I don't think of a higher compliment than when someone calls you a " good ball and strike guy". An old adage held that a good Umpire reputation is made behind the plate and not on the bases. I know the lower level of ball I used to call, the more Plates I seemed to be assigned. At higher levels, and among the better umpires I know, it can be a fist fight to see who gets the dish on the better games......