renegadewolf

I've not done much tig welding, only a cursory training in a few of the millwright classes I've taken, it tends to be reserved for the actual welding tradespeople because of the afore mentioned expense. If you have the skills and means to fabricate a mask, while I wouldn't do it myself (as my skill level may or may not be adequate for steel anyhow and certainly not for titanium) I wish you the best in your endevours.

Congrats on your accomplishment, be proud!

I figure as long as I'm not calling a plate game a la leslie nielson in naked gun, I'm gonna be ok....

Grant, it's been very bsaic and limited research, but from what I gathered here frames are liekly made from Grade 5 titanium. Grade 5, also known as Ti6Al4V, Ti-6Al-4V or Ti 6-4, is the most commonly used alloy. It has a chemical composition of 6% aluminium, 4% vanadium, 0.25% (maximum) iron, 0.2% (maximum) oxygen, and the remainder titanium.[5] It is significantly stronger than commercially pure titanium while having the same stiffness and thermal properties. It also has a tensile strength (amount of force per area to break it) of 1000 Mega Pascals. Stainless steel for means of comparrison has a tensile strength of 570 Mega Pascals. Long story short, the titanium is a fair lot stronger, but it is stupid expensive because of the fact Titanium must be melted in an inert atmosphere or in a vacuum otherwise the metal will combust before it reaches the melting point. Hopefully this has helped muddy the waters some

Competetive mens league, top of 7, 3-3 score #2 team (home) playing #8 team (visitors) close to the end of the season type game (#2 is trying hard to get to be #1) with no runners on. I am on bases. Lefty at bat (facing the home team dugout(this is relevent! lol) and I am positioned playing back to the grass. Pitch comes in high, I see the batter turn as though he was going to swing, but can't really tell one way or the other if he did swing, so of course my partner steps back and points to me "Did he go?" Having an exceptional view of the number on the batters back I had no idea whatsoever if he went or not, so of course I say "No he did not" making a safe mechanic. Home team bench (there were 4 or 5 of em there) starts going nuts about the call. How could i call that? that's a terrible call!, Am I blind? (in this case, may as well have been) and blah blah blah. I say ok, that's enough, I've heard you but the one player felt the need to continue to expound on the various ways in which my call sucks. Of course they had a perfect view and were maybe 20 feet away while i was at the worst possible angle over 100 feet away, but this player just wouldn't seem to accept this hard cold fact of life.. In a more stern voice now i say, "ok, enough. We are done I don't want to hear any more about it" He finishes off with "you made a terrible call there blue, could have just cost us the game". I had been walking back to the grass ( i had moved in during the discussion to about the bag at first base) I turned around and i actually said "BOOM! you're gone" Didn't even realize i said it that way until after the fact....

Why make an issue out of a non issue, call the strike, carry on.

Cripes, It's taken me longer to get back behind the plate from a concussion this year than that.... Hopefully the mild exercise does your body some good! Take care and be good to yourself

I know that "stick a fork in me" feeling, I get it every year. Fortunately here in ontario canada we have a fairly limited window of opertunity to play ball (unless you are into snow-pitch). I'd estimate I've done in around 120 games this season, about an average of one a day since the beigning of May, not too shabby for a guy who works a continental night shift..... I'm not quite there yet, but then again I am just entering the playoff stretch. One of my mens leagues is in the playoffs, the second mens will be getting into playoffs in earnest within the next week or so, plus I have Pee-Wee (13U) Provincials over Labor Day Weekend, I know i will begin feeling it come the begining of september and by the time it is all said and done in October I will be more than happy to hang up the gear for the winter. I suspect perhaps 30 more this year by the time it is all said and done. I've been really fortunate and only lost 4 or 5 games all season because of weather

I can't help but wonder if perhaps instead of giving it to him, the real character builder would be in letting him earn it. Without getting into parenting methods and personal morality and what not too much, sometimes in life there are things we try, adn we try and try and try, yet despite it all we fail. This kid failed, and there is no shame in failure, the shame lie in not bothering to try in the first place. Be the authority figure you are and enforce the rules as they are without allowing personality to enter into the call. Just my humble opinion

It's always intimidating seeing someone get hit with the ball in a sensitive place (either head really). Iwas doing a mens league game alst season when R2 broke for 3rd on the pitch to steal. Catcher came up and madea cannon shot straight up the line. F5 in his anticipation of the throw started to move his glove downwards for the tag just before the ball hit his glove and the ball ended up smashing him right between the eyes on the right side of the bridge of his nose. Lots of blood flowing and a very obviously broken nose. Off to the ER with him. He managed to get back before the end of the game (less than 2 hours in an ER in Ontario here is something amazing in it's own right) with a broken nose, serveral stiches and a pretty severe concussion that kept him out the rest of the season (aprox a month and a half)

OBR is rather emphatic about the fact that the pitcher must have the ball in his possession as it is mentioned twice in regards to putting the ball in play. I've encountered this play once (very sandlot) and stood to the side of the plate with my mask off looking at the pitcher. When the coach asked me what the hell I was doing, I informed him the pitcher needed the ball before I called play, and since the first baseman isn't the pitcher and not on the rubber despite having the ball, nothing was happening until the pitcher had the ball. Sad part of all this was the he said to me that "well, we did this before and it wassn't a problem"

A balk has nothing to do with a batter so there would be no language about having a batter in the box in regards to a balk in OBR (can't speak for FED, we don't use that ruleset up here).

I've not seen it in OBR but perhaps it is the FED rule set that has a section on being a social worker? Last time I checked I was there to enforce the rules of the game not my will or the desires of others.

http://deadspin.com/5933985/little-league-team-advances-to-world-series-on-sketchy-third+base-appeal Sometimes it takes balls of steel to make a call you believe is correct on a play that has that kind of effect. kudos

This ejection occurred in the Florida State League of Minor League Baseball. For context, the base umpire was engaged with the Manager arguing a close play when the ejection occurred. Minor League ball has some very specific rules about scoreboard operators, organists/person who controls the music and public address personnel in the PBUC manual. May seem odd or "short fuse" but trying to show up the umpire or incite the crowd or mock the umpires (such as playing 3 blind mice as happened here) over the PA is absolute grounds for ejection

Watching the tigers feed?

No different in Canada either....

Again, I think trout makes a very good point, while my personal convictions are my own, I have no right to impose those convictions on other people. While I personally disagree with wearing a flag pattern I should never tell anyone that they can't do that. If you feel wearing the shirt is patriotic, I don't suppose I can much tell you that you are wrong lol. I don't agree with it but having said that I REALLY dislike the navy blue shirts. I have no idea why, perhaps because it is the one color everyone has (and is the "prefered" color in one of the associations I work in) and the non conformist in me just has to rebel

I think we will have to agree to disagree, The design is what makes the flag, not the material or thing it is placed/printed/woven upon. Using that design as clothing is just inappropriate. I suppose this is a "check swing" of flag etiquette, a judgement call if you will.

Some folks just don't dig red..... It tends to be a love it or hate it color. As for the flag, well it's illegal in the US United States Code Title 4 Chapter 1 — The Flag Section 8 (D) The flag should never be used as wearing apparel, bedding, or drapery. It should never be festooned, drawn back, nor up, in folds, but always allowed to fall free. Bunting of blue, white, and red, always arranged with the blue above, the white in the middle, and the red below, should be used for covering a speaker's desk, draping the front of the platform, and for decoration in general. (J) No part of the flag should ever be used as a costume or athletic uniform. However, a flag patch may be affixed to the uniform of military personnel, firemen, policemen, and members of patriotic organizations. The flag represents a living country and is itself considered a living thing. Therefore, the lapel flag pin being a replica, should be worn on the left lapel near the heart. Flag etiquette, obscure stuff most people didn't even know existed......

I don't know what you call a fellow like that, but i do know we call a person like you resentful. This fellow may well be the worst umpire ever and a complete douche but this is a fine job taking a personal grudge public, and you have the nerve to call this guy a smitty? Pot... meet Kettle

As my avatar may indicate, I like red the best, then black, cream, powder and I just really dislike navy.

R1, R2 0 outs. Ball 4 is a wild pitch that takes a straight up bounce when it hits the fence and manages to connect with the top of the fence and bounces out of play behind the screen. How are we handling this one?

Announcers are the reason I tend to watch baseball games with the sound off. There are some pretty good ones in all fairness, I happen to like the tigers announcers and the jays announcers tend to be pretty knowledgeable, considering one of them is Buck Martinez, they better be and I could listen to Vin Scully read the phone book but these guys are exceptions.

All I can say is that I think sometimes perhaps we forget that this is a game and take ourselves a little too seriously. Those were kids playing a game in that picture, and because of some "scrub" these kids get to play a pretty great game called baseball. When I ask myself what is more important, how someone looks, or that some kids got to play ball the answer seems pretty apparent. Just because we are on the "business end" of baseball doesn't mean everyone else is. This thread has been kinda buggin me for a few days with it having a rather malicious nature, just thought i might throw in my buck fifty.