Samwhich169

Got all my stuff except for the Belgard pads. I ordered the plate shoes and got them today. They are fantastic and I really like the look of them versus my New Balance. The five tower socks are kinda cool, worn them a couple of games now and I like them. The SSK ball bag has now replaced my old DryLo bag for sure. Put that with the sweet patent leather belt and it is pretty nice. I almost pulled the trigger and bought the SSK shin guards, they are lighter than the Force 3, according to the website. I went with the Force 3 to replace my platinums that are a little too heavy now. Anyone thinking about using this site I can’t recommend it enough. High quality stuff!!

Okay I just spent quite a bit of my umpire allowance on this site. The site owner (So) was super quick to get back with me regarding my order. I splurged and ordered a black/tan set of Belgard mask pads, patent leather Mizuno power belt, the SSK ball bag, and the five towed socks (kinda interesting looking). If the stuff I get works out I may end up ordering the plate shoes as well. The shipping cost is no joke. It was $40! I just really like Mizuno gear and love my Mizuno mask. Can't wait to get this stuff in.

I just got my GD Polywools in the mail yesterday. I was very impressed with the overall quality of these pants. I have worn them all, Smitty, Honigs, Ump-Attire(which i miss) and now GD. I like having the expandable waist band and it is much more concealed than the Honigs Ultimates. The only regret I have is that I did not order them sooner because now the base pants show that they are out of stock until much later. My dad ordered the new Smitty Polywool pants and they look great too. They are not as thick as the GD and they don't have the sweet expandable waist band in them. I had an old pair of the Smitty Polywools when they first came out and they were absolutely awful pants.

Okay maybe its just me but if you umpire for an association that doesn't use any types of logos/numbers then it looks like you are just wearing a plain black windbreaker to me. I dunno I think with something of color on it it doesn't look too terribly bad but otherwise this thing looks very blah. I see the pros wear it and they have patches, numbers, and logos to add something to it. I prefer the Majestic jackets with the shoulder accents on them that for some reason the pros seem to do away with. I have a couple of these jackets and they not only function very well but I think look sharper than what the pros are wearing too. Just my two cents, this is something that I don't think I will be buying. I like long selves behind the plate when its cold and my nice Majestic jacket on the bases.

Okay I just don't get all the hate on the navy. I hear where everyone is coming from about "that's the shirt that new umpires wear" and so on. I just got through working a tournament here in Texas and we wore navy as a crew the last couple of games by choice. I get so tired of black, especially down here with it being so humid/hot. One personal issue is that I don't like to constantly blend in with the teams colors. It seems here in the past couple of years that most teams are incorporating black into their uniform scheme, black pants, black shirt, or even both. I worked a game a couple of weeks ago and both teams had black shirts (one had white pants the other had black pants) and all my partner had was a black shirt. It looked kinda funny, everyone on the field was in black. I am not saying that the umpires should "stand out" but we shouldn't be lost either. Everyone here (north Texas) wants to wear the "MLB blue" as they call it, and that's fine. It just gets SO old. Cream to me is just no good either. I find that navy is a good middle of the road color sometimes. I started umpiring and the old Elbeco shirts was what we had. I remember when the navy shirts came out and I though they were so cool, so I guess I kinda have a soft spot for them. I think that if you choose to umpire you should invest into multiple colors and not just get into the habit of just bringing one, I mean who knows maybe one day people will be saying, "hey remember when umpires wore black......"

Anyone know if you can wash the Wilson memory foam pads like you can the TW?

Get the smitty version of the therma base jacket. I have the majestic and too but I like the smitty one better and they look the exact same when holding them side by side. The smitty one is a little cheaper in price but the quality is excellent. They offer it in a range of colors too. Just my two cents.

I ordered a pair of the Smitty charcoal pants a couple of years ago, just to use as a beater pair. One of the things I hated was the placement and size of the belt loops. I wore the pants like one season and then retired them, just didnt care for them. I have a new pair of the Smitty charcoal pants that I ordered this year from UA and they have corrected the belt loop issue and the overall quality appears to have much improved. I only wear them when I am working tournament ball and use my nice poly wools for high school. One of my friends was wearing the Smitty polywools that he ordered last year. They had the same belt loop problems, too narrow and not spaced correctly. They also had the problem of getting those little fabric pulls (dont know what you call them) but it looked like they had been washed to much even though my buddy said that he only dry cleaned them. I am curious if anyone that had ordered them from UA saw if the belt loop deal was fixed or are they still using the same weird ones? Has anyone orderd the "new and improved Honigs ultimates"?

Okay I have a question with the calls that are over turned and the way in which they are handled. When a bang bang play happens (and the almost certain challange that comes with it) the coach comes out to appeal it. He doesn't go to the umpire who made the call but to the plate umpire. The plate umpire then walks with the coach over to the replay monitors and stands there with the plate umpire. Why? Why can't he stand somewhere else, like the dugout. He has made his "challange" now stay out of the way. When MLB does it you don't see the challanging manager go down the tunnels with the crew to look at the replay. The LL coach should remain with his team. I also think that it would be good to have the umpire that made the "disputed call" be with the plate umpire as this all goes down instead of cutting him off completly. Secondly I have seen multiple replays now where I am not sure that the call should have been overturned. I watched one where there was a bang bang play at first. The runner was called safe and then the replay process started. As I watched ESPN show the replay several, SEVERAL, times I honestly could not tell. The play was so close...even the announcers stated that they were not sure. Then after a long delay the plate umpire raised his hand and called the runner out. I thought calls were only to be overturned if the call was "blatanly incorrect" and could been obviously seen in the replay. It almost appears that LL is doing everything it can to have calls reversed for the sake of "hey look at us, we are using replay.....hey did we mention we are using replay!" I am not trying to beat up on the idea of LL using the replay process. I am just a paid observer who has been watching these games at home and I cringe everytime there is even a close call. I have tried putting myself in these umpires shoes. How would I feel to not be involved in a replay regarding a call I made? Then watching the replay from all the 30 different views and seeing it for myself. If I had made a call and had it changed by another umpire it would be tough to take. Especially some of those that you just can't tell one way or the other during the replay viewings. Is this just more or have other people noticed this to?

Anyone remember those awful "sage green" pants that came out right when MLB went from navy shirts to black. I remember Honigs sold them for awhile. Man those were awful.

Okay just my two cents on the "bucket" mask removal. Its all about perception, which as we all know equals reality. Its like working with that partner who walks on the field and lays his mask (bucket or otherwise) on the ground. We all know "that" guy. There is one in our high school chapter. I notice it everytime he works. First thing, mask on the ground next to the fence. It looks SO bad and makes them look so lazy. What I wanna see when I am on the bases is that my partner is "in" the game. Ball hit, his mask is off, and he is moving ready to go. Thats just my view on it. Okay now on to LL. Is it just me or are all the guys working the plate setting up extremely high. I mean really high. I have watched a couple of the games now and it seems to be a constant. Watching the Tenn vs. Connecticut game tonight on ESPN and the PU is doing that high stance. One a side note I like the guys wearing navy for a change. The crew looks sharp, no over the top mechanics. I am sure I am in the minority, and maybe its cause I still have a fondness for the navy shirt, but they look good.

I turned on the TV tonight and watched the Wiconsin/Illinois game for about an inning and it was all I could take. For starters the home plate umpire was a conservative 300 lbs and with his body mic on you could hear him "laboring" throughout. I watched as there were multiple hits and runners moving and he never took his "bucket" off his head. There were also some uniform discrepancies that I noticed. The home plate umpire was wearing heather grey pants with a dark grey colored ball bags. The other (5) umpires looked like there was some wearing heather grey and some wearing dark grey. Their light blue shirts were also mismatched as some had the RW&B and some had Blue&Black. I think one constant is the "over exagerated calls" that are made. HUGE strike and out mechanics used. I guess this could be attributed to the excitment of being on TV. I am not trying to knock LL but it seems like every year when they have these games, even up to the finals, the crews almost appear sloppy. I know that these guys aren't paid so it shows dedication on their part to be there, I just can't imagine myself going on TV without making sure that I looked my very best.

How much you looking for?

Yeah I would love to get my hands on a 121 model.

The weight with TW pads, to me, is about the same as my Wilson Dyna Lite. I also have the Honigs mask and it is only slightly lighter. I like the fact that the throat guard can swing freely. The other thing I noticed is that the mask's surface area is much smaller. When you hold it up against the Wilson or especially the Honigs mask they look so much larger. I never noticed that before I got the Mizuno but now I do. I guess it all boils down to preference but, I feel like it was money well spent.