Tony B

DO NOT USE EXPLORER TO VISIT THE SITE! Chrome is good, Safari, all is good, edge is good... But this is what I saw at work when using Explorer.

http://m.mlb.com/video/topic/63817564/v89204683/?query=reynolds Your browser does not support iframes. Now I bring this up because I had a discussion with a friend about the difference between being in the glove vs. caught. What are your thoughts on it?

Many of you have more posts in a day than I do in 5 years. As a long time lurker and rare poster the arguing for the sake of arguing is a turn off. I get to a thread which may be interesting and then we get to the BS and I stop reading. I could be missing out on some great info, but once I get to 3-4 posts of garbage I check out. Police yourselves. Don't get overly excited with each other. I don't know if everybody realizes how great of a resource this place is and I'd hate to see the usefulness of this site go away.

I'm going to say what I bet others are thinking and try to stay in the guidelines of what is acceptable at UE Who the hell is going to take protective equipment advice from some old, crazy looking guy who still wears a ribbed CP? Come on if you want to be in the protective equipment market at least look like you know what you're talking about. That would be like talking to Jim Kirk about buying equipment at UA but finding out he really buys his at KMart. AND who gets hit in the mask once every 20 games? I sure as heck don't

Undoubtedly. 3 of the top. Well, one worked the 99,03,06 CWS one worked the 07,09,12 CWS one worked the 11 CWS Seems pretty good to me. At :03 that move is why nobody can play little ball anymore, since it has been deemed legal. Is the catcher allowed to jump that far out in front of home plate???? When does this constitute a balk or catchers interference (does the bat have to hit the glove for CI on a pitch to draw the CI on this play---wasn't there a time where the catcher could not do this???). If CI and everyone does not advance, what does it become. Is there an option on this play??? Here's a still from the video _sorry the quality is not good I'm not good at doing this. So the catcher is clearly interfering IMHO. But- somebody correct me if I'm wrong - the video does not show if the PU or rest of the crew awarded the batter first so lets not be so quick to jump on them and say they missed a call. We see an apparent rules violation, but we don't get the rest of the story or potential award. So does anybody actually know if CI/Catchers Balk was actually called or not? Until we know that lets give these guys credit as they are among the elite of the elite in the NCAA D-I world. It would be unfair otherwise. And if they did not, that does not make them a Smitty, just human like the rest of us who would kill to be in their plate shoes. Back under my rock

Same here. We talk ad nauseum about retail items here from Chest Protectors to books, to virtually anything else you can name. We're pretty on top of umpiring related things. I love when somebody like Mark in this thread or Jim from Ump-Attire, Aaron from Honigs or Brad from All-Star take the time to see what is important to us - their customers. I wish other companies would do the same. I would have loved to see someone from unequal chime in on their product. But I dislike when someone comes and makes one post about their stuff and disappears.

When I met Warren in Philly we looked at the Unequal Chest Protector together at the Honig's table. BTW Warren was wearing his Ump Attire cap and did get a look from the man behind the table. But this rig was interesting. There was more to it than I thought there would be. It reminded me of the Honigs K-1 to an extent. It was soft but there was something hard beneath the pad. I often wanted the K-1 but never pulled the trigger. I am going to continue to reserve judgement. I've read a lot of negatives about it, but there are others who are in love with this piece so it cant be all bad. Did anybody ever read anything positive on the Davis Shield CP? I don't recall it. So I don't think that is a good comparison. If I get a partner this year who has one and will let me wear it, I will then make up my mind.

You guys who only call the belt or there abouts. You're leaving legitimate strikes on the table. Remember the zone isnt when standing straight up, it is when he is prepared to strike at the ball. The center of the chest is a completely acceptable strike. At a camp I went to Paul Nauret said to call it at the nipples. A friend who is a former milb ump said they were stressing getting the good high strikes. Also in this years NCAA clinic they mentioned that more coaches complain about small strike zones than big ones. Strikes= Outs = shorter games. Get the strikes!!!

I'm honestly not trying to be a jerk here, but first I wouldn't try it on mesh. But mesh isn't suitable for any level of organized baseball. The cost isn't that different from the wool, and for all the effort umpires go through to look the part, a mesh cap would ruin all of that effort.

Good stuff my hat and shirt arrived. Good quality and looks good.

I friend sent me this link and asked if that was a legit Nike mask. The padding doesn't look the same as what I've seen, but I don't know these masks that well, So I pointed him over here to the guru's of gear junkies. http://www.ebay.com/...=item2c6895bbd7

Get this on video. I'm sure it will be more realistic than the ones on the unequal site.

This is when you as an umpire need to step up your game. Break those confernces up quickly. Get them hustling in bringinig in the new pitcher. Don't allow any lollygagging. Use every gamemanagement tool available that you have. Remember just because they are allowed a conference there is no specification on how long they have. Coach goes for his first visit go up there with him and as soon as he gets there ask is the pitcher staying or going. Once he says he's staying, break it up. For the second visit intercept the coach and ask him who hes got coming in. and hustle to get the change made. Make sure you have plenty of baseballs in your ball bags. The last thing you want in a situation like this is to be waiting on baseballs. Because while all of the above happened what might get reported to your boss is that the game was delayed because the umpire was waiting on baseballs.

After reading this thread here are my thoughts. * It appears from these posts the unequal chest protector as shown in the video was a crude "beta" version of the CP. * According to several posts it has been improved since then. * Maybe other instructors then said they wouldn't use it, but with the changes they will. We don't know when UIC's friend saw used the unequal, we can only assume it was about the same time as the original video. Other thoughts. I would have liked to see Evans take the shot dead center rather than move to the side. (not that I want to see him hurt) I wonder why they would release this video using a "beta" product. Others have mentioined they put the time money and effort into this video for a lesser quality product. IMO they wanted to have an audiance to ooooh and ahhh. If they filmed it now with the final product they wouldn't get the audiance. Show us a video of the current version done in the studio with a direct hit. Evans owns the other forum and should know how us internet umpires tear things apart for fun. And known that people would say that hit wasn't the real thing and would take issue with it. Now there is no way I believe the other videos that are posted around here where the guy is getting hit in the chest with the bat lacross stick shovel andwhatnot. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Ry0NJRcWb8 This video makes me skeptical those aren't real hits the guy's body bare moves with the so called "force" he is hit with. Any of the blue hair bettys at the bingo hall will hit you harder with their walker if you interrupt their game. Your average LL minors kid can swing a bat hard enough to knock a man standing flat footed. down. I think these videos have late nite infomercial written all over them. Act now and we'll throw in a shamwow for no extra cost. Now I do want to see this product live up to the hype. While I love my platinum I'd love to have a light-weight, cooler (temp wise), less bulky yet highly protective chest protector. I'd part with some of my hard earned salary to get it. So I am looking forward to your reviews. But as of today I'm not sold.

I really cant believe that anybody who has read anything on any of the umpire forums about OC would ever buy from them. Here's my summary for future readers: 1. Yes they are cheaper. Note I said cheaper not less expensive. But they are less expensive too. 2. Their quality varies and it is a total craps shoot if you get the better or lesser quality 3. Their customer service couldn't be worse even if they tried 4. Along with their horrid customer service they refuse to communicate with the suckers who purchase their goods 5. They repeatedly list and accept payment for goods they do not even have available 6. Many of their products don't match the items they are knocking off in terms of colors size of stripes 7. Their reply is that the industry would adjust to them (I forget their exact line) If you want to order from a company like, help yourself. But don't come complaining when they do you like theydo everybody else. You have been warned!