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MadMax last won the day on March 12
MadMax had the most liked content!
About MadMax
- Birthday 06/13/1975
Profile Information
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Location
Everywhere & Anywhere, USA
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Interests
Rally racing, Snowboarding (instructor / tech / barnstormer), Soccer (still play it), Hockey (working toward being a linesman), Baseball (umpiring, obviously), Architecture, Restorations
More information about you
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Your Association Name
the Vultures
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Occupation
Designer / Fabricator
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Types/Levels of Baseball called
U18 – NFHS, mNFHS, mOBR; NCAA / NAIA; MiLB -level; Independent Pro / College Summer
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How did you hear about Umpire-Empire?
ABUA (umpire.org)
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Community Answers
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MadMax started following Ya know what burns my arse? , Pushed off base by defender , WTB All-Star TG Retainer and 2 others
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Captain O’Hagen: “I’ll pistol-whip the next guy who says shenanigans!!” … … Mack: “Hey Farva, what’s the name of that restaurant with all the goofy sh!t on the walls?” Farva: “You mean Shenanigan’s?!” “Ohhhhhhhh!!!” <offering their pistols to Captain O’Hagen>
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Sooooo… if you didn’t have those retainers… you wouldn’t have been hit at all? … excerpts from The Backstop of the Multiverse, everyone!
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I realize I’m slicing semantics and dicing details, but I chose my terms carefully, and details matter. Whether or not an ejection is enacted when the circumstances and actions likely warrant it does have a direct bearing (or effect) upon your perceived capability as an umpire. Yes, on this, you are correct. However, it begs the question – “Who is doing the observing?” The “who” is important, because whomever it is, they are employing subjective bias. By contrast, when you use the term “measurable”, that relates to an objective point. We also use the term “metric(s)”. Games worked at X level, TrackMan score, NFHS test results… those are all metrics… measurables. We crave measurables. We work in a stats-heavy industry, everything is broken down, reformulated, and scrutinized in numbers and figures, and then compared and projected. We just can’t do that with umpiring. There’s much too much subjectivity (and too many variables) inherit in our line of work. Certainly, there is no shortage of people who try and translate subjective “impression” into objective results. We typically call them grades. Ejections are a terrible, almost meaningless metric, insofar that their quantity is no indication as to if they were warranted (“good” ejection vs. a “bad” ejection), nor does it convey any of the events leading up to them, nor if the umpire with the “notches in his belt” followed the “proper” steps and protocols. What was the purpose of your observing (and subsequently evaluating) him? It was a one-man game, which creates an entirely different context. It begs the question, why didn’t you work with him? I’m not upset with you, BB4U, but more… irritated with the assigner. In that one-man game, that umpire likely took the path of least resistance and friction. Was there a sign posted “no buckets outside dugout”? If not (and that’s what it sounds like), did the buckets themselves cause any problems during the game? And if he’s walking everywhere, I can sympathize… solo games are long, and there’s a lot to manage. You have to maintain focus over the entirety of the game. What purpose is served from running/hustling everywhere, all the time, in a game like that one? I have found that, given my size (6’2” 215), that if I discern and choose when to run and when to walk purposefully, the participants (players, coaches) have a more appropriately responsive attitude. The essence of my point is not that you, BB4U, are wrong or incorrect… simply to point out that a lot of this is contextual and subjective.
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Dawg, did you not see who thoroughly answered before me? If there’s anyone on this entire forum who knows how to solve umpire gear problems better than me, it’s @wolfe_man. I’m just more… loquacious about it. If I was to suggest something, I’d be looking at those rubber/vinyl straps some companies use on high-end luggage pieces… or Pelican will use on their watertight storage boxes.
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The simple answer is – “Yes, why not?” However, we know there a lot of subjective complexities behind the blue curtain. To save my typing energy, and you guys’ attention, I won’t go into them here. So, to wit, what we’re endeavoring to do is infuse a bicep guard and supplemental protective padding and plates into @mac266’s existing CP so that at 60 feet, or 90 feet, or watching from the stands (where these “evaluators” love to conduct their proceedings), you’ll likely not notice.
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Dude. Just… no. @mac266 is a college umpire. Why don’t you ride in a horse-drawn wagon to games?
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Wrong. Completely wrong perspective to take. This rationale is defeated by such a substitution (“pinch runner”) for an injury at the plate, such as a catastrophic HBP, or a batted ball going out of play (HR or GR2B) and the BR tearing his Achilles tendon, or blowing out his knee, prior to BR achieving 1B. A substitute can, should, and typically does enter the game at the point where BR left it. Injured BR does not have to touch 1B first; the substitute assumes and completes the BR’s base running duties for him. Certainly, if that substitute misses 1B while assuming & completing the award, then he can be called Out on appeal. In the same vein, the use of a Courtesy Runner or Pinch Runner does not absolve a BR of missing 1B, if he had, on a double or triple, and then the calling of Time for that CR/PR. In Fed, if the defense verbally appeals the missed touch of 1B, the BR is ruled Out (This presents a very curious question – if the defense appeals the missed touch (to, say, the BU) prior to the PU / UIC recording the substitution on the lineup card, is the (pending) substitution binding? 🤔) Back to the question at hand – it is (nearly) impossible to call the BR Out for not touching 1B when he – or his substitute – is standing on it.
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A lodged pitch is one base. Lodged in equipment or entering uniform of the catcher, batter, or umpire is treated the same as if it became wedged into the (any) padding behind home plate, or entangled in netting. If you (umpire) deem it lodged, then the throw-&-play at 3B is inconsequential; it didn’t happen, because the ball is dead (you make the call by starting with “Time!… that’s a lodged ball!… “). I had to make a similar call as BU (U1, specifically) on a U3K. The pitch ricocheted into/behind F2’s CP, and I watched him reach under his CP to retrieve it. Called “Time” and lodged ball, and awarded BR 1B. … 24 hours later, the streamcasters still didn’t know what I called (“Was it interference? No, can’t be that, because Jeffries would’ve been Out.”). EDIT: I failed to acknowledge that the NFHS rules adjustments / re-interpretations now allow the ball – whether pitched, thrown, or batted – to become stuck or lodged in a glove/mitt, and the ball remains Live.
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See, if you’re conducting self-evaluation, and you’ve deduced it down to, in simple terms, “get better”, then sure… it’s your world. I just bristle at an “evaluator” telling you that. Why? Because every “evaluator’s” value-scale is different. Every. Single. One. I am a supervisor. I supervise the machinations and performance of my/our crews. I am a developer. I develop and advance the skills of umpires in a variety of leagues and levels, not just the League I work for. Professional baseball (Big M-) has supervisors and instructors. Sure, they’ll conduct evaluations, but when they do – here is the crucial difference – it’s to a set, standardized value-scale. What’s on that scale is the League’s business. Furthermore, what that value-scale determines, or how it is applied, is the League’s business. It’s worth pointing out, though, that each Umpire knows what that value-scale is, and if there is a deficiency, there are resources and steps to take to correct it or bring it up to acceptable standard. With that being said, outside of certain collegiate conferences / associations, these value-scales used in amateur baseball are largely arbitrary and ambiguous. Rules knowledge? That’s measurable. We got tests for that. But when you’ve got an “evaluator” telling an umpire he “should” Eject a player – like something @834k3r witnessed – then that crosses into that open-to-interpretation, arbitrary realm where there isn’t one set, standardized method. Whether that particular umpire did or did not Eject, what measureable bearing does it have on his capability or proficiency as an umpire?? It doesn’t.
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Pandora didn't have just one box... she had several, of various sizes, shapes, and... content. This whole topic of one (umpire) being "better than" another (umpire) is one of those boxes. 📦 "Better... how? What measures or qualifies that??"
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Not at all! I’ll make certain we do not compromise the carapace plates. And, I won’t dispose of the original vest pad (use it for a bleacher seat!) and will return it back to you. The only significant change I’ll / we’ll make to the original unit will be to re-connect the shoulder pauldrons to the shoulder arch plates with splines instead of that pad stitch. The major difference will be in the padding. The plan is shaping up to do it in segments that overlap and create a contoured protection profile that doesn’t hinder range of motion. Which arm did you damage, or are you hoping that our modifications will be mirrored into both shoulders and arms?
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ElectroBOOM is the YT channel of an electrical engineer living in Vancouver named Mehdi. Here he is demonstrating the differences between AC and DC: His demonstrations, while wildly informative, usually exhibit him being shocked, or setting something in his lab-studio on fire… or both. I find great solace in that I’m not the only one who sits in my workspace, looking at the materials in front of me, contemplating profoundly what to do next…
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They just might, Muss. I think one of our Manhattan Project guys has a set, and we’ll certainly try them… however… @mac266 has a Wilson WV Gold. Two glaring problems: The Champro bicep guards connect to the shoulder pauldron and stay via Velcro loop… that goes… where on a WV Gold? We’d have to cut a slot into the pauldron anyway to run that loop thru. The shoulder pauldron plates are floated atop the pauldron pads, which are positioned by and connected to a structural stitch from vest (torso) pad to pauldron pad. Ever wonder why shirts are a pain to put on (unless you size up “for plate”), and give you that hulking linebacker look? It’s because of the pauldron pad, and that poorly-designed structural stitch. Including a bicep guard in that space is going to further exacerbate the problem. We need to allow Mac to (rather) easily put the CP on, have the protective elements positioned and held in place, and then put a shirt on over it. So, we’ll be designing a whole new set of pad segments that will work with the carapace plates and any additional guards required.
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Nah, I’m going for a combination of Mark Rober, ElectroBOOM, and Scotty Kilmer. 😁 … just without the net-celebrity collabs (Rober), mad gesturing (Scotty), or setting myself on fire (ElectroBOOM).
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You’ve got a point… our League is streamcast, and we require 120 seconds (minimum), and we’ve given an additional 15 seconds buffer. I have to remind my CC’s that we need the 120 seconds, otherwise we’re either cutting commercials short, or missing game action. However, rarely (if ever) are we waiting on the (college) players… they’re usually rarin’ to go in 1 minute, maybe 1 minute 20 seconds, tops. High school players are morons, though (or maybe their coaches are 🤔 ). I swear, I see these same teams in time-limited tourneys (TLTs) at 1:50, then at 2:00… and then USA Baseball rolls into town, and they do 2:30… and these teams – again, these same kids – use allllllll 2:30. The entire pace of play grinds to a halt.