MikeSafari

This is what I meant. He wasn't ejected for arguing. That's fine, he's allowed to argue. But he went back to the dugout and kept on chirping as the game got underway again. You've had your say, we're playing ball again. If you're not gonna move on, you're leaving early.

At least in Ontario, we are not allowed to dump fans as they're beyond our jurisdiction. That being said, we do have a handy little workaround: if we decide that a fan needs to be removed, we can call time and tell the manager of whichever team the spectator is supporting that he has five minutes to remove said spectator. If, after his five minutes are up, the spectator remains then the coach gets dumped and we move on to assistant coaches. This keeps going until the team has no coaches left, at which point the game is forfeit. We do also warn the coaches that they will be ejected after five minutes if the spectator remains, and this usually prevents us from having to eject coaches. Who wants to be responsible for getting their kid's coach ejected when the coach hasn't done anything deserving of it?

I don't really have a problem with IR, but there need to be clearer rules on what it can be used to review, and the replays need to be quicker. There's no reason that some replays take 5+ minutes while others take 30 seconds. It needs some tweaking, no doubt, but it's definitely here to stay.

Really, really close call. From the straightaway centre field camera, it looked like the ball may have bounced into his glove, or it may have skimmed the dirt while being caught. Tough call. The ejection was totally justified though. Don't go back to the dugout and keep chirping. You've had your say, let's all move on.

Between games, I use Scrubbing Bubbles Mega Shower Foamer and wipe with a clean towel. Keeps my shoes nice and clean and also decently shiny. To clean the soles, I usually just spray them down with water and scrub em with a brush. Need to find an easy way to remove all the little pebbles that get stuck in the grooves though...

Good point from the commentators, though: Why did the first base ump just volunteer the foul call?

That was painful to watch. The look on Davison's face when he was on the headset said everything.

What is the pay? Just went up this year so now it starts at $20/game for T-ball/rookie ball (pitching machine) up to $65 for 9-inning midget/junior (17-20yr olds) games. Half a dozen t-ball or rookie ball games and you can get a CP, mask, and shinguards. Done and done. Granted, it's nothing near what a lot of you guys in the US get paid, but it's pretty good tax-free income for us. I've earned just under $2,000 so far this summer strictly from game fees, 49 games in. A bunch of that has gone to pay for my gear since I had to buy all new stuff this year (about $700 worth...) and the rest is just extra cash.

You might want to PM this information instead of posting your email address where spambots can crawl it everyone's email address is posted in their profile SEE:?? @Thunderheads It's visible to you because you're an administrator. It's not visible to regular users unless they specifically allow it to be (which I don't). I'd also prefer that you don't list my email address here...

When I started umpiring in the early 2000s there was generally a set of basic umpire gear in the lock box (mask, shin guards, CP of some sort--normally a balloon). My local association doesn't do this anymore, though, as the pay is good enough that you can buy a full set of your own gear with very few game fees. EDIT: Also, if only one umpire shows up, he's doing the game alone. We never get spectators to take over. If nobody shows up, the game is cancelled and rescheduled.

You might want to PM this information instead of posting your email address where spambots can crawl it

Damn good-looking mask.

I'm not sure I'd eject for this, but I'd certainly warn the coach when he starts shouting down to the 3BC to ask for a second opinion.

Sigh. Won't ship to Canada. Again

Mike, remember, .....at the center of the CP, its 12" ....along the ribs/side, it's 13" Yeah that's fine. I was only asking because I spotted one on eBay for $70 but it was a 15". My 10.5" WV Gold is too short, and 15" is too long, so it would appear that I'm looking at a 12".

Ah, alright. The 15" is much too big for me then, as I'm 5'9" as well. On a side note, maybe you guys should roll that sort of information into your pictures? Just a note underneath saying "model is wearing size x and is y tall."

Preferably without a shirt over top so I can see how long it is. I'm looking to swap my WV Gold for one as the WV is just a bit too short for me to be comfortable so I'm constantly shifting it around to cover my lowest ribs. There are some useful pictures on Ump-Attire, but I don't know what size the model is wearing, nor how tall he is. Thanks in advance

Did you commit murder and this was your sentence? Strange laws in Canada. I think I may have done something unspeakable in a past life. I've spent the whole day today trying to help a farm equipment reseller get set up with a new email system. It's... fun...

I'm an IT consultant. I spend all day, every day, teaching people how to computer.

I said that aloud to nobody in particular when the play happened yesterday. Tolleson knew exactly what he was doing, hence the lack of an argument from him. Gibbons knows the rule but I think the entire team was a bit annoyed yesterday. First no moves at the trade deadline and then Rasmus gets benched because of punctuality issues. The Jays were also down late against the worst team in the league, so there's that.

USSI? US Standard Issue Ah, I take it that requires an account? Not sure I'd buy sunglasses without being able to try them on first, though.

I'm like @Majordave in that what I use at the beginning of the season versus what I use at the end seems to change a bit. But I'm generally one of two things: "Striiiiiike!" or "Strike one!" At the lower levels I'll generally call the strike number, but for the older guys there's no reason to as we can all count. My K mechanic is "Strike! Three!" So basically the same as my lower level mechanic with a bit of a pregnant pause halfway.

USSI?

Fair enough. Just didn't see it listed on Amazon. Just ordered a pair of these $30 Those look quite nice, if slightly bulky. @JaxRolo let us know what they're like when you get them. Where'd you see them for $30 though?

Unless I'm not reading it properly, those Jackson Safety glasses have no UV protection. For me, that's a pretty big deal. At the moment I'm just using a cheapie Easton pair, but I'll probably invest in some good ones next year as the season's already nearly over for me