Majordave

Partner had one last weekend. Compared with my Majestic from Ump-Attire. No significant differences. Nice looking jacket. He said he was warm. We had winds constant at 20-25 and some gusts upwards of 30-40 mph. If I didn't already have the Majestic I would buy the Honig's thermal without reservation. If you have the $20 NCAA gift certificate the Honig's is a VERY good deal. My two cents.... YMMV. DCT

I had a pretty good, although longer than I would have liked, season opener on Sunday. JUCO, Nebraska school playing at a Kansas school. Warm, for this time of year- almost 50, sunny and extremely windy - gusts well above 30 mph and steady wind at around 20-25 all afternoon. DH. Partner had first plate which was a suspended game from day before in top of 3rd. Nothing remarkable. Pitching was spotty. Defense was equally inadequate. Adventures in outfielding due to the wind. Second game, my plate. Broke out the black plate coat and wore a white mock turtle over the WV Gold CP. Looked great. Sort of a tuxedo look. Both coaches and both catchers and an assistant complimented on the look. I don't think JUCOs get to see many plate coats. First pitch of my plate game, LH batter ropes a liner down the RF line. Two man crew. Partner goes out. I chug-a-lug all the way to about ten feet from 2B and am waiting on the BR and get to bang him out due to a great throw by F9 and a quick tag by F6. F9 was A "REALLY" fast kid, freshman, from, get this, Hawaii! Came all the way to Kansas to continue to play baseball. Wow! Only other interesting thing was a pop up that looked like an infield fly then wind got it and took it over LCF wall at about 350-375 feet. Wind really took it's toll on the outfielders. Some of the plays they tried to make looked like either the Bad News Bears or some scenes in Major League with two or three guys all converging and no one even touching the ball before it hits the ground. Hawaiiian kid had two triples. He's fast! (Kenny Mayne-ESPN) Home boys won in a come from behind in bottom of sixth when viisitors' pitching failed miserably. My lineup card had six F1's subbed in during the 5th and 6th innings. Last inning and a half took over an hour and a half to play. All in all a great start to 2013. Called as many strikes as I could but no overpowering pitchers to "strike those MF'rs out" (Corbin Bernsen as Roger Dorn in Major League). Too much nibbling with 0-2 counts. Why don't coaches/catchers call for fastballs on the corners with that count? I WILL call them. I have no problem ringing anyone up, ever. But instead the pitchers (or the coaches/catchers/pitch callers) nibble and let batter even the count then have to groove one with 3-2 count for a hit. Or, the most hated of all baseball plays for me--the dreaded base on balls. Two batters got hit with ball four (unintentional). No coach or player arguments or issues. Fans were well behaved. I think everyone was so glad to be out on a ball field with the sun and relative warmth in comparison to the previous week's cold that it was just all good for everyone. Cheers. Best wishes to all of you and your 2013 seasons. NAIA DH tomorrow. Hoping for some mo' better baseball. DCT

NCAA Preseason Test results are Available online for all who took it. I am such a dumbass. I printed all of my questions out, worked on them, circled the answers I believed were correct, researched and discussed with local college association members and finalized my selections. I went online and input my answers and submitted. Got a 97. Great! Missed two. Best NCAA score I have had to date. Today I checked the results to see which questions I missed and why. Here is the dumbass part. I had the answers correct on my printed sheets and for some reason chose the wrong answers online. But for the not paying attention to detail, I would have scored 100. Oh well. Lesson learned. This question was on my version of the test. Correct answer was: Call "time" and call "That's interference," declare R1 out and return R3 to third base. Explanation: 8-5q So there you have it. My personal tale of above average intelligence and lack thereof, all in one event.

Agreed. Not really our problem as umpires.

Plate Coat for college (day or night if below 80 degrees) and high school games (if below 80). Wore a tucked-in Honig's jacket behind plate once in a college D2 game because it had been raining and muddy and they had to get the game in. Occasionally wear the long sleeved shirt with underarmour cold gear when working high school or travel or men's league and it's cool/cold.

I was in Chicago this past Saturday as well. Ditto to what Rich says. I was mentored early in my umpiring career to call lots of strikes and as a former Legion coach I loved umpires who called lots of strikes. I wanted players to swing bats. Even more so now that I am an umpire. My two cents. YMMV..........

Warning: War Story Alert!!! In 2008 I went to Tony Thompson's Fall International 3-Man Camp. The MLB Umpires there were Ed Rapuano and Paul Nauert. Ed was a real card. Making all kinds of jokes etc. The first evening a guy shows up with his jacket tucked in and Ed says, "Whatawegotheeeeah? An effin tuckah? I hate effin tuckahs!" with his New York/Jersey accent. (Except he used the real "F" word not effin) It was hilarious. He then apologized and said he thought it was a personal choice, blah, blah, blah. We laughed all weekend about that one. I still do. I used to tuck behind the plate (open bottom jacket from Honig's) and wore it untucked on the bases (Elastic waist band jacket from Honig's). Now with my ThermaBase jackets (black with MLB blue and black with white). Out all the time. I now wear a Gerry Davis Sports black Plate coat for the plate. (Duh). Haven't figured out how to tuck that one yet. What I do hate is a big old beer gut with a tucked in jacket. Kind of frames the thing and makes it look even bigger than it may already be. My two cents. YMMV................

Jocko Said: " if anyone is offended, they need to go to koombayah-empire. " I don't care who you are, now that's funny! Seriously, Cuban is a friend of mine. I've known him since I began umpiring. He is a genuine friend. He used to eat like $hit! We talk on phone often and see each other every couple of months when I make the long trip home to see my daughter. He looks better than I have ever seen him look. He is younger looking, much, much fitter looking and although he is TMI, he is without a doubt being absolutely truthful. (although I disclaim any knowledge about his bowel movements, sleep habits and sexual activities- We aren't THAT close.) I have done some yoga via P90X and it is tough. Had me sweating bullets within minutes. I wish they had it here in little ol' Leavenworth. I can drive to KC but not that motivated. I will stick to my cycling and stairmaster and gym and P90X to keep 50 year old Dave looking, acting and feeling like 30 year old Dave but that's TMI as well I guess. Whatever you choose, find something you LIKE and do it consistently. Oh yea, do some pushaways at lunch and dinner as well. DCT

What crappy timing. Reminds me of the Wilson Titanium Mask release in 2008. I got it in August, AFTER, all my games were over. Did wear it in some college fall ball games. Good luck receiving it in time.

So, has anyone actually received and worn this thing yet? If not, when are they due to ship? Review please. Pics please.

Been there, done that! Same cup, same event, same result. Hooooowaaaaaah!

I often see pitchers, while off the rubber, lick their fingers and wipe but not do a great job. Intentional? I'm not sure. If batters aren't being plunked and no one is bitching, I don't care. So long as they make the effort to appear they are wiping it's okay by me. I don't pick boogers and if no one is asking me to do anything about it, I just monitor. So far, not one coach at any level has ever asked me to do anything about it. Sometimes I wish they could get better at getting people out, even if it means "moist" balls but...........If wishes were horses..... My two cents.

Heard/read this once. Famous umpire, forget his name. "the strike zone is where I call 'em and they don't bitch." I think any borderline calls will invoke someone to bitch. Ask your partner to look and offer some opinion but what really matters is if you believe it was a strike. Have the conviction to stick with your call. See the pitch all the way to the glove, wait, replay in head if you can, then make the call. Going slowly and deliberately on ball/strike calls is always a good thing. My two cents.

Two things: 1. Reebok Plate Shoes, Mid height: I took a toe/front edge of metarsal plate shot last night. I felt nothing but pressure. No pain, light mark on spot where ball hit. I'm satisfied with the protection and comfort. 2. Reebok Zigs. I tried some on and loved the comfort level but I need/must have mid-level to high ankle support due to some ankle injuries and weak tendons. I saw some Reebok Zig Classic Cliffhangers on the Reebok Site. http://shop.reebok.com/US/product?modelId=EF520&articleId=J82860 Technically, they are boots but they are high ankle support, Zig sole technology and all black, leather upper. They would work well as base shoes in my opinion. I am tempted to try them. Would love to see them in hand before buying but haven't seen them in any stores I shop in. My two cents.....

I wear mine for any college or high school varsity night game below 80 degrees. I sometimes wear it for regular season college games in day if below 80 degrees. I usually wear it for high school playoff games, day or night, unless too hot. Early season especially. Not in summer. Not in fall ball, usually. In 2009 I worked plate for game 7 of University of Kentucky intrasquad "Steaks or Hotdogs" fall ball series. Wore it under the lights on a Saturday night after Kentucky-LSU home football game. Actually had a small crowd for that one. I did notice that my big games schedule in high school was markedly increased after I started wearing the black plate coat in 2008. Was invited to join college association in 2008 after I started wearing the plate coat. Coincidence? Maybe, but I think the plate coat shows a commitment to the profession. Obviously my assigners thought so too. Everyone seems to love it when I wear it. I ALWAYS get a positive comment when wearing it. My two cents.

Yes, last summer at St. Louis U and U Missouri St. L, in Surprise! St. Louis. Good baseball. College venues. Young men as site directors. Games played strictly to the times set. Professional site support. No issues or complaints from coaches and fans. All in all a good experience. Unfortunately, my new job will not allow me to work it this year. It was assigned by my college group, Midwest Umpires Association. Paid through the association. I don't remember the game fees but it was appropriate and adequate. Worked it with my good buddy Pete Reiser. Also, Cuban, in Kentucky, works these tourneys regularly in the Lexington area. He may have an opinion as well. My two cents........

Had this once. I was plate, very senior member of my high school association as partner on the bases. He was NOT very quick, nor agile (anymore). He got hung up between Positions A and B on an overthrow play and was "TRUCKED" by the batter-runner who was 6'10" and near 300 lbs. Both of them sprawling. B-R made it back, by crawling to first. I killed it and no one argued with me. Partner had road rash on his arms, hands and one of his cheeks. Bleeding everywhere. I think everyone felt sorry for my partner who just wasn't the umpire he used to be. Sad, but true.......

Had the iX3 CP as my first CP back in 2006. I let the high school kids where I taught throw at me while wearing it. (Yes, I am crazy!) Felt EVERY pitch. Some hurt a little bit. (Must have been a dream for the kids I taught and coached in football to actually throw at their coach/teacher. Never wore it in a game. Sold it to a guy who worked JV and LL only. I have the iX3 mask. Replaced the pads with original shape doeskin Wilson MLB. Been hit multiple times. Works like a charm. Recommend the Mask. DO NOT recommend the CP.

Last night. Working the plate, Ban Johnson game, KC area (Johnson Co. KS). For those who don't know, college wood bat league. Very good baseball. Foul ball directly to my face, titanium low profile. Loooooooose harness, mask drops directly to the dirt. Didnt feel a thing. No Ill effects. Everyone thiinks I need time. Nope. All the energy dissipated through mask and it's movement. No dents. (knock on wood). No headaches. I am thankful to whoever I first heard to wear mask harness loosely from years ago. One of the best tips I ever read on a forum. On the other hand, my partner in a 15s game last Saturday, took similar foul directly to mask and had to sit on backstop wall for a second or two and kept shaking his head and had a headache after game. His mask harness was snuuuug! ( Think Ron White the standup comedian's voice from a bit he does about ever taking a dump so big his pants fit better.....lmao) My two cents.......

LMAO. For those of you who don't know Pete. This is his classic brand of humor. This one time, back in July 2009, when we worked a tourney together, in Ashland, MO, a shortstop. for this one team, (we affectionately called it Eddie's Team-since the coach/manager/shortstop was named Eddie), couldn't make a play to save his life and on one play- he kicked it, as in stuck out his foot on a ground ball and really kicked it-the ball, and Pete, in discussing it either between innings or after the game said: "Did you see that play by Eddie where he kicked the baseball? Can you say "Kick Save"? Maybe he should be playing hockey instead of baseball?." I laughed my ass off. I still do every time I think of it. I haven't seen a shortstop try to kick a baseball since but I am hopeful, ever hopeful......... Great thread Pete. Thanks for the laughs and memories.

Me too! My black one. I have a navy one I am considering selling. No numbers. Fecheimer brand. Polyester, size 44. Sleeves are probably 32. I only wore it twice. Had an EJ each time I wore it. Any interest? PM me.

I am lucky enough to know four of them personally and have worked with three of them. Congrats to all of them. The ones I know and the ones I don't know (yet).

I guess all good things come to those who work without expectations other than to try and do the best you can for yourself and the game. I was just notified that in my first year of high school ball in the great state of Kansas, (several in Kentucky with a two year break for Afghanistan duties) I was selected to work in the KSHSAA 6A Regional in Olathe. I am honored and humbled. I was only able to work 7 high school dates this year and was chosen for this tournament. I cannot wait for Wednesday to come. 3 man crews. I give thanks to God and good partners. And my assigner---Thanks Mike.

Yo, Squid, I didn't see the quote you mentioned. Was it something like "I don't do kiddie ball"? or "I only work games with players that shave or should shave"? If not, please re-type it and throw it into my face at your leisure/pleasure. I'm sure I deserve it. I was and am humbled by the experience this past weekend. Tonight, I worked a very good high school game, had plate, at Blue Valley Northwest hosting St. Thomas Aquinas. BVNW won 2-0. Less than 1.5 hours total. I am back in the saddle! Two fans, not sure which side, came up and said "great game blue" (I was wearing black but that doesn't matter now does it?) I did feel pretty good about the effort. I had to go to my partner on one call. I took a direct hit in the mask/face. no ill effect but I was unsure if ball hit batter's bat knob or hand or what so I went to my partner after calling "time". He said he had a ball hitting batter's knob of bat so I called a foul and directed scorekeeper to add one strike to count. Home coach questioned us but we had it right. I went to him right away and then kid then got a hit with an RBI so nobody had anything else to say about it. It felt GOOOOOOOD to work high quality baseball again. Whew! I dont' suck on toast tonight. LOL!

So, this past Saturday I had some free time and no college or Men's League Assignments. I answered the call for umpires email from my high school assigner whom I had worked a total of three games for this season and took a JV DH Saturday morning and worked some youth baseball Saturday night. Here is my story...... I offered to work for my high school assigner on Friday morning when he sent out the call for weekend help by email and he rejected my offer saying "Its only JV and Freshman ball". I offered again and was ignored. I really wanted to umpire so I answered another assigner's Calling All Umpires Weekend Help Needed email and was rewarded with three Saturday evening games of 60' baseball for what was advertised as sixth graders. More on this later. At around 10:30 PM after I return home from a dinner date with my significant other, the high school assigner has another calling all umpires, please! email. I answer him with a thanks a lot, you rejected me for JV tournament and I took some youth baseball. He emails me at 7 am with an offer of a JV DH at 9 am. I say what the hell and take it. It was great baseball. My partner, Chuck, whom I had never met was an accomplished high school and college referee who dabbles in umpiring but is not ambitious. He works sub-varsity just to help out the assigner, who also assigns all the basketball or most of it around here. Anyway, Chuck is a good balls and strilkes umpire. He isn't so sharp on mechanics but he is not into it and is not really seeking upward mobility as an umpire. He fills a need and a niche and he was a pleasure to work with. We each do a plate and our two full seven inning games are completed in less than three hours. We are feeling pretty good. It's upper 80's with a light breeze and we barely sweated and are done before noon. Nice. I'm feeling pretty full of myself. I go get a nice BBQ Ribs lunch at The Woodyard in Merriam, KS which was recently featured, along with four other KC BBQ joints, on Anthony Bourdain's No Reservations TV Show on Travel Channel. I am really feeling flush. Fast forward to 4 PM and game one of my three game kiddie-ball marathon. They switched my games from 12 year olds to ten year olds/4th graders. My partner is Jay, a mid-50's year old guy who admits he isn't a "real umpire" like me (his words) but he loves the kids and the game. He gets me oriented to how things work here at Baseball Disneyland of Johnson County, Kansas---Johnson County 3 & 2 Baseball, West Complex. (twenty-something fields of baseball mania. Everything from Machine pitch games played by mighty-mites to a college level 400' to centerfield field of dreams. This place is a madhouse of baseball parents (lots and lots and lots of hot baseball MILFs and every dugout has five or six Dad coaches it seems. All varieties of siblings, grandparents, mommies, daddies, aunts, uncles, etc. , "John the T-shirt guy", a retail store, traveling sales vendors of all things baseball.) I'm telling you it was the freakin' Disneyland of Baseball. I had never been in a site like this with so many fields and so many levels of baseball. Umpires ranging in age from kids that looked about 12 to 14 to guys like my partner, Jay in his mid to late 50s. I was overwhelmed. On to our games....... I SUCKED. I would get in position on the bases and have to dodge throws from infielders, running back and forth across the dirt infield because the little tikes never threw the ball where the most likely play was. The runners all slide, every time. They all called time, all the time. The outfielders run the ball into the infield and want time, every time. They almost never caught a fly ball. Many botched "sure thing" double plays. Catcher's almost never blocking or even gloving the ball. I saw Jay take two direct hits to the groin by pitched balls that one of the little "squatty body" catchers (who looked like the new "Red" stormtrooper from Star Wars in his gear that was too big) never even touched with a mitt. I had a play at third where F5 put the glove down, with the ball int it, in time right on the bag. The runner slid into 3B hard and kicked once or twice to try and dislodge the ball. I waited and waited and then asked to see the ball and the kid finally showed it as they were both in a tangle from F5 falling over into the runner after the tag. Everyone, was yelling after I called the runner out. I thought my timing was great. I Waited, asked to see the ball, Got shown the ball and the coaches, fans and kids yelling why I couldn't make up my mind? Why did I take so long to make the call? Unbelievable! Jay was overly demonstrative. Announced the count EVERY pitch, showed the count off to the side, EVERY pitch. Yelled "Full Count, 3 and 2, Full!" every time the count was full while showing the count in front and above his his head and to the side. Yelled "DEAD BALL!!!!" on every foul of any kind. Yelled "Foul Tip" on caught fouls. voiced and pointed to the right on swinging strikes and called strikes alike. Everything you think a Smitty would do. He was having a real ball though. It showed. He talked to coaches, players, coached players, hammed it up with fans....... explained all calls in an overly loud voice. Called any pitch that crossed the plate a strike, whether or not it was hittable no matter how high it was over a kid's head. The world was his oyster as far as he was concerned. My turn for the plate. I had the hardest time calling anything a strike. Several kids swing after I called ball on a pitch. The swing at balls that bounced. I awarded a base to a kid who was hit by a pitch that bounced and everyone went ape-crazy saying "it bounced! It bounced!" Amazing. One kid could actually throw knee high strikes but the catcher knocked them down into the dirt and when I called them strikes anyway, I thought I would never stop hearing the howling. They wanted me to call any pitch from TOP of head down over the plate or within a foot of the plate a strike. I finally got the hang of it. I think. I actually heard some fan say, out loud, that "this guy sucks, wish we had a "real umpire" like Jay on the plate!" Funny thing is, I actually agreed with them. I was not qualified or prepared mentally to work that level of ball after working mostly college and JUCO all spring. What a lesson in humility. I went from working a JUCO game with two pitchers who were drafted last year but didn't sign this past Sunday, week to 10 year olds Saturday night. What a week. What an experience. I love baseball and umpiring. So, my hat is off to Jay, Chuck and all the other youth baseball and sub-varsity umpires out there who work their butts off and put up with a lot to try and make it a rewarding experience for the players. I had not been on a youth field for five or six years and just wasn't prepared. Doubt I can do it again. But........you never know. Thanks for reading.