BCBrad

This is my current Mizuno umpire and training inventory. My umpire friends call me Brazuno. They say admitting you have a problem is the first step.

https://homerunsports.com/products/force3-umpire-chest-protector-with-dupont-kevlar If this is the one @MadMax was talking about, you can order it here. Nice thing is they are a Canadian retailer. Only have to pay sales tax and shipping.

After many years at looking at the costs, I decided I had some mad money and bought a Honig’s plate coat. Unfortunately, living North of the 49th, the shipping, brokerage fees and sales taxes applied at the border made getting it in my wardrobe almost the price of the coat. It is not as thick as I thought and with the ventilating features, it is not as hot. If it got really cold (I am in the Pacific Northwest), I would just use a second layer underneath. While I can understand not wanting a yellow W ruining how sharp you look, I love the look of my race bird in the middle of mine.

On the north side of the Canadian border, I wear my Stanfields Waffle long johns. Stanfields are a Canadian icon in winter gear. (stanfields.com). They have some performance thermal gear too.

@MadMax, no harm taken. I too know the delays of cross-border commerce. As MadMax remarked, email Ray. That is the best way to work with him. If he is home, he’s on your custom work promptly and will keep you up to date. Only thing to remember is depending on what you are customizing, you may have to send him a vector image and the font you want. I have purchased many custom items from him and they were great.

Is it part of the carapace or the padding that attaches to it? Can you separate it from the carapace? Couple of ideas: 1) see if you can find an used CP online with a similar padding that would connect to the carapace. 2) take the padding part to a seamstress, cobbler or upholsterer to see if they could open the stitching, trim the foam and re-stitch the padding. I have altered a couple of CPs and always got someone with a professional / industrial sewing machine to do the work. I think it’s just going to be an on-going hassle if you duct-tape it. Do it right and not have to worry about it.

Hey @MadMax, I’m not disagreeing with you. I guess I should have capitalized PROPERLY. In Canada, our national program sets the standards for umpires - how to do it properly. These standards come from best practices from many sources on positioning, mechanics and game management. It is these national standards that all umpires are expected to follow and I believe all experienced umpires need to model to up and coming umpires. So when I say MODEL, I don’t mean what you learned in a clinic in 1996, but MODEL the standard all umpires are to follow today. That is why, no matter your experience, you should continuously be going to clinics and camps to keep learning and developing yourself. I truly believe the day you think you know everything and don’t need to keep on learning is the day you need to stop officiating.

I hope your assignor follows the principle of putting people into positions to be successful. A couple of things to remember: 1) when I moved to higher levels of baseball, I learned and got better by watching what the more experienced umpires were doing. The best teaching you can do is to model how to properly go about your business on the field. If the new guy wants to advance, they will mimic the common practices of their experienced partners. 2) With a shortage of umpires, we are not going to re-stock our ranks without newbies getting their feet wet and gaining game experience. If the new guy learns one new rotation, one new play position or one new mechanic, that may be more valuable in terms of the big picture. And who knows, you may end up with a new friend who you look forward to working with in a year or two.

https://waltersshoecare.com I use their gel cleaner, shammy and shining sponge on faux leather plate shoes and fabric upper base shoes. Great products. The gel cleaner does a real great job of cleaning the white rubber trim of your soles. https://eucalan.com/shop/delicate-wash/grapefruit/grapefruit-delicate-wash-169-us-floz-500ml this is the enzyme soap I use for my shoes and caps. I’m trying the Dawn Spraywash someone posted in another thread on the soles. my steps: 1. Brush off all mud, grass and dirt with coarse brush 2. wipe off upper with a damp cloth of water and enzyme soap 3. use small awl to clean out crevices in the sole 4. spray Dawn only on the soles, let soak in 5. wipe off soles 6. use gel cleaner or if needed, leather cleaner on uppers; follow instructions from website 7. wipe off uppers with shammy 8. Buff upper with sponge

I thought Ray @Razzer had winter gloves with exactly this. There were white on the top of each finger for giving count and signs.

Well, if you guys are going there. Bugs Bunny. Damn Bugs, you have to lose the navy.

Well the Nike Swoosh will probably be better than the FTX on all the MLB shirts.

I wonder if Jim Joyce would be in the conversation. Post-1980, I think of him first in terms of an umpire I respect and I wish I had his character on the field.

I think getting a new CP is a moot point if you are not looking at getting a good harness. I believe most people here use an UL Flex harness from Ray @Razzer because it keeps the CP up and snug to make sure your collarbone has coverage by your CP. You can have the best CP out there, but if it sags because of a crappy harness, your collarbone is always going to be at risk.

Yep. Adding ie or y to a name is a Canadian thing. Look at hockey. We do it all the time. Gordie, Bobby, Willie, Patty, Hughie, Johnny, Howie, Joey, Donnie, Larry, Eddie, Petey, Smitty, Jonesy.