BCBrad

I have wide 8 1/2 feet. Bought an 8 1/2. Had them for two weeks. Fit great. There is a online store for Walters shoe care. They have a leather cleaner that works on both real and synthetic leather. Works great on cleaning the upper.

Best of wishes of a speedy and full recovery. Hoping you are back doing a plate meeting soon.

Thanks @Majordave for the review of the plate shoes. Finally broke down and bought a pair of 8 1/2 plate shoes. As I have wide feet, I did not go down a size. So has first class customer service. Between the shoes and my bulky Samurai G3 shins, I feel impenetrable. Need to save for the shins that So sells. Living in the Canadian side of the Pacific Northwest, did not have to wait long for the shipment. I think I am becoming a Mizuno junky. Both shoes, socks, shins, shorts, belts, indicator, back up lineup card holder, back up mask with tg have the roadrunner on it. (well that is what it looks like). Might have to do another order for some undershirts, but that is another day.

Well after many orders from the States and no problems with orders going through customs, my order from UA just got dinged for $34 by Canada Customs. Pain is that the order is with Majestic shirts you cannot get anywhere else. Another casualty of Trump’s trade war. Interested to see if other Canadian brotheren encounter similar changes too.

Class act by your hometown. Remembering the era he came up in, Steve was one of the umpires of a new generation of umpires (well at least new umpires that didn’t have cool nicknames like Satch, Augie, Shag and Dutch). Just remembering as a new umpire in my early 20s (stay away from doing the math), his professional practice on the field was something to model. You just wished you could be as good as him.

@grayhawk, that’s a great idea. I have been wondering what to do when my hexpad umpire shorts wear out. That gives me options if the pads are still in good shape.

This came in a couple of weeks ago. Second order of the year, both took about 2-3 weeks to arrive and shipping to the west coast of Canada. Really light mask and I think I would never buy a mask again without a visor. Cant recommend it enough.

You said it yourself. Once there was a pitch to B2, B9 became a proper batter. Since B1 is on base, B2 is now the proper batter. No Boo. When you have such knowledgeable minds who on this thread have given you the right interpretation of this play (minds a lot more gifted than mine) and you doubt rather than inquire, you seem not wanting to learn, but wanting to be justified for something you may have gotten wrong. All I know is if I screw up a rule, I would want to learn to get it right next time. The people here have a wealth of knowledge to learn from, I treasure it as an umpire, hopefully you can too.

I call them “Captain Obvious” calls.

We have had some wet weather in BC too. I keep a pair of black cleats and will use them over my turf shoes when the monsoons hit. Snuck in a game on Saturday where hp circle turned into a mud pit. Had mud on my freakin’ throat guard.

I have ordered twice from +pos this year. First time, no notification of it being shipped just processed and it just showed up about 2-3 weeks later (to BC in Canada). This time got notice of shipment with USPS tracking number. It has left Chicago and on its way to the West Coast (or Manitoba). Dan even emailed me to confirm what mask pads I wanted from my order.

Hi John ( @Heave-Ho) My advice is the following: 1. Search for senior umpires that: A) model the desire to learn B) want to mentor younger umpires C) are role models on the field 2. Constantly read the equipment thread — you will find great feedback on affordable and quality gear. Or, read any academic dissertation from Prof. @MadMax . 3. Always work on your rule interpretation, positioning, mechanics and game management. Be both a sponge and a thief in taking what is demonstrated and modeled to you by high level umpires. 4. Take every opportunity to go to quality clinics and camps that you can get your hands on. 5. Always work on building trusting, professional relationships with your brothers and sisters in the umpire fraternity. 6. Finally, remember to wipe the slate after every play. Don’t dwell on the last call - it’s done, look forward to joy of correctly getting the next call.

That was cool, Rick. Even though we have been playing baseball north of the 49th for almost as long as all of you below, I wonder what the Canadian version would look like with either hockey, curling or lacrosse. Two of those sports are based on whacking each other with sticks, then shaking hands after it’s over. Humboldt strong.

Ordered from +pos earlier this year. Same thing. Then one day the order appeared. Considering it was going to Canada and the West Coast, the time was not bad. However, it would have been nice to know at least it was shipped.

I think two things help, even for old dogs: the culture of your umpire association and learning opportunities all through the year. Old dogs will catch the fever to learn if they see all their partners hitting the books and picking ideas up from skilled umpires. This has to be the practice of your association — it’s culture. If you are not learning, you’re not trying. Yearly clinics are not enough to change the work on the field. On-going field drills and study sessions, along with game mentorship have to be part of the process. There has to be constructive informal mentorship in addition to formal evaluation to give meaningful feedback for growth and development. Finally, there has to be open doors, not closed ones as people develop. People do not progress linearly, so don’t assume they will never learn. I know when I learn something new, I will forget, get mad, forget, get mad, forget, get mad, doing it, doing it, doing it. WTF, how did I get to doing it? I don’t think I am the only one who learns this way.

Just got mine back from cobbler. Hope he gets @MadMax seal of approval. I wanted real leather straps. And the double rectanglular hoops hold the DF straps pretty good.

Take @BT_Blue advice; if you get it through the folks at UA, you can also snag a Delta-Flex harness. Or you can get his harness from Razzer.

I have a comrade up here who has +pos gear from when it was the “gear” to get. It shows good after 20+ years. I wanted to test ordering from Illinois to Canada, and buy my partner some swag for his help in mentorship in our area. Here are my results ordered: January 2 shipped: January 10 received: January 22 I live in British Columbia, so not too bad. Only thing is I never knew it was mailed because my order just said processed, not shipped.

I have been enjoying @MadMax insights for almost two years now. He is the reason I bought a Schutt’s XV Cp last year. I modified it myself last year so I could use a Delta Flex on it. It is in the cobbler’s now getting a better stitch job and leather straps rather than my Charlie Brown fix last year.

Feel like copying and pasting this into a word document and putting into my umpire binder. God, this isn’t a response , it’s a freakin’ DIY tutorial. I have read full projects in DIY sites that don’t have the detail of this. All I can say @MadMax, to quote a good Canadian Mike Myers, “We’re not worthy; We’re not worthy.” Thank you, this is full of insightful ideas.

Actually it stops in May then comes back in June. Just not with the bone chillin’ wind off the water.

I think you may find you have better results with a 35% dihydrogen monoxide and 65% water solution. I usually use scrubbing bubbles (well the Canadian version) followed by shoe polish. I am experimenting this year by putting some dubbin on my leather shoes after cleaning them and following with a high gloss shoe polish. As I live in the Pacific Northwest (north of 49), I am hoping this will keep my feet dry during the April showers.

I have a slim build and have a Schutt’s XV. Fits great once you mold it to your body. I taken a couple of shots and don’t even feel it. I have posted my “Charlie Brown” modification for the delta flex using nylon strapping and rectangle hoops. Just sent it to a cobbler to get a more professional look. Will update when I get it back. Finally, nice thing about the Schutt’s is that it comes with an 4” extension. That might be nice for your height.

Autumn, It was very astute of you to post this on this forum. There is a wealth of knowledge and skill here and more wiser sages than I. I am just lucky if I comment on something and it makes sense. I think what would be helpful is to know what our process is when we make safe and out calls. For example: try to be 90 degrees to the throw on force plays and 90 degrees to the tag on tag plays. On force plays listen and see. Dont jiggle the camera when taking your mental snapshot. Knowing an umpire's positioning, mechanics and reasoning on these plays may assist you in designing a tool that would complement umpires on these types of plays.

I could only find clips on YouTube. I even looked in mlb store under DVD just to see.