Man_In_Black

Never owned any Boombah products, so I'm not qualified to give any opinions on them, good or bad. All I can tell you is, in my neck of the woods, any adult baseball player playing in a competitive league would not be caught dead wearing or using anything from Boombah. To them it is strictly a softball brand catering to (as one ballplayer in our league put it) "overweight, washed-up, bat-shaving, beer league idiots who can't play real baseball...and the brand name itself sounds so f*****g stupid." Kinda harsh, I know, but that's how the baseball players feel about softball around here. Not necessarily fair to the softball sport or to the Boombah brand, but I've seldom experienced such disdain for a brand of equipment as with Boombah. I don't get all the hate, TBH. As I said, I can't say anything good or bad about the products. All I can say is that if the baseball players in your area are anything like those around here, they'll probably accuse you of being a "softball p***y" if you show up in anything with Boombah branding. YMMV.

This is just a hunch, but... I just looked and saw you've been a member for over six and a half years. Over that time span, you've posted 17 times. Since I currently have fewer posts than you but am not "inactive" (I only recently signed up here) I can only guess that the board software determines your "activity" by using some formula like the "number of posts" divided by the "number of days as a member". If the result is below some threshold value, it designates you as "inactive". Your "Posts per day" value probably has to rise above a certain number for you to be considered a "member" again. That is, of course, unless the admins step in and change it for you. Like I said, just a guess.

Common practice is to attach it behind. Some hang it on the bottom, some in front (commonly seen on Nike masks since the throat extension isn't angled forward as sharply as on other brands). Most important is that when you are in your normal stance for an incoming pitch, the bottom of your dangler will contact your CP and not your throat if pushed back. An improperly mounted dangler can cause just as much injury as none at all.

I also had INT on the batter. Catcher was hindered in my judgment. If Blackmon is thrown out then "no harm, no foul". But as soon as a review from Colorado was requested, I would have made it clear that the review would only really be to determine if Blackmon would go to the dugout or return to first base, because a safe call at 2B would mean I'd enforce the INT. So there's gonna be an out either way. In which case the Rockies would probably still go with the review, since winning it would at least still leave them with a runner at 1B.

I was going to stay out of this "to-saw-or-not-to-saw" debate, but I thought I'd just relay this incident as some food for thought. A young fellow umpire I know who'd been umpiring for nearly 8 years got a wild hair last year and removed the throat guard from his mask because of (as he put it) "the cool factor". He hung a Mizuno spider on it and used it regularly for HS Varsity and adult rec ball for a few weeks until one day, while calling an adult game, a 92 mph fastball was fouled back and hit the upper part of the dangler near its attachment point...the attachment on one side of the throat guard failed and the spider was driven into his larynx at an angle. His larynx was fractured and (thank God) the home team's 3rd baseman happened to be a medical doctor who was able to perform an emergency tracheotomy on him almost immediately. He was rushed to the hospital a few minutes later and recovered after a few weeks. This umpire never called another game after that, and his voice has been permanently affected. I can't help but to think that if the mask had been left intact, he probably would've only had his bell rung and perhaps a sore jaw...but nothing life threatening requiring an ambulance ride to the hospital. I realize we're all big boys (and girls) here and can decide for ourselves which risks we choose to take as far as equipment goes. I don't wanna preach. I mean, I myself can't get used to wearing a dangler at all, so I rely on the mask's throat protection bars. Sawing those off wouldn't work for me, cos then I'd have no protection at all. But I agree with @maineump when he says that the integrated throat guard is much safer than any dangler. And if you have both, that's an extra degree of protection.

Being a Phillies fan, there hasn't been much to root for this season. So I'm kinda pulling for the Mets. They're playing some good ball and I like their pitching. I've always liked Wright and Tejada (an underrated SS) and Mets fans haven't had much to cheer about in recent years. So I'm actually sort of glad they're doing well. Unless they suffer a total meltdown in the coming weeks, I think we'll be seeing them in the postseason...and I wouldn't even mind seeing them in the WS.

I watched this game live. Don't know what was said from the dugout, but in all fairness, Rasmus had a right to be cheesed-off. He was rung up by Holbrook in his previous at-bat as well on a pitch that I had as a ball (later confirmed by the pitch-tracker). So he comes up to his next AB with RISP and uses good plate discipline on a 3-2 pitch. Holbrook sort of hesitates on the call and then finally chainsaws him, making it look like Sam really wasn't 100% sure about it. The pitch was shown to be off the plate. To have this happen to you twice in your first two at-bats of the day, I don't think I can fault Rasmus for being a bit annoyed. Having played a relatively high level of ball during my playing days, I can't honestly say I would've reacted any differently. But he apparently crossed the line with his remarks from the dugout, so Holbrook's EJ was most likely justified. But getting the sh!t end of the stick twice in two ABs can sort of push one over the edge.

I tried a sunshield for a complete season a couple years back. I wear a 6-stitch cap behind the dish and I honestly didn't notice any difference as far as the shield keeping the brim of my cap cooler. On bright, sunny days, I work the plate with Oakleys on anyways, so sun glare isn't an issue for me. I think like @Thunderheads said above, many folks like the look of it...and that's fine. I didn't notice any real benefit from using one, so I just took it off. One less thing to break. But I'd never criticize anyone for choosing to wear one. It's a personal preference.

1) Anything in front of the bag is your call. BU had no business signalling anything, even if he may have had a better view as @noumpere suggested. 2) Assuming the alleged touch by F1 occurred over foul territory (not clear from your OP), it's a foul ball anyway. Did your partner have the touch by F1 over fair territory? If not, then the touch/no touch is irrelevant. 3) Once you called it foul, it was a done deal. You can't undo it. As we all know, after consulting with your partner(s) you can easily change a call to "foul" on a ball initially called fair. The other way around is problematic at best. Remember, on any batted ball, priority one for an umpire is "fair/foul" determination. As others have suggested, work on your timing. Take the extra second if need be to process what you saw before making the call.

Thank you, gentlemen, for the warm welcomes. 'Preciate it!

MidAmUmp gives some very sound advice. I remember back when I was first starting to umpire serious baseball, some of my more experienced partners would overwhelm me with all kinds of advanced mechanics and "do's and don'ts" during our pregame. Sometimes I felt more unsure of myself after the pregame than before it, and then I'd be pretty nervous out there on the field. Then one day I was partnered with a very experienced umpire who was also an instructor and worked several clinics on the east coast. Like MidAmUmp, he kept the pregame short and to the point, covering only the essentials. He emphasized that one of the most important things out there on the field is communication. "As long as we communicate, we'll be fine", he said. He also knew that I was a former D1 player and said: "Trust the baseball instincts you developed as a player. Just because you're now an umpire doesn't mean you can't use what you've learned to help keep you one step ahead of what's unfolding out there." After an inning or two with him I was no longer nervous and was able to focus on the tasks at hand for the rest of the game. The fact that he didn't try to overload me with all kinds of information before the game and treated me like an equal when we were out there on the field did wonders for my confidence. From that day forward, umpiring became a lot more fun. I always try to keep it short and sweet for the guys just getting their feet wet, and try to be supportive if they make a mistake. All of us were noobs at one time or another.

You and me both. I kept putting off buying one thinking they'd be available again "next season", now I'm kicking myself for not picking one up when I had the chance. Anyone got any leads on an L or XL?

Heh, well, don't read too much into in my username, Ken Admittedly, "Black is the new navy", but I'm actually not a hater. I'll wear navy if a partner really wants to, but it's become less frequent over the past few seasons. I actually have six pairs of shirts (plate/base) in various colors, but prefer to wear black (or MLB polo blue if it's really hot out there on the diamond). I even have red in my arsenal, but I think I've worn red maybe twice in the past two seasons. Not a big fan. I subscribe to the "looking your best will help you command respect regardless of shirt color" school of thought. Polished shoes, pressed pants, well fitting shirts, cap without sweat stains, will do a lot for others' perception of you as an umpire, no matter what color shirt you happen to be wearing. Of course, not sucking helps a lot, too Thanks for the welcome, BTW.

Hi, I've been lurking here for a long time, and finally decided to sign up so that I could possibly contribute something useful to the discussions that take place here. I've been umpiring for some 20 years and have been a member of associations in the US as well as in Europe. I look forward to interacting with all Umpire-Empire members.