The Short Umpire

I might have a problem... I've spent a lot of time tinkering with all of these CP's. I had a few days of free time trying to clean up the house and discovered I had a large surplus of parts from past projects that never came to fruition. So I spent the last couple days finishing all of those projects I've had going on. I don't have time at the moment but I'd like to offer some break downs on all of these and what changes I made. For now I'll offer a quick breakdown. Starting at the top is the newest addition and the only stock CP I have in my collection. The GD Enduro. Below the GD, leaning on the back of the couch, are my two +POS Cobra V1's with reconfigured shoulders. To the left (on top of the chaise portion of the couch are my 3 F3 V1 frankensteins. 1 of the is a full plate swap from the retired WV Charcoal. The other two use the chest plates from an ADAM XV an some hodgepogded shoulder pauldrons. Back to the middle, on the seat of the couch are my 3 retrofits. On the left is another WV Charcoal. On the right is a Small WV gold. These two were retrofitted by Ump Guard. In the middle is my Team Wendy retrofitted Riddell Power. Down at the bottom propped against the front of the couch are my 3 Adams/WV gold frankenstiens. Not sure what to do with all of these long-term. I'll probably be posting a handful of them for sale. It's just going to be a matter of which ones. Before listing anything for sale I would like to do some more detailed breakdowns of all of them with pictures showing what they all look like in full gear.

Related, I’ve seen a lot of umpires, not just veterans but newer hires as well, rocking some facial hair…

That’s fair. For starters, no there doesn’t need to be a swing for there to be catchers interference. In fact the rule actually states that “the batter becomes a runner and is entitled first base without liability to be put out when the catcher OR ANY FIELDER interferes with HIM.” Says nothing about interfering with a swing. Secondly, the hiccups you foresee happening in this made up scenario arise from forgetting that the ball stays live when catchers interference is called. If you happen to have a player at bat who holds back a check-swing the first call that needs to be made is whether or not the pitch was a ball or strike or if the batter swung or not. The manager can not take the result of the play if he doesn’t fully understand the result of the play.

If the bat hits the catchers mitt and you don’t call interference you’re really grabbing the crappy end of that stick…

I do love my F3 defender mask but the hockey mask has always had problems with sizing. Not only that but the F3 CP has been nothing but problems from the beginning and they really aren’t the umpire friendly company they claimed to be.

We're not going by dictionary definitions. We're going by rule book definitions.

Let's not forget this one from the covid days! https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=lr6Kalhjq9g

That's sums it up nicely! There is too much focus on the word "intentionally" and not enough on the last part of the rule, which says "interfere with a thrown ball." That's pretty specific. I don't know how someone intentionally interferes with a thrown ball when 1. they begin there movement before the ball is thrown. and 2. can't see the ball in flight. In every other scenario of intentional interference with a thrown ball the runner can see the ball and makes an obvious move into the path of the ball, like Baez who jumps and keeps his eye on the ball until he turns at the last second to avoid getting hit in the face.

He was moving his hand before the ball was thrown. He wasn't moving his hand into the path of the ball, he was guarding his head.

I also see these as very similar. Close call sports say that the Churio play is different because he looked back at the fielder, but if you watch Machado he looked back as the ball was being fielded just like Churio. They then both turn around and start running to second before the throw occurs. CCS also cites the raised hand as a mitigating factor but he started raising his hand before there was a throw and after he had turned toward second to run. He was raising his arm to protect his head. You can see his shoulders shrug to protect his neck as well. Unpopular take, I know. But that’s how I see it. Whether or not I’d be good enough to see it that way in real time though is a different story.

I don’t think that it’s gonna take too much convincing… 🤩🤑

That’s fair, I’m curious what advantage you gain from it though? Just feels like a weird “mind game/power move.”

I agree 100%! The only question I have is this, where did it start that guys are asking the head coach what their catcher’s name is? I’ve always just gotten the catcher’s name from…. THE CATCHER! It just seems superfluous to ask the coach…. 🤷‍♂️

I haven’t tried the new shirts yet but I have the new jacket from Honigs in the 1/4 zip. I don’t personally own the Smitty counterpart to really know the difference. But I do like my jacket. It’s pretty warm and a good fit. One thing I’ve noticed is that it wrinkles fairly easily and I feel like I’m always steaming it. Might just be from keeping it folded and not hung up but I haven’t noticed wrinkling on the smitty ones when other guys bring them. The one critique that really bugs me though is that it doesn’t come with elastic at the bottom so you either have to add it yourself or tuck it in. I(my wife) added the elastic for me cause I hate the tucked in jacket look on the bases.

Personally I don’t think this is an out. Just read the definition of “Catch” and “Tag” in the rulebook. Tag- “ It is not a tag, however, if simultaneously or immediately following his touching a base or touching a runner, the fielder drops the ball. In establishing the validity of the tag, the fielder shall hold the ball long enough to prove that he has complete control of the ball.”