mac266

By the way, I just joined BOTH the American Legion and the VFW. I highly recommend that you join one or the other (or both!). They have tons of great programs for veterans and advocate for us on Capitol Hill.

I haven't logged on in a while, but here's me: Army 1993-present

Whelp, I regret spending almost $300 on what is essentially trash. I am a helmet guy for various reasons (and pretty inflexible on that) and I need the absolute best protection possible. A college umpire I know got his master's degree in something-or-other by testing the amount of impact various umpire helmets protect you from, and Force 3 was the best. He even demonstrated how some of them make the impact to the brain WORSE. But the spring system in the Force 3 helmet absorbed the most impact. The problem is that after less than one season of use, the pads are literally falling apart. We are generally advised to replace our mask pads every season, but these didn't even last a season. They are literally coming apart! Initially, there were no new pads even available but now Force 3 wants $100 for a set. How about this: NO! I'm not giving them $100 to put trash pads that won't last to replace trash pads that didn't last. A few years ago when Force 3 moved to a different warehouse, I had a long series of rather terrible customer service interactions. So this settles it: I'm voting with my wallet and I'm inviting all of you to do the same. Until they can bother to make a product worth standing behind (and actually stand behind it -- or let's just start with answering the phone or replying to an email, which they've so far ignored), I'm not giving them another red cent.

In Colorado, I've NEVER met a fellow umpire who believes this nonsense. Our high school and college seasons are in the spring, which means I've umpired in snowstorms before. You're insane if you think that's a reasonable dress code in Colorado.

FED umpire manual??? What on earth is this??? I've never heard of it.

Someone asked me this and I'm afraid I have to defer to the hive. I think we have a double play here, assuming the defense properly appeals, but I'm not sure. Situation: R2 only. Batter hits a fly ball to center field. R2 goes back towards 2nd to tag up, but never touches the base. F8 botches the catch and drops the ball. R2 advances to 3rd without tagging up and B-R safely gets to first. The defense's head coach talked with an umpire and convinced him there was a catch and the drop occurred on a transfer, so they reversed the call and called B-R out. They left the runner on third. It was the defense's assistant coach (who also umpires) who asked me this question; he said it was never a catch and the out should never have been awarded, but let's assume the call stands. We have a catch without the runner tagging up, so if the defense properly appeals, that's a double play, correct?

Follow up: How about this pink one with my black plate coat? https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09VYCJ59R?ref_=ppx_hzsearch_conn_dt_b_fed_asin_title_1&th=1&psc=1

The plate coat in my profile pic is navy blue; I also have a black one. However, the navy one can only be used at high school or lower levels. Unfortunately, no one has navy blue uniforms anymore, so it hangs in my closet. It was gifted to me by a retiring umpire, but I think I've used it once. I do wear a turtle neck over my chest protector in colder weather (I have a navy one and a black one, one for each plate coat). Anyway, in the old days, umpires used to wear a different color of turtle neck with their plate coats, sometimes sharply contrasting. So, what if I got a powder blue turtle neck? Would that be ok to wear when my partners are wearing powder blue? How about when they are wearing a black jacket with the powder blue stripe? Thoughts????

I'm in Colorado. I have the Mid-American 3-man clinic on my calendar already, but I don't always get the weekends I want. I'm in the Army Reserves, and I'm currently a brigade commander, which means I'm on a plane 2-4 times a month. I'm definitely willing to travel for a clinic. I have also been to the Umpire Training Institute's 2-man clinic and would consider their 3-man clinic, as well. They were a great bunch of guys and put on a great clinic.

I know, I know, they're very hard to come by. But if you want to get rid of one (I'm a chest size 42), please let me know.

I'm back, fully recovered with some reduction in my arm's range of motion. But I'm back on the diamond, and I don't need any extra padding. I worked a JuCo double header on Thursday, and my strike zone wasn't quite where I want it to be. I worked three high school games on Saturday and got it dialed in a LOT better. If I can keep that zone all season, I'll be happy. Anyway, I'm the quintessentially busy guy, so I need to start planning to attend a clinic already. This past fall I went to the Mid-American 2-man clinic that morphed into a 3-man clinic. I need a full-blown 3-man clinic. I'm hoping to move up into NCAA or anywhere that uses 3-man all the time. Which ones would you suggest?

NFHS does NOT require intent on batter's interference. Think of the more typical swing-and-miss with follow through taking the batter over the plate when F2 is trying to throw out a stealing runner. The batter does NOT have to intend to get in the way; he merely has to hinder or impede the defense's ability to make the play.

Time play, no run.

I'm obviously a huge fan based on my profile pic. That one is actually navy blue, and was given to me by a retiring umpire. My black one is by Out West Officials, and I highly recommend them. You bring a significant amount of class to the diamond when you walk out in a plate coat (I've overheard players commenting that "we got the good umpires" without ever having seen me work before). I also recommend getting it tailored.

Rodeo clown....I'm laughing so hard right now!!!!