834k3r

Stoked to see my favorite behind the plate for yesterday's game in Detroit. Well done, good sir.

Please @DerekGDS?

I may end up getting one mesh and one suede and see which I prefer. Like you, I've never been concerned about my TW in cold weather--but @DerekGDS's recommendations weigh heavily for me, so I'll probably opt for the Cloud as well.

I tried. I texted the assigner of our region's volleyball referees and never got a response. Guess they're not as desperate for officials as baseball. As far as baseball goes, I'm blessed enough to live in a corner of the country where the worst fans (as judged by my peers in our association) are vocal, but not mean or nasty as I've heard in some areas of the country. Thankfully a lot of our high school ADs take their presence at games seriously. My son's AD had a meeting with the parents last year--yes, he knows I'm an umpire--and told the parents that if he heard any of the parents say anything negative about a call he would have a chat with the parent and consider removing the parent from the game. It was refreshing to hear, frankly.

Level of play is germane here, I feel--and everyone's right for their level of baseball. @The Man in Blue's OP says it's a middle school game. Pretty sure @grayhawk hasn't worked a middle school game in several years (conservatively speaking). At the higher levels of baseball, players are more aware of everything--and so the mistakes/trick plays/accidental trick plays don't work. So call time preemptively, because the players know nothing weird's going to happen (usually). Middle school? High school? Not calling time--keeping the ball live--makes sense.

This is my technique as well. It's been effective for me, and doesn't raise a ruckus about something (relatively) simple.

I just watched the video again. It appears the guy was working solo (small field so that checks out) and I honestly believe the guy could've used a partner to keep the PU and coach separated.

The two are not mutually exclusive--and a combination of the two is dangerous indeed.

Aside from the broken leg vignette, I agree with all of this. I've been picking up F2's masks for a couple of years now, mainly as a courtesy to foster the relationship we all have with the F2 in front of us.