alex7

This is what I do. Gives catcher and DC feedback before DC asks the "where was that?" time-wasting question. I don't hear that question much anymore, which makes the added verbal worth it to me.

I own a Ti and can vouch for its awesomeness. Like someone said earlier, it's just not as well known as the Wilson Ti or Nike, so it's hard to sell at the high price. Quality light mask, though.

How about a year or two when someone dropped the Pam bomb- oily Pam apparently does wonders keeping dust/dirt off shoe soles. Can't say I tried that one.

Doesn't that make the laces stiff? At first glance, I thought you asked that about napalm.

Dan, do you know if the ZRO-G masks are new view or regular view? I recently saw a +POS mask but wasn't sure what brand it was of their two, but it looked very new-viewish. Sits closer to the face than other masks.

I've owned a few pair, believe they're very similar to Gerry Davis pants, and sold by GD as well. No issues.

This and Mask Porn thread are my two UE faves. You just know it's baseball season when the good ol' Scrubbing Bubbles questions start rolling in.

When I researched this mask, both here and elsewhere, the words concussion and cracked came up waaaaaaaaaay too often.

Why the hot-selling ix3 Diamond mask (and pads) of course!

NCAA tag definition is a little more stringent. Tag SECTION 75. The action of a fielder in touching a base with any part of the body while holding the ball securely and firmly in the hand or glove or touching a runner with the ball or with the glove while holding the ball securely and firmly in that hand or glove. The fielder shall maintain or regain control of his body and if he drops the ball due to his lack of body control or control of the ball, it is not a tag. A voluntary and intentional release is substantive proof of complete control.

With the ball being dropped, you're looking at an error on the defense, so I wouldn't be in a hurry to penalize the batter walking back to his dugout. Does your 7.09e have any further language? In HS it says something to the effect that "merely continuing to run the bases after being put out does not constitute an interference action." More or less it means there has to be more effort than just doing what you're supposed to do. Maybe LL has no provision and by letter of the rule, the batter is interfering. However, if I'm just umpiring the spirit of the rules, the defense screwed up there, the batter is doing exactly what he's supposed to be doing, and I don't call it.

did the runner slide into the leg as the tag was being applied, or was the tag out ahead of the leg and base because he was out by so much? curious, thanks.

GROAN to the fungi joke. Dont feel bad Stu. I keep getting that I am to "robotic". Especially when I am working the plate. When I ask what to do to not be thought of that way I get either "I dont know" or "just loosen up a bit" or some other useless junk. It's kind ofmfrustrating when they want you to do something and when you ask them for their advice on how to do it, they cant help you. Do you use a point or hammer strike call? A point and the footwork that goes with it might give you a little more athletic movement back then, if you're a hammer guy. Just my .02

Can someone put gramps back in bed and get him a tea? All cranky again. =) I guess he just wanted the deluxe version right away. Where's that pic of a retro on a washing machine with a ruler? Looked waaaay slimmer than mine.

Do we have numbers on this? Maybe it was the different padding, but my Ti felt quite a bit lighter than my regular FM.

yes, treated like any other batter INT.

What are the pads like?

curious, who said the size was true? I have no experience with Smitty Poly Wools, but I would think customers who bought it and posted positive comments on it would truly think they fit well, and that would need to be balanced by looking for opinions from other places. Or did you talk to someone specific at UA that said they fit like Honigs pants?

Yeah, I meant it as an opportunity to brag about the mask since it's one of the few ones that most of us have never even touched or seen, but merits Japan pro-ball umpire use.

I'm curious too. The All-Stars have great vision too, not sure how much better it can get without opening up the gap to an unsafe level. Would love some details.

What's HOK?

Sweet! but I like that no defender is in the picture, and the runner is looking at the ball in the outfield. :)

For Ebay, I would suggest re-taking the picture with a better background to make it look more professional/awesome/must-havish. Maybe put MLB-quality in the title.

I've done this at younger levels where unpaid coaches might not know procedure, but in a varsity game, shouldn't we make the DC call time and appeal properly?

good rule of thumb: don't grant the batter time once the pitcher has come set, unless P holds that set for a long time.