2009 UMPY Award Winners

[midmoump]

O.K., since it's the off-season, let's have some fun:

2009 Umpire Merchandise Products of the Year (UMPY) Awards Announced by Midwest Ump

The 2009 Umpire Merchandise Products of the Year, or “UMPY Awards,” have been announced by Midwest Ump, an umpire equipment, apparel, and training review site at:

http://midwestump.blogspot.com

Nine categories were chosen for this year’s competition. The winners of are:

Traditional Mask – Champro FM-58 PRO-PLUS Gold Super-Xtreme Lightweight Face Mask

Helmet – Wilson Shock FX 2.0 Titanium Umpire Helmet

Shirt – Ump-Attire Ultimate Umpire Shirt

Pants – Honig’s Poly Wool Umpire Pants

Accessory – (TIE) Nutty Buddy

Accessory – (TIE) Ump-Attire Ultimate Ball Bag

Shoes – Reebok Field Magistrate Plate Shoes

Chest Protector – Wilson West Vest Platinum Chest Protector

Leg Guards – Wilson DaviShins Leg Guards

Training – UmpireTeacher.com

The 2009 Umpire Product of the Year is the Wilson Shock FX 2.0 Titanium Umpire Helmet, chosen for its technological advancements in umpire safety.

Congratulations to all of the winners of the 2009 Umpire Products of the Year. The complete article can be found at:

http://midwestump.blogspot.com/2009/11/best-umpire-equipment-apparel-and.html

Edited November 19, 2009 by midmoump

[BrianC14]

O.K., since its the off-season, let's have some fun:

2009 Umpire Merchandise Products of the Year (UMPY) Awards Announced by Midwest Ump

The 2009 Umpire Merchandise Products of the Year, or “UMPY Awards,” have been announced by Midwest Ump, an umpire equipment, apparel, and training review site at:

http://midwestump.blogspot.com

Nine categories were chosen for this year’s competition. The winners of are:

Traditional Mask – Champro FM-58 PRO-PLUS Gold Super-Xtreme Lightweight Face Mask

Helmet – Wilson Shock FX 2.0 Titanium Umpire Helmet

Shirt – Ump-Attire Ultimate Umpire Shirt

Pants – Honig’s Poly Wool Umpire Pants

Accessory – (TIE) Nutty Buddy

Accessory – (TIE) Ump-Attire Ultimate Ball Bag

Shoes – Reebok Field Magistrate Plate Shoes

Chest Protector – Wilson West Vest Platinum Chest Protector

Leg Guards – Wilson DaviShins Leg Guards

Training – UmpireTeacher.com

The 2009 Umpire Product of the Year is the Wilson Shock FX 2.0 Titanium Umpire Helmet, chosen for its technological advancements in umpire safety.

Congratulations to all of the winners of the 2009 Umpire Products of the Year. The complete article can be found at:

http://midwestump.blogspot.com/2009/11/best-umpire-equipment-apparel-and.html

How can the Shock 2.0 receive an award when the product has only recently been made available? Has anyone even worn one yet? This would seem to imply that the award is given simply for the marketing behind the product, and not for its actual peformance.

BTW, all in good fun, here... not being terribly serious on this. :banghead:

Edited November 19, 2009 by BrianC14

[midmoump]

Brian,

Excellent observation, and one that deserves an explanation! Since the FX 2.0 was not available from Wilson until October, there were few umpires that had the opportunity to try it out. The October Midwest Ump review compared the 2.0 against the 2009 FX and found it similar in most ways, and improved in other ways.

Here's the thing: the Wilson FX is the most significant recent advancement in umpire safety, and the FX helmet deserves the Product of the Year. The 2.0 made some improvements on the original design. So the decision came down to either awarding the Product of the Year to the 2009 FX (being discontinued), or the 2010 FX 2.0 (available now). Since the FX 2.0 was tested during the year, it was chosen for this year's POY over the 2009 version. I suppose in a way it was a marketing decision, but that decision was made entirely by Midwest Ump in consideration of the article's relevancy to the umpire community.

Since this is the first UMPY article, there are bound to be some mistakes. Maybe next year there should be a cut-off for new products?

[Stan W.]

excellent work .....thanks for doing this........really an outstanding job and a good service to all umpires

[kylejt]

I dunno. The Champro mask is the same thing as the Diamond lightweight(and the Schutt, Davis, etc.), only twice the price. And they both have dangerous pads in them.

[NWA_UMP]

Kyle-

I THINK the Champro mask is a Magnesium...

If not I would agree with you.

[Mike Prince]

And they both have dangerous pads in them.

Having the Diamond I would agree with this. I plan to put in more substantial padding this off season. I took one ball to the mask this fall and it felt like I ate it, my jaw hurt for a full inning.

Back on topic, nice reviews by Midwest Ump. I am in the market for some gear in the off season and already have the Platinum and Reebok Plate shoes on my "wish list"

[scobes7]

Having the Diamond I would agree with this. I plan to put in more substantial padding this off season. I took one ball to the mask this fall and it felt like I ate it, my jaw hurt for a full inning.

Back on topic, nice reviews by Midwest Ump. I am in the market for some gear in the off season and already have the Platinum and Reebok Plate shoes on my "wish list"

Just a question....do you think you had your mask to tightly adjusted to your face? This could be a contributing factor....

[Mike Prince]

Just a question....do you think you had your mask to tightly adjusted to your face? This could be a contributing factor....

I did adjust it some as the fall season went on, but I don't think it was that snug on my face the day I took the pitch to the face. But I wouldn't discount it as a contributor either.

[kylejt]

Just a question....do you think you had your mask to tightly adjusted to your face? This could be a contributing factor....

I know my masks are not too tight. I get at least three inches of separation when I look at my toes. Plenty loose.

Those pads are just too thin. They tried to save weight in the pads, and didn't do their homework. They might be good for softball, but don't use them for baseball.