Belts

[Rulekeep]

MidAmUmp kind of marches to the beat of his own drum. Here is the belt he bought for this season....

Hey, I'd wear that!

[Pete Peterson Sr]

Specific Dress code? We have a Dress Code. Charcoal pants, Black Shirt, Mostly Black Shoes, Black Hat, Black Belt. Now that being said, we don't dictate to our officials what they must wear in a game, as long as they match their partners. The Default is always what I just mentioned. So you are required to always bring the Default to every game. Because if you show up, and your partner was replaced(Family Emergency?) Then the default is what you have to wear on the field.  

 

 I showed up for a JuCo game a few years back, with the default Black and Cream shirts. My partner showed up with Navy and Powder Blue. That went over like a turd in a punchbowl, especially with the a-hole coach we had.

[Pete Peterson Sr]

MidAmUmp kind of marches to the beat of his own drum.  Here is the belt he bought for this season....

 

 

 This year, the State began mixing crews in the playoffs. Two from one association, and one from another, generally from the same district. One of our crew chiefs reported that the "odd man out", a younger umpire, showed up with a belt very similar to that, and declined a replacement from one of his crewmates. SMDH...

[MidAmUmp]

MidAmUmp kind of marches to the beat of his own drum.  Here is the belt he bought for this season....

 

You can't even get anyone to like this post. You big dummy. Just a bit of advice for everyone...if you are in a hurry to get on the road after a game, don't work with zm1283. He takes a bubble bath and makes sure all 2000 parts are fully clean and exfoliated before getting ready to go home.

[celt62]

Appearance, appearance, appearance.

 

 

I've never seen an association that didn't have a specific dress code.  We must be crazy up here in the frozen northeast.

We have a specific dress code in our association. Most do. Ours says a black belt. Doesn't matter if it's patent or not. Guess we're more interested in things like getting calls right than if everyone's belts match. Guarantee no one on either side is paying attention to your belt.

 

I agree.  But who says you can't emphasize both?  Do you wear matching pants? Shirts? Hats?  Do you shine shoes too?   Or does your association just care if their black and you get the call right? It's just because they believe if you're going to get paid like a professional you should look like one and I don't think the extra couple of dollars will break the bank.  I didn't realize this topic turned into a battle of associations as implied  "mine's better than yours"  and inferring that "we just want to look good and screw everything else".  WOW!  I didn't mean to strike a nerve.  I was just stating what ours requires.

[MidAmUmp]

Appearance, appearance, appearance.

 

I've never seen an association that didn't have a specific dress code.  We must be crazy up here in the frozen northeast.

We have a specific dress code in our association. Most do. Ours says a black belt. Doesn't matter if it's patent or not. Guess we're more interested in things like getting calls right than if everyone's belts match. Guarantee no one on either side is paying attention to your belt.

I agree.  But who says you can't emphasize both?  Do you wear matching pants? Shirts? Hats?  Do you shine shoes too?   Or does your association just care if their black and you get the call right? It's just because they believe if you're going to get paid like a professional you should look like one and I don't think the extra couple of dollars will break the bank.  I didn't realize this topic turned into a battle of associations as implied  "mine's better than yours"  and inferring that "we just want to look good and screw everything else".  WOW!  I didn't mean to strike a nerve.  I was just stating what ours requires.

You didn't strike a nerve and I'm not getting into an association pissing match with anyone. Look, I see umpires from all over the country each year. It is my opinion based on what I've seen over the years that local associations should be spending much more of their time discussing rules and mechanics than they do worrying about what umpires wear. Guys get in charge, let it go to their head and start running around acting like Hitler. They want everyone to look alike (and that's great) but looking alike is a very small piece of the umpiring puzzle. Everyone wearing the same belt is pretty extreme.

I have been asked questions like "I know they don't like you having too much white on your shoes. Do you think my shoes have too much white on them?" The reality is THEY...whoever they is...don't really care a whole lot about the amount of white on your shoes.

If you only knew how little time major D1 and pro umpires spend on their appearance. Too many times to count I've played the "smell this" game. Too many times we've discussed if someone's pants are too wrinkled to wear because they've been in their bag for a week. Too many times we've wiped our shoes down with a towel before walking on the field. Right now my plate shoes are in my gear bag caked in dried mud from the last plate I worked and they will remain that way until February 2...the date of my first game.

Do I shine my shoes? No. Do I clean them? Yes. Do our pants and shirts match? Nope. I've walked on a D1 field with post season umpires and we've had 3 different model pants - polys, Davis, and Smittys. Shirts? Honigs, CKs and Smittys. Did anyone notice? No.

I've seen hundreds of coaches evaluations over the years. Do you know how many have mentioned an umpire's appearance in a negative way? One. And rightfully so. The kid had his shirt tucked about half way in and had his hat backwards. That's it.

It's fine with taking pride in your appearance but it's not the end all. Too many people think too highly of themselves and feel they are in the spotlight. I say this a lot...the next time you have a play to end an inning where a kid is out by 30 feet. Don't make a call and see what happens. The teams will change and the game will move on and you've never made a call.

The bottom line is this, you can look like crap and still advance because you have "it". But if you don't have "it" you can look like $1,000,000.00 and never advance.

[Platejob29]

I prefer genuine leather but I also have both. I actually have 2 of each just in case. I like to match my partner as much as possible and most in my area wear the genuine leather belts but occasionally we get a few patent guys out this way. There's a few guys I call with that have both as well in which case we match our belts to the shoes we have on. I know that some might see that as a bit crazy but really who cares if it makes us umpire nerds happy.

[kylejt]

I thought we dumped the patent leather along with the Leather Luster, navy shirts and heather slacks. I remember voting on it.

[celt62]

 

Appearance, appearance, appearance.

 

 

I've never seen an association that didn't have a specific dress code.  We must be crazy up here in the frozen northeast.

We have a specific dress code in our association. Most do. Ours says a black belt. Doesn't matter if it's patent or not. Guess we're more interested in things like getting calls right than if everyone's belts match. Guarantee no one on either side is paying attention to your belt. I agree.  But who says you can't emphasize both?  Do you wear matching pants? Shirts? Hats?  Do you shine shoes too?   Or does your association just care if their black and you get the call right? It's just because they believe if you're going to get paid like a professional you should look like one and I don't think the extra couple of dollars will break the bank.  I didn't realize this topic turned into a battle of associations as implied  "mine's better than yours"  and inferring that "we just want to look good and screw everything else".  WOW!  I didn't mean to strike a nerve.  I was just stating what ours requires.

You didn't strike a nerve and I'm not getting into an association pissing match with anyone. Look, I see umpires from all over the country each year. It is my opinion based on what I've seen over the years that local associations should be spending much more of their time discussing rules and mechanics than they do worrying about what umpires wear. Guys get in charge, let it go to their head and start running around acting like Hitler. They want everyone to look alike (and that's great) but looking alike is a very small piece of the umpiring puzzle. Everyone wearing the same belt is pretty extreme.

I have been asked questions like "I know they don't like you having too much white on your shoes. Do you think my shoes have too much white on them?" The reality is THEY...whoever they is...don't really care a whole lot about the amount of white on your shoes.

If you only knew how little time major D1 and pro umpires spend on their appearance. Too many times to count I've played the "smell this" game. Too many times we've discussed if someone's pants are too wrinkled to wear because they've been in their bag for a week. Too many times we've wiped our shoes down with a towel before walking on the field. Right now my plate shoes are in my gear bag caked in dried mud from the last plate I worked and they will remain that way until February 2...the date of my first game.

Do I shine my shoes? No. Do I clean them? Yes. Do our pants and shirts match? Nope. I've walked on a D1 field with post season umpires and we've had 3 different model pants - polys, Davis, and Smittys. Shirts? Honigs, CKs and Smittys. Did anyone notice? No.

I've seen hundreds of coaches evaluations over the years. Do you know how many have mentioned an umpire's appearance in a negative way? One. And rightfully so. The kid had his shirt tucked about half way in and had his hat backwards. That's it.

It's fine with taking pride in your appearance but it's not the end all. Too many people think too highly of themselves and feel they are in the spotlight. I say this a lot...the next time you have a play to end an inning where a kid is out by 30 feet. Don't make a call and see what happens. The teams will change and the game will move on and you've never made a call.

The bottom line is this, you can look like crap and still advance because you have "it". But if you don't have "it" you can look like $1,000,000.00 and never advance.

 

Wow! HAPPY HOLIDAYS!!!

[kylejt]

Only umpires worry about what umpires are wearing. Unless you really look like a bum, nobody cares.

 

Everyone takes it to a different level. I've taken the field with a six man crew, each wearing a different color shirt, and no matching hats. The non-umpires thought it was cool. We've all seen different shades of polo blue on the field. Again, nobody cares.

 

Belts? Please, spare me. Wear what you want, and so will I.

[Platejob29]

A lot of good points have been made about worrying to much about uniform and association requirements. I have to say I agree that most people who notice the small little things like belts matching are umpires. Everyone else watching the game really doesn't care as long as the call is right and the umpire is in position to make the call. I have noticed from personal experience at least in my area the ones who are Nazi's about appearance, and "mechanics" are college guys. Specifically lower level college guys. Most of the D1 guys don't care a whole lot but there are a few that do. The pro's are the ones who are the most relaxed about all that kind of stuff. There are also a few high school guys I know who always try to critique everything from dress to "your elbow needs to be 2in higher and tilted another 4 degrees to the right" those tend to be the guys who never progress into high level varsity ball. Just something I thought about while reading a lot of the comments in this section.