Ultimate Japanese Gear????

[concertman1971]

https://www.instagram.com/p/Cs-nvJ6PE3J/?igshid=MmJiY2I4NDBkZg==

 

Hmmmmmmmmm. 

[Ump242]

https://www.instagram.com/p/Cs-nvJ6PE3J/?utm_source=ig_web_button_share_sheet&igshid=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==

 

Umpire molded cleats?

 

or are these catcher's cleats?

[FranklinT]

I’ve thought about dropping the $600 plus for the Belgaard black CP 

[SeeingEyeDog]

The Belgard CP is nice, no doubt. And at that price it includes a storage case even!

But, there was a guy with an Italian surname who passed away recently who made classic, custom tailored tuck and roll style CPs. I tried Googling it and came up empty. Someone will be along shortly with a proper citation and link but, I believe his price was around $1,500 and that included 2 fittings (which you were encouraged to travel to him for) over the course of the manufacturing process which was all done by hand.

~Dawg 

 

 

[wolfe_man]

2 minutes ago, SeeingEyeDog said:

The Belgard CP is nice, no doubt. And at that price it includes a storage case even!

But, there was a guy with an Italian surname who passed away recently who made classic, custom tailored tuck and roll style CPs. I tried Googling it and came up empty. Someone will be along shortly with a proper citation and link but, I believe his price was around $1,500 and that included 2 fittings (which you were encouraged to travel to him for) over the course of the manufacturing process which was all done by hand.

~Dawg 

 

 

Cece Carlucci

Ted Barrett normally wore one of these under his plate coat.

 

[SeeingEyeDog]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cece_Carlucci

...and with apologies to Mr. Carlucci, I did not know he was also an umpire himself and he passed away sometime ago. A truly fascinating life.

~Dawg

[FranklinT]

28 minutes ago, SeeingEyeDog said:

The Belgard CP is nice, no doubt. And at that price it includes a storage case even!

But, there was a guy with an Italian surname who passed away recently who made classic, custom tailored tuck and roll style CPs. I tried Googling it and came up empty. Someone will be along shortly with a proper citation and link but, I believe his price was around $1,500 and that included 2 fittings (which you were encouraged to travel to him for) over the course of the manufacturing process which was all done by hand.

~Dawg 

 

 

The true holy grail.  As noted above, Barrett rocked one as well as Tschida.  Cant think of any recent MLB guys who rocked them but Im sure someone might remember some more names.

If i was umpiring back then I might have bitten that bullet.

[umpstu]

1 hour ago, SeeingEyeDog said:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cece_Carlucci

...and with apologies to Mr. Carlucci, I did not know he was also an umpire himself and he passed away sometime ago. A truly fascinating life.

~Dawg

Thanks for posting the wikipedia page

[BT_Blue]

The most money I ever spent on a phone call was talking to Cece!

I was traveling (and working games) in Sydney, Australia at the time. Was wanting to "get pricing" on his gear. Spent over a hour on the phone with him. It was a great conversation. But stupid expensive as well. Lol

[MattKirky]

https://www.instagram.com/p/Cs-nvJ6PE3J/?utm_source=ig_web_button_share_sheet&igshid=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==
 
Umpire molded cleats?
 
or are these catcher's cleats?

According to the Japanese website they are labeled for umpires....

Fascinating

Sent from my SM-S908U using Tapatalk

[BT_Blue]

On 6/2/2023 at 8:10 AM, Ump242 said:

https://www.instagram.com/p/Cs-nvJ6PE3J/?utm_source=ig_web_button_share_sheet&igshid=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==

 

Umpire molded cleats?

 

or are these catcher's cleats?

 

On 6/11/2023 at 4:29 PM, MattKirky said:

According to the Japanese website they are labeled for umpires....

Fascinating

Sent from my SM-S908U using Tapatalk
 

I mean... they DO have the metatarsal plate. Which a catcher wouldn't use. Plus the high gloss shin that I doubt a ballplayer would care about.

[aaluck]

Why do they need toddler sized plate shoes?

[MadMax]

On 6/2/2023 at 1:45 PM, FranklinT said:

The true holy grail.

Not quite. As a bespoke, master hand-crafted process it was, but certainly really needed an updating in materials used. CeCe used leather and vinyl where really modern technical fabrics could really make the CP fit better, be lighter, and much more ventilated. What he just couldn’t compete with was the mass production of CPs – primarily Wilsons (because Riddell spurned Joe West, and Douglas … I don’t know the exact story) – in overseas factories and supplied to a retail store framework, where buyers would purchase lots and batches of pre-sized units, sold with minimal customization and adjustability. 

The true holy grail is a bespoke CP, tailored and fit (near) perfectly to the wearer’s torso, using the best, thinnest-yet-protective dynamic materials on the market. 

[concertman1971]

22 hours ago, aaluck said:

Why do they need toddler sized plate shoes?

Maybe these are a gift pair for Lathan the KID Umpire?

[BT_Blue]

@MadMaxin fairness to rhe late Cece Carlucci... its been right around 20 years since his passing (per Google search, 2008). When he hung it up, there wasn't as big a push it seemed for the "space age", if you will, materials. The West Vest and +POS were still king of the hill. And Honigs and Gerry Davis starting to make appearances in the mainstream gear bag. I don't think it was still a good few years until the current clubhouse leader, Ump-Attire, even arrived on the scene. Definitely not how we know it today. 

I would like to think, that given the opportunity and push to do so. He would have moved to better materials.

His gear was made to order. So if the requests came in heavy for something like D3O. I'm sure he would have done what he could to find something that would work.

[dumbdumb]

5 hours ago, BT_Blue said:

@MadMaxin fairness to rhe late Cece Carlucci... its been right around 20 years since his passing (per Google search, 2008). When he hung it up, there wasn't as big a push it seemed for the "space age", if you will, materials. The West Vest and +POS were still king of the hill. And Honigs and Gerry Davis starting to make appearances in the mainstream gear bag. I don't think it was still a good few years until the current clubhouse leader, Ump-Attire, even arrived on the scene. Definitely not how we know it today. 

I would like to think, that given the opportunity and push to do so. He would have moved to better materials.

His gear was made to order. So if the requests came in heavy for something like D3O. I'm sure he would have done what he could to find something that would work.

From the old guy i met, SOS, Sports Officiating Supply, was an old place back in the day and Gus and thats a big if on the gus part, or maybe all-American sports supply were ones in the day. Concur from the old guy that CC would have tried to stay ahead of the curve with new materials since he was a craftsman and personalized his equipment.

[BT_Blue]

I just think that given the chance and ability to aquire better and lighter materials, he would have