Love 'em or Hate 'em ... new LL shirts

[The Man in Blue]

Well, what is your opinion of Little League's claim to their own style?

If you can find better pictures, please post them.  I had to clip these from Youtube.

Softball:

 

Baseball:

[MadMax]

I admire them… not so much for their… ~unique~ style (which is…eh, I’ve seen worse)… but because… 

We get one definite step closer to burying these f*€king pieces of petrified s#!t!!! 


 

Burn them 🔥!! Burn them all!! 

[Marcus6]

Any clue who is making these?

[The Man in Blue]

1 hour ago, FranklinT said:

Any clue who is making these?

They are branded Gerry Davis but not for sale on their site.  I couldn’t even find pictures of them to post.  Really weird brand logo placement at the right … uh … front shoulder?  It’s opposite the patch but right up against the fabric/color change.

 

@MadMax … how do you really feel?  Maybe we can get one in navy with red sleeves.

[SeeingEyeDog]

I admire their independent thinking. Their execution was poor.

~Dawg

[Thunderheads]

12 hours ago, MadMax said:

I admire them… not so much for their… ~unique~ style (which is…eh, I’ve seen worse)… but because… 

We get one definite step closer to burying these f*€king pieces of petrified s#!t!!! 


 

Burn them 🔥!! Burn them all!! 

Not sure I understand.  LL hasn't worn shirts like this in years.   Only stupid states for high-school

[834k3r]

13 hours ago, The Man in Blue said:

Well, what is your opinion of Little League's claim to their own style?

If you can find better pictures, please post them.  I had to clip these from Youtube.

Softball:

 

Baseball:

Never have I been more thankful I don't officiate LL softball. The grey on black isn't bad...but the softball shirt looks like a poor attempt at an MLB throwback jersey.

[Velho]

13 minutes ago, Thunderheads said:

LL hasn't worn shirts like this in years.   Only stupid states for high-school

If only that were true (though I wear anything else every chance I get).

[834k3r]

For our LL district tournament this year, our District UIC had...a unique shirt/hat combo for us.

That's me, rocking the camouflage cap, olive shirt, and orange undershirt.

[MadMax]

4 minutes ago, 834k3r said:

That's me, rocking the camouflage cap, olive shirt, and orange undershirt.

Tell me, is there an officials’ supplier-vendor getting a kickback for your UIC’s choice of attire? 
… or Cabela’s? 🦌 

29 minutes ago, Thunderheads said:

Not sure I understand.  LL hasn't worn shirts like this in years.   Only stupid states for high-school

Look at it this way… if we (umpires, collectively) can exhibit – especially in prestigious events like LLWS – that there are newer, more modern options, then the reliance on the ol’ traditional relics becomes less. If no one’s buying them, then vendors will (hopefully) stop carrying them. 

AFAIK, besides the stubborn state associations, I think only American Legion and CDP are left in terms of stipulating that dreadful obsolete shirt style. 

[834k3r]

1 minute ago, MadMax said:

Tell me, is there an officials’ supplier-vendor getting a kickback for your UIC’s choice of attire? 
… or Cabela’s? 🦌 

Look at it this way… if we (umpires, collectively) can exhibit – especially in prestigious events like LLWS – that there are newer, more modern options, then the reliance on the ol’ traditional relics becomes less. If no one’s buying them, then vendors will (hopefully) stop carrying them. 

AFAIK, besides the stubborn state associations, I think only American Legion and CDP are left in terms of stipulating that dreadful obsolete shirt style. 

Our district is pretty relaxed on the shirts of choice (just in case anyone didn't get that impression from the shirt of choice this year). During the district tournament, each game's crew will get together and wear whatever year's shirt and hat combo they'd like (some even break out their Western Regional shirt from 5 years ago). The first weekend of this year's tournament took place the weekend before July 4th, so for one of the games, I (U3) wore a red shirt, U1 wore a navy shirt, and PU wore a white shirt. Lots of positive comments about that.

Back to Max's point, our Legion district is completely hands off as far as umpire attire. Heck, I didn't even have a Legion hat for the first year. The umpire crew decides what we want to wear during the pre-game (or text conversation they night before).

I have noticed fewer retailers are offering the old school shirts--they must be getting your letters, @MadMax.

[ArchAngel72]

I know a handful of guys who got them this year. THEY ALL LOVE THEM.

 

[The Man in Blue]

3 hours ago, 834k3r said:

For our LL district tournament this year, our District UIC had...a unique shirt/hat combo for us.

That's me, rocking the camouflage cap, olive shirt, and orange undershirt.

Somebody needed to hustle out to go deer hunting?

[The Man in Blue]

3 hours ago, 834k3r said:

Never have I been more thankful I don't officiate LL softball. The grey on black isn't bad...but the softball shirt looks like a poor attempt at an MLB throwback jersey.

My thoughts … the baseball one is OK.  The softball one:

 

[MadMax]

7 hours ago, The Man in Blue said:

My thoughts … the baseball one is OK.  The softball one:

Interesting take. I actually respected softball being more proactive and progressive in their shirt choices, especially at the ASA and USA•Softball levels. Of course, amateur (HS) still lagged behind, but at least there were options. Softball always made it emphatically clear that they were not baseball. 

Baseball should be that sport that tries different styles out. When we’re enforcing uniform templates so as to either A) profit off your workforce or B) cover or coddle the miserly tightwads in your workforce, there’s a problem. 

[The Man in Blue]

USA Softball:

 

(ASA became USA ... before that they were stuck on the old style)

 

NCAA Softball (I really like these):

 

USSSA not only strikes out, but kicks the puppies on the way back to the dugout though ...

 

If that wasn't bad enough ... they rolled out new uniforms this year ... and took a step backwards.  It is an entirely sublimated "bowling" shirt.

 

[The Man in Blue]

@MadMax ... The style? 

Or U-Trip's insistence that RED is the default color for umpires and "There is NO BLUE in USSSA"?  Or the fact that they have yellow and orange to boot?

(IMO, the only "mistake" on USA's is that the logo on the dark blue shirt should be in light blue, not white.)

[umpstu]

11 hours ago, The Man in Blue said:

USA Softball:

 

(ASA became USA ... before that they were stuck on the old style)

 

NCAA Softball (I really like these):

 

USSSA not only strikes out, but kicks the puppies on the way back to the dugout though ...

 

If that wasn't bad enough ... they rolled out new uniforms this year ... and took a step backwards.  It is an entirely sublimated "bowling" shirt.

 

The NCAA model shirts are great looking. Have always liked those.

[MadMax]

2 hours ago, The Man in Blue said:

Or U-Trip's insistence that RED is the default color for umpires and "There is NO BLUE in USSSA"?

USSSA has always been the odd one. We have to wonder the motive… is that to squelch umpires being called “Blue”? Or, is it differentiate between softball and baseball (“who is this guy, a baseball (con. softball) umpire?”). 

There’s one big question to ask – is USSSA providing the shirts (uniforms, hats, etc.), or is directing us that we must purchase the shirts? Back when I did USSSA baseball, they did provide a hat, and they were very clear that we were to wear it. Of course, it was tremendously irritating to see guys wearing those same USSSA hats for everything else – TripleCrown, PG, PW, UA, WP, etc… 

Cheapskates. 🙄

As outrageous as some of those colors are, if the org or TE is providing them, then they’re within their right to mandate their use. By contrast, if the org or TE is not providing any of the uniform, then what right do they have to tell me what colors or styles I must wear? Hmmmm? 🤔

[The Man in Blue]

Red is USSSA’s BRAND.  It had nothing to actually do with the umpires and certainly doesn’t give any consideration to them.  It is nothing more than their distinction from the other brands (baseball and softball).  

Do you really have to ask if they provide anything?  I had to stop laughing long enough to ask that …. No, you have to buy it all. (“They pay enough per game!” is what I was told in the past.)
 

One of the main reasons I refuse to call U-Trip is how crappy their supply chain is (and information chains are).  Whether you can actually buy their stuff or not is hot or miss.  They used to contract exclusively with Boombah except for hats*.  It was all poor quality.  Their ball bags were the nylon garden bags.  Now they have gone all in-house which makes it even more hit and miss as to what is available.

*Hats … at one point, you had to fax in an order form to some rinky-dink local t-shirt shop.  That was in recent years, not 30 years ago.

EDIT: Looking at their site, it looks as if they finally have everything in stock.  At the start of the season they did not.  $37 for a shirt, $27 for a hat.

[concertman1971]

"The black/steel color shirts the umpires are wearing this year resulted from a collaboration between Little League and Gerry Davis Sports. The shirts utilize a fine yarn knitted in a specialized pattern to enhance the fabric’s ability to draw moisture away from the body. Davis, a former major league umpire, is a member of Little League’s umpire advisory committee."

Found this on https://www.pennlive.com/little-league-world-series/2023/08/four-teams-left-as-little-league-world-series-heads-into-championship-weekend.html#amp_tf=From %1%24s&aoh=16930181773911&csi=0&referrer=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com&ampshare=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.pennlive.com%2Flittle-league-world-series%2F2023%2F08%2Ffour-teams-left-as-little-league-world-series-heads-into-championship-weekend.html

I'm fairly sure my state organization found some fabric from the 80s that has the ability to "retain moisture for ever"

[834k3r]

On 8/25/2023 at 7:56 PM, concertman1971 said:

"The black/steel color shirts the umpires are wearing this year resulted from a collaboration between Little League and Gerry Davis Sports. The shirts utilize a fine yarn knitted in a specialized pattern to enhance the fabric’s ability to draw moisture away from the body. Davis, a former major league umpire, is a member of Little League’s umpire advisory committee."

Found this on https://www.pennlive.com/little-league-world-series/2023/08/four-teams-left-as-little-league-world-series-heads-into-championship-weekend.html#amp_tf=From %1%24s&aoh=16930181773911&csi=0&referrer=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com&ampshare=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.pennlive.com%2Flittle-league-world-series%2F2023%2F08%2Ffour-teams-left-as-little-league-world-series-heads-into-championship-weekend.html

I'm fairly sure my state organization found some fabric from the 80s that has the ability to "retain moisture for ever"

Pretty sure the new recipient of a bionic hip will argue that the Gold W bought all that fabric from your state association. BTW, how are you doing, @MadMax?

[HokieUmp]

On 8/10/2023 at 10:29 PM, MadMax said:

I admire them… not so much for their… ~unique~ style (which is…eh, I’ve seen worse)… but because… 

We get one definite step closer to burying these f*€king pieces of petrified s#!t!!! 

[Pictures redacted to save Max's BP.....]
 

Burn them 🔥!! Burn them all!! 

Sorry I'm late to this thread, but:  breathe Max ...... breathe.

Point to the spot on the doll where the bad man touched you.

[HokieUmp]

On 8/11/2023 at 11:56 AM, MadMax said:

AFAIK, besides the stubborn state associations, I think only American Legion and CDP are left in terms of stipulating that dreadful obsolete shirt style. 

I just did my first season of Legion in a good while.  We were not dictated anything as far as the shirt.  Most of the games I did were the MLB black/gray.  The ONLY thing our Legion overlords were very insistent on was making sure we had that blessed (2-syllable version) patch on.

[The Man in Blue]

2 hours ago, HokieUmp said:

Sorry I'm late to this thread, but:  breathe Max ...... breathe.

Point to the spot on the doll where the bad man touched you.

Rather than point, here is a marker you can use to circle the spots.  Sorry, we only have navy blue markers.

…. and … yarn?  My school has a crochet club, maybe I can get them to make us new shirts.