Umplife is in the process of designing a CP influenced by the Riddell Power

[Umpiresrock74]

7 hours ago, The Short Umpire said:

What the orange distracted you from noticing is that the shoulders were not attached using stitching between the main pad and the shoulder pad but by a webbing from the main carapace to the shoulder-pad. It’s still relying on stitching between the pad and webbing but whoever did this was on the right track of eliminating the stitching. 
 

Because the shoulder padding is orange, if I had to guess this started as orange, got painted black and then repainted orange. Further evidence of this is the lack of sticker residue on the carapace plates. Whoever painted it black must have removed the stickers and then scraped the residue to best prep the surface. If this was the original orange you would see a difference in shade underneath where the stickers should be. The sheen is also way off from the other pictures I’ve seen of orange ones. This is matte when all the others have been semigloss. Matte is more likely a sheen chosen by someone not wanting to standout “too much.” 

From what the customer told me, it was originally orange, then from there a MILB umpire put a black wrap on it, then we took the wrap off. 

[Umpiresrock74]

5 hours ago, umpstu said:

UMPIRESROCK74:
Alright, I'm in. 'Cause there's some next level sh*t going on and I'm OK with that. But before y'all go beaming me up there's one thing you gotta remember: you chose me so you recognized the skills, so I don't want you to call me champ, sport, kid, or anything like that. You got me?

MADMAX:
Okay, slick. But let me tell you something about all your skills. As of right now, they mean precisely... dick.

Hello Umpstu, I can assure you that’s not what I was meaning by, I just don’t like being called champ, that’s all. It’s not a big deal. I already get enough crap for being my age on the ball-field, lol. 

[The Man in Blue]

On 4/13/2024 at 12:24 AM, Umpiresrock74 said:

John Libka wearing my

CP last night in the Nationals vs Athletics game. Chest protector is 1 for 1, it’s opening day career has an ejection under it. 

 

I was turned off by previous conversations and was staying out as an observer, but was glad to see a course correction coming around . . . until it wasn't.

So I guess I shouldn't make a joke about the fit of Libka's gear making him cranky.

[The Man in Blue]

14 minutes ago, Umpiresrock74 said:

Hello Umpstu, I can assure you that’s not what I was meaning by, I just don’t like being called champ, that’s all. It’s not a big deal. I already get enough crap for being my age on the ball-field, lol. 

 

I'm glad you posted this, @Umpiresrock74.  It does help me understand your position a little better.  As somebody who worked with both a son and a daughter to be umpires at a young age, I get it.  I will ask the same question I asked of them (and other young umpires I have worked with): "So, how has being a redass on the field worked out for you?  What did that fix?"

I am not saying that to offend, but to offer the same advice I offered my kids.  You are going to get that.  The best reply is to be the one in control, not to bite back.

[umpstu]

3 hours ago, Umpiresrock74 said:

Hello Umpstu, I can assure you that’s not what I was meaning by, I just don’t like being called champ, that’s all. It’s not a big deal. I already get enough crap for being my age on the ball-field, lol. 

It's from MIB.

[Umpiresrock74]

3 hours ago, The Man in Blue said:

 

I was turned off by previous conversations and was staying out as an observer, but was glad to see a course correction coming around . . . until it wasn't.

So I guess I shouldn't make a joke about the fit of Libka's gear making him cranky.

Idk what you mean, but okay. Could you elaborate, I really don’t care what you say about him, you have your own opinions, and you have that right.

[Umpiresrock74]

3 hours ago, The Man in Blue said:

 

I'm glad you posted this, @Umpiresrock74.  It does help me understand your position a little better.  As somebody who worked with both a son and a daughter to be umpires at a young age, I get it.  I will ask the same question I asked of them (and other young umpires I have worked with): "So, how has being a redass on the field worked out for you?  What did that fix?"

I am not saying that to offend, but to offer the same advice I offered my kids.  You are going to get that.  The best reply is to be the one in control, not to bite back.

Yah. That’s what I have learned over the years! Being the bigger person, let the coaches show their ass. 

[Umpiresrock74]

58 minutes ago, umpstu said:

It's from MIB.

Oh. That’s why that sounded so familiar! Lol. Omg. I just watched that, I was like; why does that sound familiar. Lol. 

[Umpiresrock74]

3 hours ago, The Man in Blue said:

 

I'm glad you posted this, @Umpiresrock74.  It does help me understand your position a little better.  As somebody who worked with both a son and a daughter to be umpires at a young age, I get it.  I will ask the same question I asked of them (and other young umpires I have worked with): "So, how has being a redass on the field worked out for you?  What did that fix?"

I am not saying that to offend, but to offer the same advice I offered my kids.  You are going to get that.  The best reply is to be the one in control, not to bite back.

Yah. To clarify, I don’t have anything against @MadMaxjust to be clear. I look up to mad max, I admire the way he can take a Wilson protector and come up with like 10 different ways to make it better.  Mad max has a lot of talent when it comes to umpire gear, he should be the head of like Wilson designing.

[The Man in Blue]

22 hours ago, Umpiresrock74 said:

Idk what you mean, but okay. Could you elaborate, I really don’t care what you say about him, you have your own opinions, and you have that right.

I was referring to the way you responded to advice from people trying to help you out.  As a teacher, I have learned to step back and let people learn on their own.

As for Libka, it was just a joke since he had an ejection on the night I believe you said he was debuting the retrofit.

[Umpiresrock74]

1 hour ago, The Man in Blue said:

I was referring to the way you responded to advice from people trying to help you out.  As a teacher, I have learned to step back and let people learn on their own.

As for Libka, it was just a joke since he had an ejection on the night I believe you said he was debuting the retrofit.

It’s not that I don’t mind advice, it’s just hard sometimes to follow. I’m sorry if I am not coming off as not wanting to expect advice, I do want advice. I’m sorry if I have come off as annoyed when I get advice, I can get overwhelmed really easily when there are a bunch of posts with advice, and I can come off as annoyed. I’m sorry if people on the site have felt that I don’t want their feedback. It’s just hard when everyone is throwing it all at once. 
 

 

If you have some advice for me, would you be willing to message it to me privately so I can break it down and process it. 

[Umpiresrock74]

1 minute ago, Umpiresrock74 said:

It’s not that I don’t mind advice, it’s just hard sometimes to follow. I’m sorry if I am not coming off as not wanting to expect advice, I do want advice. I’m sorry if I have come off as annoyed when I get advice, I can get overwhelmed really easily when there are a bunch of posts with advice, and I can come off as annoyed. I’m sorry if people on the site have felt that I don’t want their feedback. It’s just hard when everyone is throwing it all at once. 
 

 

If you have some advice for me, would you be willing to message it to me privately so I can break it down and process it. 

 

1 hour ago, The Man in Blue said:

I was referring to the way you responded to advice from people trying to help you out.  As a teacher, I have learned to step back and let people learn on their own.

As for Libka, it was just a joke since he had an ejection on the night I believe you said he was debuting the retrofit.

Maybe you can include 5 things you think I am doing right, and 5 things I can improve on, so I can get some criticism but also know the areas I’m strong in. 

[Umpiresrock74]

More protectors done. 

[wolfe_man]

Not to be picky, but that seems a lot of extra material between the neck and the plate.  

Are you sure that the collarbone is still completely protected with the pad jacket as it appears in these photos?

A normal Gold only has the small neck roll at the neck opening and then the chest plate starts… same with the shoulders, a small section of pad is showing and then plate starts. 

Maybe it’s me, but this seems a bit too much padding before the plate coverage which concerns me. I’d be worried about a ball hitting pad only, which won’t fully absorb a baseball impact causing possible damage to neck/shoulder/collarbone.

I like the looks of these and didn’t notice this on the Powers that have been done, just these Golds appear off to me.

Again, maybe it’s me because I also thought some of the Team Wendy’s had this issue also. Too much padding in some cases.

Heres a pic of a stock Gold showing tighter neck/shoulder pad openings closer to the plating.

[Umpiresrock74]

52 minutes ago, wolfe_man said:

Not to be picky, but that seems a lot of extra material between the neck and the plate.  

Are you sure that the collarbone is still completely protected with the pad jacket as it appears in these photos?

A normal Gold only has the small neck roll at the neck opening and then the chest plate starts… same with the shoulders, a small section of pad is showing and then plate starts. 

Maybe it’s me, but this seems a bit too much padding before the plate coverage which concerns me. I’d be worried about a ball hitting pad only, which won’t fully absorb a baseball impact causing possible damage to neck/shoulder/collarbone.

I like the looks of these and didn’t notice this on the Powers that have been done, just these Golds appear off to me.

Again, maybe it’s me because I also thought some of the Team Wendy’s had this issue also. Too much padding in some cases.

Heres a pic of a stock Gold showing tighter neck/shoulder pad openings closer to the plating.

Hey wolfman, so its ussualy by customer choice wether they want the pad farther down or not. Ususaly some of the guys want extra neck space, just depends on the customer. The customer tells me what they want, and I do it for them. I will definetely take this into consideration for the future. I never thought of that before, I will relay this to future customers. Thank you for the feedback! Everything is custom to them. I belive though its the same distance as if the foam roll was on there.  the same distance that the foam rol has. 

[Kelly McNary]

I’m happy with the retrofit CP padding Michael and his team put together for me. The construction is superb. Material is cut and sewn very professionally. His team does great work! I was hit by a low 70’s HS fastball and a low 80’s college fastball. No trouble presented. I feel extremely confident wearing my CP. During my next college series, I should see some mid 80’s fastballs. I will update you if I take another hit. 

[wolfe_man]

8 hours ago, Umpiresrock74 said:

Hey wolfman, so its ussualy by customer choice wether they want the pad farther down or not. Ususaly some of the guys want extra neck space, just depends on the customer. The customer tells me what they want, and I do it for them. I will definetely take this into consideration for the future. I never thought of that before, I will relay this to future customers. Thank you for the feedback! Everything is custom to them. I belive though its the same distance as if the foam roll was on there.  the same distance that the foam rol has. 

Fair enough. If the customer wants it, then that’s their call of course. 
 

I appreciate your workmanship on these. They look great and you are to be commended.

[Umpiresrock74]

2 hours ago, wolfe_man said:

Fair enough. If the customer wants it, then that’s their call of course. 
 

I appreciate your workmanship on these. They look great and you are to be commended.

Yah.  Got to make the customer happy! But I will definitely relay that to them in the future, about what you said! With the extra neck space, that brings up a good point! While it does look like a big gap in the photos it’s only about 1/2 inch gap. 

[Umpiresrock74]

11 hours ago, Kelly McNary said:

I’m happy with the retrofit CP padding Michael and his team put together for me. The construction is superb. Material is cut and sewn very professionally. His team does great work! I was hit by a low 70’s HS fastball and a low 80’s college fastball. No trouble presented. I feel extremely confident wearing my CP. During my next college series, I should see some mid 80’s fastballs. I will update you if I take another hit. 

 

2 hours ago, wolfe_man said:

Fair enough. If the customer wants it, then that’s their call of course. 
 

I appreciate your workmanship on these. They look great and you are to be commended.

Take Kelly’s for example, he has pretty much no gap, he didn’t want a gap at all, between the neckline and plates. 

[Umpiresrock74]

Just now, Umpiresrock74 said:

 

Take Kelly’s for example, he has pretty much no gap, he didn’t want a gap at all, between the neckline and plates. 

Sorry feet! Lol. 

[Umpiresrock74]

@MadMaxi wanted to take a moment and say thank you to mad max! Such an amazing guy! Me and mad max talked for 3 hours today on the phone all about baseball and umpiring! We also talked a lot about gear and so much more! Thank you so much mad max!!

Mike