Dings in Plate Shoes

[834k3r]

I hate catchers' knee-down technique. 

Second ever game of wearing my Mizuno plate shoes and I have two gouges in them. Anyone know how to cover up the gouges in the leather? Or am I outta luck?

[MadMax]

1 hour ago, 834k3r said:

I hate catchers' knee-down technique.

I hate pitchers running in like a spooked wildebeest, backing up a (potential) play at the plate. Without fail, they step on you, and there goes $150+ of “good lookin’”. 

1 hour ago, 834k3r said:

Anyone know how to cover up the gouges in the leather? Or am I outta luck?

Mink paste (not oil), and try to rub heat into it and get the leather to “ease” and rebound back. Once that, and if there’s holes, you’ll want to make your own “bondo”, by blending Shoe Goo and black shoe paste. Use a cheap, small kitchen spatula (like what’s used for frosting), and dab it into place, then wipe excess away. Let it cure for at least 24 hours. 

[concertman1971]

2 hours ago, 834k3r said:

I hate catchers' knee-down technique. 

Just like electricity and gas powered cars, this is here to stay

[spiffdawg7]

That is the one flaw of the Mizuno's in my opinion.  They get gashed really easy, i've had it happen to two pairs already.  

A buddy of mine fixed his with flex seal and I am going to try it in the near future.  

[Thunderheads]

30 minutes ago, spiffdawg7 said:

That is the one flaw of the Mizuno's in my opinion.  They get gashed really easy, i've had it happen to two pairs already.  

North American versions?

[spiffdawg7]

11 minutes ago, Thunderheads said:

North American versions?

One from Japan and one North American.  Both got gashes within the first 10 games I wore them. 

[834k3r]

2 hours ago, spiffdawg7 said:

That is the one flaw of the Mizuno's in my opinion.  They get gashed really easy, i've had it happen to two pairs already.  

A buddy of mine fixed his with flex seal and I am going to try it in the near future.  

Tape? Spray? What did the final finish look like?

[spiffdawg7]

18 minutes ago, 834k3r said:

Tape? Spray? What did the final finish look like?

I believe spray and the finish looked good. 

[MadMax]

3 hours ago, spiffdawg7 said:

A buddy of mine fixed his with Flex Seal and I am going to try it in the near future.

Flex Seal?? Really?! Huh! 

Can’t get the stuff to stop a drip in a gutter, but it works on shoes? Who woulda thunk it!? 🤔 

I’ll have to keep that in the “arsenal”. I’ve already sold / passed off any of my ‘chipped plate shoes on “poor new” umpires, so I have nothing to test on right now… 

… but nearly did. I got stepped on by a 14U catcher and immediately scooted away in anxious horror… 

… thank God he had on molded / plastics, and not metals. Whew! 😰 

[The Short Umpire]

I have a couple dings in my mizunos that I’m gonna try some 5-min epoxy on, mixed with a black dye and then a good shining.

[wolfe_man]

You jinxed me!  I was doing good this year (and last), with no gouges, until this post... 

F2 got me last night on the first pitch. 

[umpstu]

On 4/12/2024 at 9:38 AM, 834k3r said:

I hate catchers' knee-down technique. 

Second ever game of wearing my Mizuno plate shoes and I have two gouges in them. Anyone know how to cover up the gouges in the leather? Or am I outta luck?

At least you made it to the second game. I used super glue.

[Velho]

58 minutes ago, umpstu said:

I used super glue.

How'd you get it on F2 shin guards? Or did you put it on the catchers box?

[MadMax]

1 hour ago, umpstu said:

I used super glue.

You would! 
Shouldn’t that be Stu-per Glue? 🥸

[834k3r]

22 hours ago, wolfe_man said:

You jinxed me!  I was doing good this year (and last), with no gouges, until this post... 

F2 got me last night on the first pitch. 

[SeeingEyeDog]

In the hockey world, there used to be a product out there called Pro-Tec. It was a resin (available in clear or black). Hockey skates used to have rough-woven nylon over the toe box caps. This nylon if untreated would pick up moisture and cuts and scrapes. You spread the Pro-Tec on and it gave the toes of your skates some water and cut resistance.

Anybody familiar with this and have they ever used on their umpire shoes?

~Dawg

[834k3r]

40 minutes ago, SeeingEyeDog said:

In the hockey world, there used to be a product out there called Pro-Tec. It was a resin (available in clear or black). Hockey skates used to have rough-woven nylon over the toe box caps. This nylon if untreated would pick up moisture and cuts and scrapes. You spread the Pro-Tec on and it gave the toes of your skates some water and cut resistance.

Anybody familiar with this and have they ever used on their umpire shoes?

~Dawg

I'm familiar with it, but have not used it on plate shoes. Could be an interesting experiment. Isn't there a similar product for pitchers (Tuff Toe, or something)?

[Razzer]

Kiwi Parade Gloss polish is a great way to fix gouges

Fill heat with lighter brush....3 or four times and they blend in well

[834k3r]

On 4/19/2024 at 7:58 PM, Razzer said:

Kiwi Parade Gloss polish is a great way to fix gouges

Fill heat with lighter brush....3 or four times and they blend in well

I haven't used parade gloss since my military days. Full disclosure:  I kinda like the smell.

[SeeingEyeDog]

On 4/17/2024 at 12:43 PM, 834k3r said:

YOU SHOULD BE SORRY, STEVIE! Yeah! (Great show...good .gif as always, Beaks!)

~Dawg

[kylehutson]

On 4/15/2024 at 7:41 AM, spiffdawg7 said:

That is the one flaw of the Mizuno's in my opinion.  They get gashed really easy, i've had it happen to two pairs already.  

A buddy of mine fixed his with flex seal and I am going to try it in the near future.  

This spring catchers managed to get both of my plate shoes of my "dirt set" (I have plate shoes that are for turf only, and my others for dirt). I've left them gashed for a couple of months and bookmarked this discussion. I'm working post-season on a dirt field next weekend, so thought it was time to make them look good.

I bought some black "Flex Seal Max" spray, taped off the mesh parts (and the tarsal plate, soles, etc. - everything I didn't want sprayed) and gave them a spray to see how it would work.

Holy crap, these things are gorgeous and with a minimal amount of effort. I wish I had taken a "before" pic so you could see the difference and how horrible they looked before.

I'm going to give one more coat on my left shoe (right side of the photo) as the worst of the gouges still has a small spot.

Thanks, @spiffdawg7 for the tip - I never would have thought of this.

[834k3r]

10 hours ago, kylehutson said:

This spring catchers managed to get both of my plate shoes of my "dirt set" (I have plate shoes that are for turf only, and my others for dirt). I've left them gashed for a couple of months and bookmarked this discussion. I'm working post-season on a dirt field next weekend, so thought it was time to make them look good.

I bought some black "Flex Seal Max" spray, taped off the mesh parts (and the tarsal plate, soles, etc. - everything I didn't want sprayed) and gave them a spray to see how it would work.

Holy crap, these things are gorgeous and with a minimal amount of effort. I wish I had taken a "before" pic so you could see the difference and how horrible they looked before.

I'm going to give one more coat on my left shoe (right side of the photo) as the worst of the gouges still has a small spot.

Thanks, @spiffdawg7 for the tip - I never would have thought of this.

That's not half bad! If your dings were anywhere near what mine were in the OP, I'd say that method works great!

Wonder if you could put some rattle-can clearcoat on top for a shiny finish...