Official Review: New Balance Fresh Foam X 1080 Running Shoes

[JimKirk]

Official Review: New Balance Fresh Foam X 1080 Running Shoes

View the full article

[MadMax]

Ha! I’m gettin’ a kick out of this (first) comment on U-A’s YT review on this shoe… 

Quote

Ty, can you guys there at Ump-Attire please tell the guys at New Balance to please stop making umpire shoes with mesh? We know it’s lightweight and very breathable but, when you wear mesh shoes on a dirt field? They are really hard to keep clean! 

So… 

First, Ump-Attire has little influence upon how a global manufacturer designs and produces a shoe, much less “tell them to stop making” their products a certain way you Peter Public don’t like. 

Second, didn’t your hear (or notice)? New Balance is out of the umpire shoe market. Sure, I’m speaking in superlatives, but since Nike took over the contract, forcing New Balance out, no one makes “umpire shoes” any more. There’s just no market for it, especially when any of the “base shoes” that Pro umpires wear are predominantly Jordans or Mizunos (now). New Balance has to look elsewhere to really make splashes in the market, and you know where their shoes can really be appreciated by officials? Lacrosse.

Third, as far as keeping them clean for baseball (or softball, to be fair) umpiring?  It doesn’t really matter any more. No one cares. We keep this overhyped value on these arbitrary details, and for what? 

In any case, I have these shoes, and really dig ‘em. I have 2 pairs of them! I don’t use them for officiating, since 1 pair is Voltage Yellow, and the other is Electric Blue, but I did seek out, try out, and ultimately purchase a pair of Brooks Glycerin 22s, and I love them. So many colleagues were going with Hokas, I wanted to try something different. They’re enormously comfortable.  

[umpstu]

16 hours ago, MadMax said:

Ha! I’m gettin’ a kick out of this (first) comment on U-A’s YT review on this shoe… 

So… 

First, Ump-Attire has little influence upon how a global manufacturer designs and produces a shoe, much less “tell them to stop making” their products a certain way you Peter Public don’t like. 

Second, didn’t your hear (or notice)? New Balance is out of the umpire shoe market. Sure, I’m speaking in superlatives, but since Nike took over the contract, forcing New Balance out, no one makes “umpire shoes” any more. There’s just no market for it, especially when any of the “base shoes” that Pro umpires wear are predominantly Jordans or Mizunos (now). New Balance has to look elsewhere to really make splashes in the market, and you know where their shoes can really be appreciated by officials? Lacrosse.

Third, as far as keeping them clean for baseball (or softball, to be fair) umpiring?  It doesn’t really matter any more. No one cares. We keep this overhyped value on these arbitrary details, and for what? 

In any case, I have these shoes, and really dig ‘em. I have 2 pairs of them! I don’t use them for officiating, since 1 pair is Voltage Yellow, and the other is Electric Blue, but I did seek out, try out, and ultimately purchase a pair of Brooks Glycerin 22s, and I love them. So many colleagues were going with Hokas, I wanted to try something different. They’re enormously comfortable.  

All of my walking shoes are Brooks. They are incredible to walk in. Glad I gave them a try a few years ago. Won't use any other brand.

 

[SeeingEyeDog]

Well, regardless...that poster is correct. Mesh shoes on a baseball field are sub-optimal.

~Dawg

[MadMax]

11 hours ago, SeeingEyeDog said:

Mesh shoes on a baseball field are sub-optimal.

Nope. 

Pick any hill ya like, I’m staking my banner on this one. 
Keeping base shoes clean and polished is meritless, and any perseveration on it does not make or demonstrate you as a “better umpire”. 

You wanna show off your polished, bougie shoes? Go work on a “better field”. How do you get onto a better field? Develop the skills to work “better games” on “better fields”. Polishing yer puppies ain’t going to get ya there. Working more games (frequency) and becoming more resolute and definitive in your movements, positioning, and calling (consistency) is what gets you there. I’d rather see a “kid” have a good, comfortable, durable set of shoes that will serve him across the 4 games we’re going to have today, rather than sinking time and money into spiffing up a pair of “premium umpire” shoes, and foldin’ on me (as a mentor/trainer/developer) because his feet were too sore, too hot, or he didn’t have the “right shoes for the conditions”. 

Quit whining about mesh shoes. The industry not only doesn’t care about us, but they’ve already identified us as a dwindling market. Wanna change things? Grow a larger market (ie. present more umpires). 

Now, to go and order a headstone 🪦 for my here hill. 

Edit: And the same can be said for belts, belt buckles, or any other frivolities we keep parading out as meritorious “must-haves”.  🙄 🤨

[The Man in Blue]

Mesh shoes are the easiest to keep clean.  Throw them in the wash with your uniform, whether that is daily when your games are over or annually when you take your “navy” shirt out of your trunk for its annual pre-season wash.  “Had this shirt 32 years and it looks as fresh as the day I bought it from the local Elbeco dealer. Secret is not washing it so much.”

Now … white bottoms are the abomination.  (Though I did cave and get a pair of black and white Hokas for turf.  Even then, they gradually get dirty and I’ve not mastered cleaning the white bottoms yet.)

[SeeingEyeDog]

Mesh shoes suck...

~Dawg

[Ump Man Do]

Madmax, when you say NB is out of the umpire shoe business can you expand?  I do see their shoes on sale on a few sites.  Will they no longer be making their plate and base shoes?  Thanks.

[Ump Man Do]

@MadMax when you say NB is out of the umpire shoe business can you expand?  I do see their shoes on sale on a few sites.  Will they no longer be making their plate and base shoes?  Thanks.

[umpstu]

@MadMax Any idea if anybody will me producing plate shoes worth anything? Or maybe @DerekGDS might have some insight?

[834k3r]

On 9/27/2025 at 7:27 PM, The Man in Blue said:

Now … white bottoms are the abomination.  (Though I did cave and get a pair of black and white Hokas for turf.  Even then, they gradually get dirty and I’ve not mastered cleaning the white bottoms yet.)

Don't know why I haven't see this thread until now. I love the look of white and black on shoes. All black give too many "basketball referee" vibes.

To keep the white clean, I have had great success with this:

https://www.ump-attire.com/Products/SHOE-SHAMPOO/RESTORE-Shoe-Shampoo

1 bottle lasts me about a season and a half. YMMV.

[834k3r]

18 minutes ago, umpstu said:

@MadMax Any idea if anybody will me producing plate shoes worth anything? Or maybe @DerekGDS might have some insight?

I'm a fan of Mizuno's shoes--specifically the Japanese model because of the slightly larger toe box.

[DerekGDS]

1 hour ago, umpstu said:

@MadMax Any idea if anybody will me producing plate shoes worth anything? Or maybe @DerekGDS might have some insight?

New Balance is still making plate and base shoes. One of them is getting a refresh I am not at liberty to say anything else.

Mizuno and New Balance are the only real two players in the NA market and then there is 3N2.

[MadMax]

On 12/4/2025 at 5:58 AM, Ump Man Do said:

when you say NB is out of the umpire shoe business can you expand?

Of course, unless the name on your door is “3N2”, if you don’t have the MLB logo on your products, you are largely ignored, overlooked, or disregarded as being a viable producer of baseball (umpire, in this case) gear and uniform pieces. 

Despite there being several better (and more available) options, which umpire shirt did everyone seek out? Majestic. Which CP has (gob-smackingly!) managed to endure its mediocre materials and pathetic progression despite the presence of nearly a dozen far superior models? Wilson… only because it has Lou Gehrig’s caricature on it. 🙄 

And that brings us to footwear. Again, despite there being no official mandate across all amateur and professional (lowercase “p”) baseball as to which base shoes to wear, what brand was it that everyone sought out? New Balance. Why? Was it because they were the most supportive, or had the best traction, or helped you keep track of outs? No, it was because the MLBUs had ‘em! 

Then ca. 2019, Nike assumed the MLB contract, taking over from UnderArmour (who vacated it), and forcing New Balance out. Now, some reason can be attributed to supply chain issues of 2021, but NB slashed most of their baseball umpire shoe lineup, taking the plate shoes from four variations to two (or is it now one?), and their base shoes from 6-7 to 2. And, glaringly, all without the MLB logo on them. Meanwhile, what’s become the “darling” of Umpires? Jordans. Nike product. 

So when I say that New Balance is “out of baseball”, I mean they are out of Professional baseball, and they are under no obligation to progress models of footwear for us, or even to continue offering them, for that matter. We’re operating on borrowed time, guys. 

[The Man in Blue]

On 12/5/2025 at 12:37 PM, MadMax said:

what brand was it that everyone sought out? New Balance. Why? Was it because they were the most supportive, or had the best traction, or helped you keep track of outs? No, it was because the MLBUs had ‘em! 

 

Umm . . . actually . . . 😁

I haven't bought NB's "baseball" shoes, but I've worn them and worn NBs before.  For me, it is because I have wide feet and NB is one of the few brands I can rely on to be comfortable.  ASICS is my preferred and was my go to base shoe until I bought those Hokas.  I would buy NBs for the fit.

But, yes, you are largely correct. 

[Marcus6]

On 12/4/2025 at 1:27 PM, DerekGDS said:

New Balance is still making plate and base shoes. One of them is getting a refresh I am not at liberty to say anything else.

Mizuno and New Balance are the only real two players in the NA market and then there is 3N2.

I recall years ago a blurb about Davis thinking about making their own plate shoe again.