gerry davis

[Carl Childress]

Originally posted by mcrowder
Tried it on Saturday for the first time. My back was killing me. I suspect I'm doing something wrong, as it was only 2 games.

I did, however, feel like I had a better look at the zone, and I didn't get hit once.

PS - longsleeves over armguards... nice idea for you Yankees. It was 90 degrees on Saturday here in Texas.

I'm about as deep in Texas as you can get. I use skin tight UnderArmour covered by the loose garmet. Obviously you haven't used their remarkable products. On a one hundred degree day you'll feel as if you're in air conditioning. Trust me: No one who ever uses it discards it.

[Carl Childress]

Originally posted by mcrowder
Tried it on Saturday for the first time. My back was killing me. I suspect I'm doing something wrong, as it was only 2 games.

I did, however, feel like I had a better look at the zone, and I didn't get hit once.

mcrowder:
Here are the salient points for using the GD stance:

1. Put your nose on the black edge of the plate nearer the batter.

2. Stand at least an arm’s length behind the catcher: one good step. If a coach begins to chirp about your calls on the low pitch, back up farther.

3. Place your feet about 6 to 8 inches wider than your shoulders. You need a good, wide, rock-steady foundation.

4. Come to the set position well before the pitcher begins any preliminary movements.

5. Rest your hands on your knees, just like the umpire does in the infield. The point: In the usual stance the umpire uses his muscular structure to maintain his calling position. In the GD stance all that is taken care of by the skeletal structure. Bones, not sinew, keep you in place. Bones, not muscles, support your weight.

6. Don’t shift your position unless the batter blocks your view of the pitcher’s release point.

7. I haven’t found this necessary, but.... If you feel any fatigue at all, you might try dropping your seat an inch or so at the time of the pitch.

8. Advantages of this stance: (1) You’re set well before the pitch. (2) You see the pitch from about the same perspective every time. (3) You place no strain on your muscles.

Remember, I’m 66 and this past July (95 to 100 degrees) I called four straight games (14u/115 time limit) behind the plate. Gerry Davis and UnderArmour kept me fresh, cool, and collected for over nine hours.

Now, I didn’t run a marathon afterwards, but I did take my wife to a late movie — and managed to stay awake.

[brian43]

Originally posted by Carl Childress

You're kidding, right? Shin guards? Chest protector? Throat guard? You don't wear those, right? Tough it out.

The forearm guards don't show when I umpire, and I don't bleed internally when I'm hit.

By the way, if you wear your protector, it's not hard shell. Right? And you cut off the shoulder pads. Right?

Hey, if that's what you think baseball is, I want you toughing it out on my crew, calling the foul line in right field.

Have a nice day.

you might as well stand behind a plexi-glass panel and call the game from there.

make sure you cut your fingernails really short, wouldnt want to break a nail.

im sorry, but i dont care if you are carl childress. i will never wear arm pads, and even if i get hit, an ice pack after the game will cure the swelling.

[DG]

[/B][/QUOTE]

im sorry, but i dont care if you are carl childress. i will never wear arm pads, and even if i get hit, an ice pack after the game will cure the swelling. [/B][/QUOTE]

If you would use ice after a game you ain't tough enough ("tough it out").

Really though, I don't use arm pads, but I do wear a throat guard. Reason, I got a fast ball in the throat once, and once was enough. If I ever get hurt in the arm I will start wearing arm pads too. Each to his own.

[DownTownTonyBrown]

Originally posted by brian43
im sorry, but i dont care if you are carl childress. i will never wear arm pads, and even if i get hit, an ice pack after the game will cure the swelling.

Yeah sure, tough guy.

Quite frankly who gives a crap what somebody else wears.

Took a direct fastball shot a couple years ago on my radius ( the forearm bone that adjoins your thumb). Swole up the size of a grapefruit in a matter of a minute. Been worrying about getting hit there again, ever since.

Us wimps wear gear to cover what we can. Let me know how it goes when you get to 20 some odd years of officiating. Or 40, like Carl.

[His High Holiness]

Originally posted by brian43

you might as well stand behind a plexi-glass panel and call the game from there.

im sorry, but i dont care if you are carl childress. i will never wear arm pads, and even if i get hit, an ice pack after the game will cure the swelling.

In my own association, we had an umpire look into calling the plate behind a 6 foot police plexiglass riot shield. We identified a riot shield that was a about a third of a circle around the umpire.

The problem was the cost. We did not want to spring for about $400 for an experiment. The visibility would be great, protection superb, and it certainly would be the coolest way to work on a hot day.

The potential problems that we identified were that any ball that the catcher did not catch would careen in many wild directions off of the shield. Also:

1. What would the PU do with the thing after a hit? Where would he toss it?

2. What kind of visual distortion (if any) would the PU see looking through curved plexiglass?

3. For transport, the shield would have to be in two pieces. Few umpires could get a six foot object inside their cars.

You raise the subject of protection and how you despise arm protection. You might feel differently as you get older. Bones over 60 can take twice to four times as long to heal as bones under 25. I have known several older umpires whose careers were ended by injuries that would have just produced a severe bruise on a younger umpire.

Peter

[FVB58]

In my own association, we had an umpire look into calling the plate behind a 6 foot police plexiglass riot shield. We identified a riot shield that was a about a third of a circle around the umpire.

The problem was the cost. We did not want to spring for about $400 for an experiment. The visibility would be great, protection superb, and it certainly would be the coolest way to work on a hot day.

Peter [/B][/QUOTE]

Man...you guys need to work more games...way too much time on your hands.

[Big Kahuna]

Have used the GD stance in both baseball and fast pitch softball. Works great for both, and I had no trouble picking up the pitch in softball. I did get hit a couple of times in the left arm calling softball. Not wanting to suffer any more pain, I began wearing a plain black soccer shin guard on my left arm. Didn't catch any flack about it at all, everyone just accepted it as part of my gear. At least until I got hit on the unprotected right arm.

My advice is to try the GD stance, you won't go back.

[mick]

Originally posted by Big Kahuna
Have used the GD stance in both baseball and fast pitch softball. Works great for both, and I had no trouble picking up the pitch in softball. I did get hit a couple of times in the left arm calling softball. Not wanting to suffer any more pain, I began wearing a plain black soccer shin guard on my left arm. Didn't catch any flack about it at all, everyone just accepted it as part of my gear. At least until I got hit on the unprotected right arm.

My advice is to try the GD stance, you won't go back.

I've been using it all year.
Yes, ...hit more.
Still like the stance.
mick