Just curious... how do MLB umps select what color shirts they are going to wear that day? Is there some kind of order, or does the PU that day choose, or something else?

Plate umps decision.

...then any PU who picks the 'pastel blue' shirts should be de-certified *wink*

I don't understand how they can have the black as their main shirt. I know that they are hot, and I don't think they look that great either. They are OK to were every once and a while to change things up, but I don't think they should wear them as much as they do.

That powder blue color is my least favorite. Unless you're the type of umpire that drinks "GIMA".

They are no hotter than the powder blue shirts. We wear black all the time. They are micromesh polyester, not some absorptive material.

Wear some UnderArmour Heatgear underneath it, if you think it's hot.

Nothing looks better than the black shirts, IMO.

Isn't your powder blue shirt made out of the same fabric as your black? So I don't see how the fabric could be a factor in weather it is hot or not compared to a powder shirt.

I do like the look of the black shirts, but I think it would be nice if MLB had a third shirt color.

I actually like the color selection this of uniforms for the MLB umpires. I think it looks very good on the field.

As far as the decision on what to wear from game to game, I was told the it was the crew chief's decision, but maybe it is the PU's decision.

Of course it's the same material. Neither absorb sunlight to a huge degree. I feel no hotter in black than powder blue.

Dark colors absorb more heat than light colors. Fabric has nothing to do with it. It's physics. There is a world of difference on a hot day, under-armour or not.

Take a black shirt and lay it flat on the ground on a hot day and place a thermometer inside. Leave it for 30 minutes and read the temp. Let the thermometer cool to the same temp it was before you put in in the shirt and then do the same experiment with a white shirt.

It just isn't enough of a difference to matter to me. I absolutely despise powder blue and don't carry it, much to the chagrin of some of my partners.

I have powder blue and cream and would rather work with partners on hot days who have one or the other or both. I worked a DH yesterday beginning at 1:00 and used cream for 1st game, and poweder blue for 2nd game. Game time weather was 92 degrees and sunny.

My partner had the plate for 1st game and I had plate for 2nd game. I must have drank a gallon of water during the 2nd game, but still went home to weigh 5 pounds less than before I left home.

I was watching a Saturday afternoon game a couple weeks ago on TV, where umps had on black. It was 90 degrees here, but game was in Boston. I looked up the weather in Boston on weather.com and it was 65 degrees. I thought, "oh".

So the MLB umps can wear black, powder or cream, correct?

There is no cream color in MLB. Anybody out there know why they do not have an alternate cream color, is it because it would match the players uniforms?

They are wearing a light grey shirt this year. I think cream was a color they used a couple years ago, and is still available for sale. I have not seen a light grey one for sale.