Want a quick two-week suspension? Wear
a long-sleeved jersey to call a high school
game here in Alabama. Do it on the bases while
carrying an indicator, well I guess that'd be
four weeks.

I'll give you this, the long sleeve is at least an improvement over the hillbilly look of a long undershirt under a shortsleeved uni shirt..not by much, but an improvement never the less.

That's because some dinosaurs think that you'd probably look better in a white shirt and bolo tie.

Have they removed the Fechheimer requirement there? Have they softened at all to wearing an umpire helmet?

What a backwards state....and what a bunch of control freaks running it.

Bolo ties? In all my life, I've seen
one person in this state wear a bolo tie,
and he was a rodeo cowboy. There is no longer
a Fechheimer requirement, but we can forget
wearing the HS helmet.
We're not as backward as many think,Rich. If
you ever have the time/urge, I'd love for you
to come experience some "Alabama hospitality",
and work some games with us. I'd enjoy it, and
I think you would also.

Chuck

Well a long sleeve shirt is also against the rules for officials here in PA. PIAA only allows jackets over your uniform shirts and the plate and base umpires are supposed to match.I'm not saying THAT happens evry time but thats the rule.

Ohio says that too...that the plate & base umpires must match even though we know that goes against all unwritten uniform rules....

Chuck,

The bolo tie line was a joke.

I'm sure that the individual umpires are outstanding people to work with -- I've worked with one outstanding Alabaman (in lower Alabama, actually :) ). But who do these policies benefit? Look at the "umpire helmet" nonsense -- who does it benefit? I think it's silly to use an indicator on the bases, but why should something like THAT be up to the state?

A few umpires or administrators on a power trip make the state look silly.

--Rich

[Edited by Rich Fronheiser on Dec 26th, 2005 at 11:49 AM]

And I would never disagree with your views
on our state leadership. Change comes very
slowly here, and some folks have to be dragged
kicking and screaming to change anything. "We've
always done it that way" seems to be their mantra......

Chuck

Just me...............
 

I do not wear a shirt over the chest protector when I'm wearing the pullover jacket. And, how I start the game is how I finish the game.


Doug

First, I've never used a jacket behind the dish, aside from my plate coat. On the bases I'll have a normal mesh shirt on, just in case the weather changes. I've got no problem putting on, or taking off jackets as needed. Those stoic folks who wish to suffer are welcome to it.

As for long sleeved shirts, if you've never tried on a +POS lined l/s shirt you're missing the best piece of gear out there. Better than a Platium and GD patent leather combined. Any bumpkin associations that won't allow them probably also require beanies.

Hey Brian, the norm with us is that the jacket goes over a turtleneck or UA, not another pullover shirt. Overlayer yourself because it's only going to get colder as the sun starts to set, esp prior to the time change. I don't ever recall a partner delayering in the middle of a game, but I can't count how many times I or my partner have regretted not putting on the extra layer because it was 50 degrees at 4:00 and 38 at 5:30.

And Brian...dump the POS protector! That was a failed experiment by Buck and company. The best equipment decision I ever made was dumping that after one season for a West Vest Gold.

yeah ive always gone with the jacket over a turtleneck or something like that. i just found it odd that other people wore a pullover shirt under it. i cant really see anyone going over between innings and pulling off their jacket, hanging it up on the fence, and then finishing the rest of a game. it would look a bit funny to me.

im definitely looking into a WV platinum soon, i need to dump that +POS one. ive tried the gold a few times and liked it a lot. the 20% off winter deal +POS runs got me hooked a bunch of years back and i bought into their trap haha.

edited: i said gold when i meant platinum

[Edited by briancurtin on Jan 1st, 2006 at 11:48 PM]

Here in Southern Calif (North LA County) it's not unusual in early spring or late fall for it to be 70 at game time & drop to 50 or less w/wind by the 5th (Or stay around 68).

Many of the guys will just hang a jacket on the fence & put it on if needed. Too much of a pain to take a shirt off at that point. (We can wear long sleeves at the plate but not on bases).

Start w/jacket - appropriate weight turtleneck underneath.

I've become some what of an Under Armour expert over the last year or so, and I swear by the stuff. I just haven't worn the cold gear, so I don't know how hot it can be if its borderline, and I certainly understand getting overheated. I'd rather be too cold than too hot (stuffy hot) any day.

UA makes heatgear (obviously for hot weather), coldgear, and All Season gear. The AS long sleeve shirt has a mock t-neck on it, and may be a good compromise for those that want to wear a jacket but worry about getting too warm. The other idea, one I used this season for football, was to get a Turfgear shirt and wear that instead. I think that's a little lighter than the AS or Cold gear, but it doesn't have a mock. It would be a good thing to wear under a long sleeved umpire shirt if the night is a tweener, weather wise. The night I wore it on, I had it under a long sleeved striped shirt (probably heavier than most blue umpire shirts) in around 40 degrees with a north wind pushing 15 mph. It was chilly, but I didn't get too cold or too warm.

So, for jacket wearers, get a cold gear shirt and an AS shirt. Determine how cool it has to be to wear either. Then, get a long sleeved umpire shirt, with which you can wear an AS shirt (with a mock), a turf gear long sleeved (without one), or a heat gear short sleeved/sleeveless as the case may be.

I agree, and that's one reason I suggested to go ahead and get the various flavors of UA so you are prepared.

I still haven't decided whether I'm going to work baseball this year, I will be prepared if I do. I probably played in more cold baseball games than football games. As far as that goes, the cold and even the rain doesn't bother me much. Its the tornados that start getting my attention.

I wasn't at the stadium when this happened, but I lived within a mile and a half from Olsen Field in College Station when a tornado touched down near there around 1990 and they had to move everyone in the stadium under it. Thank God it was only on the ground a short time, and didn't hit the stadium.

Incidentally, does Under Armour make any "Tornado-Gear"?