bossman,

I have no idea what the real reason is. I would hazard a guess that it's because they're a little too "showy". (Ref. D. Versace, AO re: OBR 1.11)

As a matter of purely personal opinion, the only time I've seen them worn when it didn't seem somehow "out of place" is during 4th of July tournaments. Then, to me, they seem just fine.

JMHO.

JM

My aversion to red umpire shirts is because red says "LOOK AT ME!" to me, which is pretty much in line with your description, "showy." In addition, while I don't share the opinion previously stated that pleated pants look bad on a "big" umpire, I do think a red shirt on a big umpire makes him look like the Koolaid Pitcher character.

HS shirt
 

in my association, Navy is the only option...ever. summer ball is whatever the umps both have, I have navy, powder blue and a red shirt I have never actually worn. I'm going to buy some cream shirts at some point this summer for the real warm days.

just my 2c

Joe

I have Cream and Powder Blue and they feel about the same to me on a warm/hot day game. Navy is noticeably warmer.

I personally only own Cream, Black, MLB Polo Blue w/Black trim, and Navy. My association expects everyone to also invest in White w/Navy and Red trim, and Silver w/Black trim if they want to work the Championship games in any Triple Crown tournaments, which we work nearly year round. Red shirts remain optional thankfully. Yucch!

Cream shirts are cool as a cucumber on hot days!

In our area, they are only worn in two instances;

1) Single man, Freshman HS games (not worked by umpires in the HS Association).
2) Little League (volunteer umpires).

They are probably frowned upon because few Associations have them on their list of approved colors. It's not that they are Red, it's that they are not on the list. In the two instances I noted, the umpire is not a member of an Association, so they can wear any color they choose.

We wear our red shirts on Memorial Day and the 4th of July. And also whenever we feel like it, which isn't often otherwise.

Black ?? Hopefully not!
 

Black might be fine for the high school league since its basically during the winter, but for the summer, it would be a little warm in the south.

My daughter did a science project on colors retaining heat - black was almost 3 degrees hotter after an hour of exposure to sunlight etc.,

Surprisingly, blue was cooler than red with yellow/creme being the coolest colors.

Personally, I like the navy blue. (I don't own a red shirt)

Thanks
David

Cool men wear black
 

Hmmmm. Time for a re-post.

This is from July 2004 at http://forum.officiating.com/showpos...1&postcount=27

Bedouins use black tents because they make a natural heat pump. The weave of the tent is loose. Hot air rises. What happens is the sun heats the black fabric and the air immediately surrounding the fabric. That air then rises to the top of the tent and exits through the loose weave. If air exits, more air must enter, so fresh air enters through open flaps in the tenp, creating a constant breeze.

The black robes follow much the same concept. By wearing loose black clothing, you end up with airflow even if there is no breeze.

White clothing does reflect more IR, preventing it from heating up as quickly, but it also reflects more UV light, causing uncovered areas of your body to be bombarded with UV from both the sun and the reflection. That's why you get sunburned easily while snow skiing.

And although white clothing doesn't heat up as quickly in the sun, the British army conducted experiments in WW2 that found after spending some time in the sun it doesn't matter what color you are wearing. All colors ended up at the same temperature next to the skin.

So if you wear some good interawear and a loose dark shirt, you will probably end up feeling cooler than if you wear light colors that reflect light.

one word I would not use to describe my umpiring shirts would be loose and billowy. unless you're talking about me wearing plate pants on the bases. heh

Joe

Red is for disco queens and eastside whores. Other than that....

But ................
 

That doesn't make them BAD girls !!!!:o



Doug

Wobw......

Yes, your two posts saying Wobw are Wobw. Who gives a crap about "bandwidth" anymore -- do you pay by the byte and are you on a 300 baud modem?

Blue Dude,

Hasn't anybody ever told you that it's "bad karma" to break your promises? Doesn't do much for your credibility either.

It would seem your feelings were hurt. Get over it already. Umpires shouldn't be so thin-skinned.

JMO.

JM

P.S. Some play it better than others.