I have the Honig's ultimate pants. I like them, find them to be comfortable and quite frankly never paid much attention as to whether or not they exactly matched the pants my partner was wearing. I really don't care if they are exactly the same shade and my guess is the only people who would notice would be a small group of other umpires (maybe).

I order just about everything at Honigs. I have had only one issue with a product over the years (referee shirt came with a small hole in it) and they took care of it quickly and without a hassle. I usually get my orders in about two days. I know they aren't the cheapest in some cases, but I trust them and will stick with them.

Just another reason why the umpires shouldn't be congregating together during the game. We don't want people in the bleachers yelling, "Hey, your pants don't match!"

That would be just plain hurtful.

I have them also. I too like them very much. Around here it is required to match your partners, and you are required to wear charcoal and they're not charcoal, or they don't match the other charcoals. When I work the other units and weekend leagues, I wear whatever my partner has because I have them all. I was just trying to save the guy the same mistake that a bunch of guys made by thinking that the Honig's ultimate "charcoal" were the required shade, which they're not.

You can't even have white marks on your shoes around here. Several guys were denied playoff assignments last month for showing up at the playoff meeting wearing those Reebok shoes with all of the white designs. A few others who wore the Honig's ultimates were told to get the charcoal that matches the new standard. Honig's should make their middle-of-the-line slacks as dark or darker than the polywools ... that's all I'm saying.

Around here, the only pants acceptable for college are Davis. I bought 2 pair of Honigs pants (20% discount from an Evans clinic) and can't use them anywhere but the JUCOs. The Davis pants look & feel much better anyway.

Honigs prices have gone up, product selection seem to be more limited, but their polywool pants, the only product I purchase from them anymore, are the best.

Davis pants, with their near touching belt loops in the back, look like crap, IMHO.

Every guy that I've talked to that have the Davis pants hate them. On top of that they don't match anything else.

I don't hate them. I do hate the 3 belt loops in the back, but there are an incredibly comfortable plate pant (first worn last night).

The Honig's Ultimate have another problem. I bought mine at the beginning of the season. I've dropped 2 inches in the waist since then -- no problem, right, since those pants adjust 4 inches in the waist. Yup, no problem if you don't mind looking like a sail with all the extra fabric in the legs. And the color is too light for charcoal.

For color, sizing, appearance and comfort, the Honigs polywools, I believe, are the best choice. The color of the Davis doesn't seem "quite right" and those I know who wear them always seem to have excess fabric flapping.

The belt loops on Davis pants look like they could fit another two or three belts in there.

Used my new Honigs K80 shoes today... 2nd warmup pitch was in the dirt, squeeked between the lazy catcher's legs, and hit me square on the instep of my right foot. Old shoes probably would have dealt with it, but with these it hurt like a b****. So keep those toes pointed towards the pitcher... lesson learned.

New RbK Plate Shoes
 

One of the things I particularly like about the new RbK Plate Shoes is the protection plate comes over onto the side of you instep. I have never been hit there but it will help in your situation.

I am so glad that San Diego is not as anal as Los Angeles on this subject. We follow NFHS guidelines that say that any shade of gray is acceptable and that trying to match every umpire is futile, and also the association has no problem with white trim on shoes. That is just asinine. If white trim is good enough for professional baseball, it is damn sure good enough for snot-nosed varsity high school ball.

I'm not this anal in real life. In real life, I would not be taking black nail polish and painting over the white logos and model numbers on my New Balances.

I don't want to be "that guy." I want to be stealth.