Well, I met with Mr. Tim Sellner, President of Tanel yesterday afternoon. He and I spent nearly an hour in his warehouse trying on different sizes of shoes / insole combinations. Apparently, my feet just don't work in his shoes. There is not enough room between the bottom of the steel toe and the top of the insole for my toes to fit without my toes constantly rubbing on the edge of the steel toe as it transitions to the leather upper. The shoes are the correct size, there is just not enough room under the steel toe.

Even though the end result was I will be returning the Tanel shoes, I was very impressed with the company's emphasis on customer service. I was also very impressed with the other employees of the company I met. They were all working with apparent enthusiasm for their job and their company and were all friendly and helpful. I would not hesitate to recommend Tanel to anyone with "normal" feet. ;)

After we gave up on trying to find a shoe that would fit, Mr. Sellner asked my opinion on umpire shoe features. Here's a man who is very customer focused! If he ever produces an extra wide shoe, I'll probably give Tanel another try, hoping that would also mean a bit taller as well.

OK, Steve.....I took your advice and ordered a pair of the mid high non-patent leather plate shoes.

They arrived the other day...tried them on and they felt fine...will be trying them out on the field in a few weeks when fall ball gets going. The price is definitely right and the company covered the shipping.

I'll let you know what I think.