fanny Packs
 

Now I haven't seen any SB umps bustin out the fanny packs out here in Cal ..I also do VB and we have too many of them doing the fanny pack thing. It is very painful. You have the fanny pack and the white shoe look going in VB and in the words of my wife "You dorks look like Felix Unger."

Never. Never ever.

HA!

No way. CA sets the standards (in softball!!!!) you can only dream of.

If the plate ump signaled so did I -- that is until the day I worked with John. While John did not actually threaten me with harm, he did ask me nicly to stop, so I did. And now I don't mirror signals, it has actually helped my game quite a bit.

Bugg

Count? Not unless asked.

Dead ball (foul)? Not unless necessary (soft spoken PU, no foul signal at all, etc., and runner who keeps going, stuff like that).

BU / PU mirroring the outs to each other between batters? That is pretty common.

LOL - no fanny packs. I have seen a couple of baseball umpires wear them and some wear ball bags on the bases. SHEEEEEESH!

Thanks Bob. As I have said before. I'll work with ya anywhere.

Do NOT mirror the count unless asked.

Do NOT mirror fouls balls unless there is freakiness... (and then do it verbally)


Do NOT wear fanny packs..... (please)

DO Flash out between batters.....

I'd rather my BU partner wear a ball bag than a fanny pack. I've only had a partner wear a fanny pack once. After the game I asked him where he got his fanny pack. He gladly told me. I told him I was going to that store and telling them not to sell them to anyone who might be an umpire.

Please tell me you are kidding about wearing a ball bag . . . for what purpose? Are they keeping little trinkets in the bag? I see no difference between a fanny pack and a ball bag other than one is a little less noticeable but both for me are a HELLLLL NO! I have actually told partners to take them off before taking the field.

Where is he suppose to put his sandwich and chips? :p

Way back when I first got started umpiring.
I used to work with an old guy who wore two ball bags while working BU.
He kept a couple of hot dogs or hamburgers in one and a coke in the other.

Never changed, even when people tried to get him to stop the practice.
I actually saw him work a couple of HS games like this.

I am serious as a heart attack. For what purpose? I have no feakin clue (which is NOT unusual). Of course the latest one was my partner on Monday, the base umpire. He is 85 years old (I kid you not) and does a helluva job. There is one guy 30 years younger who umpires like you would think an 85 yer old would umpire. But this guy is amazing - even with a ball bag. I figure at 85 if you wanna wear a ball bag, you can wear a ball bag.

BUT...we have others who wear one. We have one guy who is probably 40 or so who won't leave home without it. Literally. He shows up at the park in uniform, and has the ball bag on. He is not the only one in these parts to wear a ball bag on the bases.

At least he doesn't wear it on his a$$.

Excellent point. I take back my comments. In the future I will attempt to refrain from making such comments without really thinking them through first! :D

At at tournament several years ago (invitational summer tournament, not championship play), one of our umpires had a problem of some kind (don't remember the details) and had to leave. I was just coming off one game where I had the plate. The umpire who left was on the bases of his game. The UIC asked me to hustle over and take the bases for the game already underway. I removed my plate equipment near the field and jumped out one the bases, still wearing my plate shoes AND my ball bag (I had forgotten about the bag in my rush).

UIC comes running over going ballistic and has me come OFF the field (game underway, mind you) and hand him the ball bag through the fence, lecturing me on proper uniform.

OK, I get the uniform issue; I'm serious about it. But THAT was out of line.