Shirt quality versus pricing?

[IRISHMAFIA]

Originally Posted by RichMSN

Then there are people like me, who find it appalling that umpires are expected to give up every inch of individualism, that I would be "worried" about not having the lineup card in the wrong place, etc.

Ever been in the military, Rich?

Speaking ASA, a part of being an umpire is appearance. Yes, in your game, I'm sure your a cleaned and pressed with the best of them, but umpires in non-matching uniforms and equipment on the same field just doesn't look right to many, including me. I started in baseball at 14 and left what little I was doing at the time at 36.

Much of the difference is we all belong to a single, nationwide organization. When we walk on the field, part of the key is for the teams to not know the difference between umpires. ASA prefers a uniform presentation and I believe it actually helps sell the umpire's image.

Many baseball umpires "think" we are robotic in our signals. We are not. We all use the same base, but there every umpire has their own little character included in many calls. Many may not notice because you haven't been through some of the training we have. That is another point. Our training is based nationwide. The UICs are trained to train and take the tools and methods back to our local associations and train others. Unlike our local baseball brethren, we don't just slide a tape in the VCR for the trainees. I'm sure that is not done everywhere, but everywhere in baseball does not have the national-based support group an ASA umpire does.

One of the best compliments I've received was at the Men's A Industrial National Championship. Halfway through the game, a coach came up to the PU and myself and said, "you guys must be local and work together all the time." When asked what gave him that impression, he responded, "well, you are always in position, you are not getting into the other guys area and you barely speak to each other." He was shocked to find out that the PU and myself had just met each other about an hour before the game and we really never got a chance to talk things over with the guy working 3rd because he was just moved to this game off another field.

Our training and uniformity is what allows this impression and better yet, to actually work a game with a complete stranger and do it well. And I think you would agree that is a good thing.