ASA Hats/Shirts
 

Is the only place to get these products the ASA website? Does the shirt have to have the ASA embroidered on it or is there a patch I can put on? First year doing ASA just wondering.........

Yup. Pretty much.

Yep. And I'd highly recommend getting a fitted hat, too. UICs don't want you to wear adjustable hats at tourneys.

No patches available.

There is a store in Riverdale Georgia that carries some ASA stuff. You can get some through Barry Sullivan @ Georgia ASA via this link The Umpire Shop > Home

You can also contact Mike Bozeman, the Alabama ASA UIC. They have a similar supplier as well.

All the products come through ASA Properties anyway, so you won't be saving any money either way. ASA properties delivers pretty fast generally.

Ditto to what everyone else has said so far. FYI...I find that their shirts fit me tight (and I'm not a big guy by any means) so I order one size larger than normal. I just received a new one last week (large...I'm a medium).. glad I did.
I only do ASA SP...if I were working fastpitch I'd need a XL to fit over my protector. I've always thought their shirts were were far inferior to whatelse ids out there on the market. I just don't find them comfortable. I'm a fitted hat guy and I HATE their fitted hats. I bought an adjustable for this season as the ASA cap I have just fits me too tight and I've tried to stretch it a bit with no success. Like their shirts I find the material that their hats made of of to be inferior to a New Era or Richardson.
Don't know why they just don't workout a licensing argreement with one of the larger offical's supply companys out there.
Just my two cents.

No extra charge for the pink buttons.

I don't know about anyone else, but my ASA shirts seem to be just about the right size. I'm an XL and a large is tight, but I can wear it comfortably.

The problem with the hats is that there is no consistency in sizes. I have about a dozen or so hats and those with the same size on the tag are rarely the same size. No problem with the material. For that matter, I'll still wear the wool caps every now and then.

I doubt ASA is producing anything on their own.

I've also found the shirt sizing to run small. I have one shirt that I ordered in my regular size that I will only wear if I know I'm not going to need a CP. And even at that, it's snug. Otherwise, I've gone up a size to accommodate the tight fit.

I also tried ordering a pair of pants from ASA and even ordering up one size they were not even close. Couldn't button them. They're not consistent with the sizing of other pants I've bought, be they umpire, dress, or casual. I probably won't order pants from ASA again.

I'm not a fan of the fitted hats either. The inconsistency in sizing again being a problem. That, plus I actually like the option of being able to resize my cap if needed as well as liking the mesh back. I don't think they look any worse than the fitted caps, but that's just my opinion.

Ted

Exactly. I never buy hats mail order. I always have to try them on, and it doesn't matter the brand.

I got some of those.

Stop putting your shirts in the dryer. :)

I always have drip dried my shirts. The buttons still turned pink.

The weird thing is that I have some ASA shirts I put in the dryer that now have pink buttons, and others I put in the dryer that do not! Wasn't it determined that some shirts a few years ago just happened to have a bad batch of buttons and those turned pink no matter what you did. If I recall, the problem was corrected and there shouldn't be a problem with shirts sold since then.

Buying umpire gear over the internet without the benefit of trying it on always seems to be a dicey proposition, no matter who makes or sells the stuff. This certainly isn't just an ASA problem. I've run into problems with other brands and other retailers.

ASA shirts seem to fit me about the same as any Cliff Keen shirt I've ever worn- not really too tight, but a little on the snug side when compared to some other brands. They're not what I would call a "generous" fit.

Hats are a crap shoot. I have quite a few Richardson hats I like that are the same size, so I felt confident ordering the same size again over the internet. The last one I got was so loose that it would literally start to fall off my head if I bent over forward!

Every single pair of umpire pants I've tried on has felt too tight to me if I try the same size I wear in jeans or dress slacks- Fecheimer pants so much that they cannot even be buttoned. I always have to go a size up to get a comfortable fit.

Luckily, there is an umpire supply store in my city and I can try some things on before buying. Also, our local ASA UIC carries a good selection of merchandise and brings her stock to most meetings and tournaments.

While the internet can offer a great variety and convenience, it's not so convenient when you wind up having to ship the stuff back when it doesn't fit! There is, unfortunately, a little trial and error involved in finding gear that works for you. Even then, once you find something that works, some products have so much variation in sizes that you never know what you'll get until you receive it and try it on.

Some of you may have seen this on the baseball forum. If not, it might be an interesting read:

Umpire Shirt Comparison

it's the detergent.

My most recently purchased shirts (about 3-4 years ago), have yet to do that like the old ones did.