Calling with a weak partner

[cajunyankee]

Originally Posted by Richard_Siegel

I work at a tounament park where we are required to wear either black or MLB light blue shirts. When it is very hot most guys will want to go with the light blue shirts to feel cooler. I have found the out that the color of the shirt has very little to do with how cool you feel.

I learned about 10 years ago that a very large component of how cool you feel has more to do with the undershirt you wear. Whatever is closest to your skin makes the difference. If you go with a traditional cotton tee shirt (which is much lower in cost than the synthetics) you will get it all soaked with sweat that will never go away and you will feel drenched and overheated by the time the game is over.

In my opinion, you can feel the coolest in very hot weather wearing the sleeveless, skin-tight, undershirts made of the synthetic fibers that wick away perspiration. Underarmor and MacDavid are two of several manufacturers of these kinds of shirts. They are at least twice as expensive than cotton tee shirts, but they are well worth it. The open armpits (sleeveless shirt) allows for a tremendous amount of your body heat to escape faster. The skin-tight shirt captures your perspirtaion immediately and wicks it so it can evaporate as quickly as possible. The evaporation process actually takes heat energy out of your body and you feel a coolness as it happens.

There is a buddy of mine who has always worn a traditional cotton tee for all of the 20 years we have worked games together. I went to the synthetics about 10 years ago. Every time I would see him drenched with sweat after a game I would try to convinve him to get rid of those cotton shirts. These are the blue tees we always get to wear at clinics, he would love wearing them under his umpire gear. Even our association would make umpire these cotton tees with our association emblem on them and give them out every other year.

I would ask him why he was OK with being so wet with sweat when he didn't have to. He would say, "I don't mind it. When I'm all sweated up like this it makes me feel accomplished like I just worked hard and put in a tough game! It feels OK to me." (?Huh?)

Finally this year, our association made up tee shirts with the emblem printed on a synthetic type of navy blue material. It was a short sleeved crew neck type of tee shirt. But it was made from a wicking fiber! The other day when I was working with my buddy he was wearing that new shirt. I said, "Hey how do you like wearing that new shirt under your gear?" Well he went on and on about how much of a difference this shirt makes and how it is so much cooler wearing it. I said, "WTF!!! You always told me you liked the feeling of being all sweated up!" He said, "Well I have to admit that was not really true. I was just too cheap to buy these synthetic shirts. So I made up that story. But now that I got this one for free and used it I really see what you were talking about all these years. they are really great!"

It took me about a year of umpiring to move to the UA-type undershirts.
WHen using cotton undershirts, I would leave a plate game absolutely soaked in sweat. My undershirt would weigh a pound or two, and I'd feel much more worn-out than I guess I needed to.

I don't wear sleeveless, but I may try it down the road.

All of my under-gear is Under Armour brand.
I've tried other brands (Champion, Starter, BCG) but always end up back with UA.
It's more expensive, but it's quality-made, and it lasts a very long time.

[Richard_Siegel]

Originally Posted by cajunyankee

It took me about a year of umpiring to move to the UA-type undershirts.
WHen using cotton undershirts, I would leave a plate game absolutely soaked in sweat. My undershirt would weigh a pound or two, and I'd feel much more worn-out than I guess I needed to.

I don't wear sleeveless, but I may try it down the road.

All of my under-gear is Under Armour brand.
I've tried other brands (Champion, Starter, BCG) but always end up back with UA.
It's more expensive, but it's quality-made, and it lasts a very long time.

I find the sleeveless shirts are significantly cooler in the heat.

[21ump]

Curious why did you not: A: take the second game? B: take the second game to help your partner learn how to manage a game? Cause you said that you wanted to know how they could handle it then you let him do a second one anyway, just asking?

[cajunyankee]

Originally Posted by 21ump

Curious why did you not: A: take the second game? B: take the second game to help your partner learn how to manage a game? Cause you said that you wanted to know how they could handle it then you let him do a second one anyway, just asking?

Why would I take the second game?
This is a 3-day a week league and the games are 2 hours max.
We don't switch between games.
Down here, if you can't spend 4 hours in the gear, during the relatively cool evening games, you don't belong on the field.

Additionally, it would have done him no good for me to take the second game in an attempt to 'help him learn how to manage a game'. He's seen me behind the plate enough times to have learned my game management style.

I took the plate for the next 2 nights in a row if that makes you feel any better.

[KenGibes]

Originally Posted by Richard_Siegel

I have found the out that the color of the shirt has very little to do with how cool you feel.

I was trying (unsuccessfully) to make this exact point with the other umpires in my association last night. Nobody was buying it, but I firmly believe it to be true, also.

[cajunyankee]

Originally Posted by KenGibes

I was trying (unsuccessfully) to make this exact point with the other umpires in my association last night. Nobody was buying it, but I firmly believe it to be true, also.

Are you saying that in direct sunlight, that a black shirt isn't any hotter than a white shirt?

Most folks would (rightly) disagree.

White is going to reflect the light (heat) while black will absorb and pass it on to your body.

[lawump1]

Originally Posted by cajunyankee

The first game ended, and the coaches for one of the teams stayed around for the second game, seemingly for the express purpose of heckling him from the stands.

I had a similar situation once. Here, our high school regular season comes to a stop for Easter week/Spring break. During this week the teams play in tournaments which do not count toward the team's regular-season record for qualifying for the playoffs, but some of the tournaments are considered prestigious so the games are very competitive and have a high level of intensity.

One year I was working the nightcap on the first day of a tournament. I was the first base umpire (three umpire crew) and crew chief. Two days before the start of this tournament, my plate umpire (a less experienced umpire compared to me) had umpired one of the teams in the tournament. In that game two days earlier, my partner had called a balk against this team late in the game that resulted in that team's head coach being ejected and that team basically believing that they had lost that game because of an incorrect balk call.

Anyways, during our game in the tournament, the team that had had the balk called against them two days before was sitting in the stands behind home plate watching this game (they had played in the prior game and were going to play the winner of our game the next day.)

After the second inning, my plate umpire came up the first base line and said, "what do you do when a team is arguing about a call from two days ago?" I said, "what do you mean." He proceeded to tell me that every time he made a close call, the players/coaches who were sitting behind home plate started making wise-cracks such as: "you might have gotten that one right, but you still don't know what a balk is," and "you call balls and strikes like you call balks!"

I told my partner, "here's how you take care of that problem!" I called the tournament director over and said "we're not starting this game again until they're all gone," as I pointed to team in the stands. The tournament director asked what they were doing and I told him that they were all over my partner about a call from two days ago and I wasn't putting up with that behavior from any team...especially a team that wasn't even playing! He proceeded to send that team home for the night.

I guess you can say this was the first and only time I ever ejected an entire team at once!

[I will add, to contrast this post to another thread on this site, that not once did I go and talk to anyone sitting in the crowd.]

[KenGibes]

Originally Posted by cajunyankee

Are you saying that in direct sunlight, that a black shirt isn't any hotter than a white shirt?

Most folks would (rightly) disagree.

White is going to reflect the light (heat) while black will absorb and pass it on to your body.

I'm saying that in Tucson in June, when the temperature is 107 degrees, it doesn't matter if you have a white or a black shirt on. The difference is not as much as one would think.

[Richard_Siegel]

Originally Posted by cajunyankee

Are you saying that in direct sunlight, that a black shirt isn't any hotter than a white shirt?

Most folks would (rightly) disagree.

White is going to reflect the light (heat) while black will absorb and pass it on to your body.

I didn't say a black shirt isn't any hotter than a white shirt. I said the color of the shirt has very little to do with how cool you feel. In other words, all things being equal a black shirt would be unsignificantly hotter than a light blue (lighter color) shirt.

As I mentioned above the item that has a profound effect on how hot or cool one feels is the undershirt. Short sleeve cotton tees will make one feel very hot as they absorb sweat and hold the moisture. Shirts made from synthetic wicking fibers will allow one to be much cooler as the perspiration is allowed to evaporate much more quickly. If the shirt is sleeveless its even better.

[waltjp]

Originally Posted by Richard_Siegel

I didn't say a black shirt isn't any hotter than a white shirt. I said the color of the shirt has very little to do with how cool you feel. In other words, all things being equal a black shirt would be unsignificantly hotter than a light blue (lighter color) shirt.

As I mentioned above the item that has a profound effect on how hot or cool one feel is the undershirt. Short sleeve cotton tees will make one feel very hot as they absorb sweat and hold the moisture. Shirts made from synthetic wicking fibers will allow one to be much cooler as the perspiration is allowed to evaporate much more quickly. If the shirt is sleeveless its even better.

I agree. I'm more concerned about the material of the shirts and undergarment. One association I work with has patched light blue shirts that they like to wear. The problem I have is that the shirt's material is too heavy and it feels like you're wearing a sweatshirt. I'd much rather wear one of my lightweight shirts even if it happens to be navy or black.

[socal lurker]

Originally Posted by Richard_Siegel

Shirts made from synthetic wicking fibers will allow one to be much cooler as the perspiration is allowed to evaporate much more quickly. If the shirt is sleeveless its even better.

I didn't really believe the synthetic fiber thing till I wore one for exercise -- I was surpised to find it really does matter. Had never considered the sleeveless issue . . . might try that as a referee. . .

[Richard_Siegel]

Originally Posted by socal lurker

I didn't really believe the synthetic fiber thing till I wore one for exercise -- I was surpised to find it really does matter. Had never considered the sleeveless issue . . . might try that as a referee. . .

A refer....what?!

[mbyron]

Originally Posted by lawump1

I guess you can say this was the first and only time I ever ejected an entire team at once!

Awesome. Love it.