Spring Training Thoughts Focus on Majestic Shirts

For the second year in a row, I've had the privilege of attending a few spring training games in Fort Myers, Florida. In addition to being a fan watching mostly the Boston Red Sox and the Minnesota Twins, it's my goal to get a head start on any developing trends at the MLB umpire level that might eventually trickle down to all levels below where we do most of our business.

A very special thanks to MLB umpire Marvin Hudson who provided me not only with a daily ticket, but more importantly for his time in sitting down and chatting with me.

I may share thoughts on other things in a later post, but the one thought that sticks out in my mind are the new Majestic Umpire Shirts the MLB guys are wearing at spring training and will be at a major league park near you starting this year for the regular season.

New Majestic Umpire Shirts
I was previously aware Majestic was outfitting the MLB umpires with a new style of umpire shirt and had only seen pics until this week. Not only was I able to observe each of the two colors they'll be sporting this year from the stands, I was also able to get my hands on one of the shirts and see it up-close.

The new style shirts are lighter in weight and have more mesh (not an open mesh but just very breathable and slightly see through) than the current Majestic styles. Aesthets is the where the largest of differences occur as the new shirts have no trim on the collar but instead down the side a well as partial, thinner trim on the sleeve - in a semi-circle pattern rather than all the way around the sleeve.

Not having the trim on the collar and having it down the side as a thin side panel is a marked difference from what umpires have been wearing as a traditional shirt.

The material appears that it will hold up well through repeated wear and washings, however I'm a little concerned the collar might be (emphasis on "might") slightly on the floppy side when running occurs.

The colors are black with white trim and what they are calling sky blue with a dark navy and white trim. The latter blue I would call closer to a powder blue than the polo blue that is on their shirts from previous years with a black collar.

Regardless, the preliminary report is that the MLB guys do like the new shirts.

The main questions I know many of you will have is "Will these shirts be available for resale?" Well, not this year. Majestic, however, is working to have the two shirt colors available for 2011.

And the other is "Will these shirt styles catch on at our level?" I certainly think that is possible within a few years time with at least some umpires, and will be up to the various associations who make those decisions locally.

To me, the style is so new it would take some getting used to. They are different enough to be a fresh look but not too drastically different to be terribly too far away from traditional umpire shirt styles.

If you have other questions or comments, feel free to fire away.

Chad Denton is Promoted to Buyer

One of the hardest jobs within our company is purchasing products from the likes of Wilson, Diamond and our other 40+ suppliers. Ordering just enough stock without going over is a constant balancing act that due to our seasonal nature and differences in our suppliers is often more art, than science.

Chad Denton who has served as our stock manager for one year, and who will continue in that role, has had "buyer" added to his title this past week. This position will allow us to do several things including freeing up buying responsibilities from Jeanne, who as operations manager, has alwyas worn at least one more hat than was humanely possible to wear at any given time.

I have always said I have the best staff I could ever ask for. Chad is one of those reasons I can say that. His work ethic can never be challenged, especially in light of his working on a bachelor's degree part-time in addition to his full-time duties here. With his eye for details and commitment, I expect he will do very well in his new role.

MLB Umpires UMPS CARE Sports Auction

Major League Baseball Umpires earlier this week launched their 2nd Annual UMPS CARE Charities Online Sports Auction to benefit their youth-based programs now until March 22nd.

So far, they have successfully raised $35,000+ with 5 days and 10+ hours remaining. Some great items remain available.

Items featured:

• 2009 World Series Umpires Signed Home Plate
• 2009 World Series and All-Star Umpires Signed Baseballs
  
• 2010 All-Star Game Tickets
• International and Southern Umpires Scholarship
  
• Lunch with an Ump Opportunities
  
• Batting Practices and Game Ticket Experiences at Various MLB parks
  
• Signed Memorabilia from Rod Carew, Goose Gossage, Nolan Ryan, Harmon Killebrew and Jim Rice
  
• and more!

View all items here. There is also a refer a friend feature as well. But hurry, the auction ends March 22nd.

We were happy to donate 4 items as an exclusive package - Wilson Titanium Umpire Mask with All Black Padding, Ultimate Umpire Shirt, Ultimate Pro Style Umpire Ball and a Mask Bag. I'm happy to say someone has already purchased that at the Buy it Now Price for $300!

All proceeds help provide Major League Umpires visiting 12 children's hospitals during the season and distributing more than 1,200 Build-A-Bear Workshop stuffed animals to pediatric patients coping with cancer or other serious illness. Umpires will also treat up to 1,000 children awaiting adoption or at-risk youth from single parent families to MLB games in 2010.

Shock Doctor Low Profile Mouthguards: Initial Feedback

At the end of the fall, I asked for volunteers in field testing the Shock Doctor Gravity Mouthguard. I discussed the Gravity Mouthguard as a potential best candidate in the blog post Shock Doctor VP on Mouthguards for Umpires based on better audibility and tight fit as well.

We were able to get them in each of the the volunteers hands (or mouths, I guess) well before the start of this season and already we are getting feedback. What I have so far:

"...The mouth piece fit well in my mouth and did not hinder me when making a call from behind the dish. I actually took a shot in the mask when the catcher missed the ball and will tell you, I was not phased continuing like nothing happened. I have taken shots before and without the mouth piece I was dazed. I appreciate you allowing me to try the mouth piece out and yes I would recommend for umpires and players as well."
- Derrick Dion

"I found that forming the mouth guard to be simple per the instructions... I did use the mouth guard during 3 games that I worked as Plate Umpire. I found the mouth guard to be comfortable during the game and noticed it had a very minimum effect on my ability to talk and make calls while wearing it..."
-Louis Santoni

"...Having never really played football...I was not accustomed to wearing a mouth guard. By the end of my first game I got used to it and since I have had no issues. So far, I have taken one direct shot to the cage with the mouth guard in. It was a foul straight back and I did not feel the rattling in the jaw that you typically get on a shot like that. At this point, I plan to continue to wear it. So far I have probably called 5-6 games with it in. I really do not even notice it. I take it out between innings and put it in my shirt pocket, but besides that it stays in. It is very easy to communicate and does not cause me to generate excess spit in my mouth... Not sure why, but I really like the peace of mind that it gives me having it in...The fitting process was easy. I did it twice to get a better fit."
-Stephen O' Neal

I'm a little reluctant to start selling the mouthguard until more feedback is received, but I don't want to preclude anyone from getting one who wants one either. So what I've decided is that if you want one, for now, you can have it at our cost, which is going to come out around $11 instead of the suggested retail price of $17.99.

I will ask, though, that if you do purchase one, to please send us your feedback as well. I will share all feedback in their complete entirety, good or bad, once enough feedback has been received.

I also plan to order some storage cases for the mouthguards, something suggested by several of the volunteers, to keep them sanitary between games. I believe we have maybe 5 Gravity's at the moment. We should have stock of both cases and more mouthguards by mid next week.

A very special thanks to Louis, Stephen, Derrick and the rest of you who are willing to try the mouthguard and share your feedback. If anyone else, has any other thoughts in the meantime, feel free to share.

Server Upgrades Make Website Faster

We began to notice with our growth, during times of high traffic, our website begin to slow and experience a few errors here and there. Our solution was some minor tweaks along the way in order to alleviate any congestion instead of a server upgrade - something that always comes with a great deal of risk.

But with the flood of customers last week, there was no choice but to take a chance and upgrade to a high-speed server. Fortunately (for not only customers but for my peace of mind), we were able to do so with no downtime and no problems in transition.

However, some of you shopping through yesterday, may have experienced a problem here and there. If so, I sincerely apologize.

As a result of the upgrade, you should find browsing the site and viewing products, images, etc on the website to be much faster than what you've seen, especially what you've seen in the past several weeks.