MLB has suspended umpire Bob Davidson for ” repeated violations of the Office of The Commisioners standards for situation handling “. This is somewhat of a precedent for major league baseball as it normally doesn’t report discipline of major league umpires publicly. Jayson Stark has said, “If any ump has ever been suspended for improper “situation handling” either I don’t recall it or MLB has never announced it. Big story!”
Baseball and umpire accountability has been under intense scrutiny as of late, born out of the Brett Lawrie incident in Toronto on Monday night.
MLB claims that this is a culmination of many incidents, although it would appear that Tuesday’s incident with Phillies manager Charlie Manuel was the straw that broke the camels back. Davidson unleashed a barrage of expletives at Manuel. Manuel was also suspended for one game , however not for repeated violations.
Balking Bob Davidson has a reputation as one of the games worst umpires. Last season he ranked fourth on a players hole of the worst umpires conducted by Sports Illustrated.
