Major League Baseball Suspends Umpire Bob Davidson for Repeated Violations

For the first time in the history of Major League Baseball, the league has publically reprimanded an umpire for actions on the field.

Bob Davidson has been suspended for a single game by the league for repeated violations of the Office of the Commissioner's standards for situation handling.

This clearly seems to be directed at a Davidson's actions during a game between the Phillies and the Astros. In the game, Phillies pitcher Cliff Lee struck out Jason Castro, but the ball got away from Phillies catcher Brian Schneider.

When he turned to collect it Davidson was in his way and prevented Schneider from getting to the ball in time to throw Castro out at first.

That was not his transgression. When the Phillies dugout justifiably was upset about Davidson being in the way, the umpire lost it. He screamed Do you think I wanted to block his ass? What the hell are you yelling at, at the Phillies escalating a situation that was pretty calm.

Phillies manager Charlie Manuel appeared to mutter something under his breath at the umpire before Davidson dropped another curse at Manuel and ejected him from the game. Manuel then got up and walked out of the dugout to continue to argument.

Davidson doesn't appear to give any explanation for his behavior to Manuel, but he begins to curse the manager out before Manuel even gets to him. As Manuel approaches him, Davidson appears to say ____ you Charlie, by way of a greeting.

The news of Davidson's suspension will be welcome news to many fans that have become increasingly vocal about poor quality umpiring. The complaints reached a crescendo in the past few season, and baseball has added some replay technology to the game.

But this is the first time that an umpire has been publically reprimanded for his poor performance. Umpires like Laz Diaz and Bill Miller who have been involved in high profile ejections over the past few days could also be under the eye of Major League Baseball.