Umpire Bob Davidson was suspended one game by MLB on Friday for “repeated violations of the Office of the Commissioner’s standards for situation handling.” While Davidson has been at the center of several controversies and bad calls the past few seasons (outlined nicely by Hardball Talk), it likely was his horribly unprofessional behavior on Tuesday that led to the suspension.
Davidson got into an expletive-filled argument with manager Charlie Manuel during the 8th inning of the Phillies-Astros game on Tuesday. The sad thing is Davidson started it. Video of the incident below:
Manuel was also suspended a game, but it’s far more notable to see an umpire punished for his actions. You could clearly hear Davidson yell to Manuel “You think I wanted to block his ass? What the hell you yelling at?” after Manuel complained about the Davidson blocking catcher Brian Schneider from running down a dropped third strike.
Davidson’s behavior was completely unprofessional and it’s nice that MLB punished him for it. The development should be pleasing for several players; Davidson was voted 4th in a Sports Illustrated poll of worst umpires in MLB last year.
