Just last month, Adrian Beltre became the 31st player in MLB history to join the 3,000 hit club, which basically punches his ticket into Cooperstown. He’s a guy who has always been one of the very best in the business for as long as he’s been in the MLB. This is exactly what makes what happened to him earlier that same week such a slap in the face. Take a look:

I go to A LOT of Major League Baseball games, and NO ONE stands in the damn on deck circle! It’s a “rule” that has no bearing on the ballgame. Additionally, this game was totally out of hand; the score was 17-5 at the time. So, in a 12 run game, Gerry Davis decides to make an example out of a future Hall of Famer? That’s a joke.

It even extends into the Independent League circuit. Check out this video (WARNING: STRONG LANGUAGE):

Wally Backman goes bananas because his guy gets thrown out without saying a single word. I don’t blame Wally. I would’ve had a very similar reaction. These guys make a bad call, and then compound that mistake by throwing guys out. We can’t have that.

I coach high school basketball as well as baseball, and I can tell you that there is NOTHING worse than when an official gets too big for his britches and tries to become the star of the show. It’s even worse when they walk around on their high horse and won’t even have a discussion with you about what’s going on. That’s what guys like Gerry Davis and Joe West do. They think they run the show and they make sure that everyone who’s watching knows it. It’s brutal.

In a Cubs vs. Diamondbacks game at Chase Field in Arizona this past Saturday, the Cubs fell 6-2. While this scoreline initially makes it look like there was little competition between these two teams, the score was knotted at 0-0 heading into the bottom of the sixth inning. The D-backs eventually jumped ahead to a 6-0 lead, but the Cubs weren’t ready to give up. They fought back to score two runs in the top of the ninth inning. They brought the momentum back on their side, only for it to get curtailed by a call from the umpire. The final out of the game was called a strikeout to 2B Ben Zobrist, who took a ball out of the strike-zone in a 1-2 count. Zobrist was furious and adamantly told reporters that this call shows the necessity for the league to enact an automated strike zone, citing the technological advancement and progress of all sports as reasoning. While the Umpire may have been adamant that he was making the right call, his decision overshadowed the game and put a terse end to a game that could have turned into a mini-Cinderella story. Oh well.

My point is, coaches are held accountable; players are held accountable. Why can’t umpires be held accountable? I don’t have a problem with bad calls. I really don’t. They are part of the game. But when you have guys going rogue and baiting players/coaches into ejections, there’s a huge problem. No one has ever gone to a game to watch someone officiate. Ever.