Come to Think of It: Carlos Zambrano Gets Suspended; So Should the Umpire

Bud Selig's enforcer crew, led by MLB's "Czar of Discipline," Bob Watson, has suspended Cubs pitcher Carlos Zambrano for six games. Big deal; he won't even miss a start.

But what is a big deal is the fact that, while Big Z's punishment was deserved, the umpires need to be reined in. Yet baseball does nothing to address this issue.

Sure, Zambrano's meltdown was childish. And yes, he cannot push an umpire under any circumstance without being fined and suspended. All that is understood.

But what also needs to be understood is the fact that major league umpires cannot be allowed to inflame situations or, in many cases, actually initiate the confrontation.

Carlos was wrong, and he knows he was wrong—at least judging by his statements on Thursday.

"I apologize for that. Like I said, I should have more control of myself in that situation," Zambrano said after the game. "I just wanted to get out of that inning and win the ballgame. I didn't say a bad word. I should have gone to the clubhouse and keep watching the game. I apologize for throwing the ball and the other things."

But the umpire was wrong also. Yet he probably doesn't know this because no one has the chutzpah to tell him he was wrong.

Mark Carlson initiated the contact, and if MLB is going to have a zero-tolerance policy for contact with an ump, they need to hold the umps to the same standard.

MLB Rule 9 instructs major league umpires to follow a strict code of behavior:

You are the only official representative of baseball on the ball field. It is often a trying position which requires the exercise of much patience and good judgment, but do not forget that the first essential in working out of a bad situation is to keep your own temper and self-control.

As bleedcubbieblue.com (BCB) points out, "Many major league umpires seem to have forgotten that simple rule. It's a rule of courtesy and professionalism, more so than an 'instruction.' Instead, umpires seem to go out of their way to be confrontational."

Look, umpires should help regulate the show, not be the show—yet that's what they seem to want to be. They have gotten more and more sensitive in recent years, to the point that players often can't say much to them without being invited to the showers.

In the Zambrano incident, it seemed like Carlson was itching to get Big Z suspended. As BCB says, "Carlson turned his arm into Carlos Zambrano almost as if to say, 'I don't like what you're doing and so I'm going to initiate contact so I can file a report that will get you suspended.'"

I agree that Zambrano needed to be punished for what he did, but I also believe this would be a good opportunity for Selig's Mob to stand up and say we're not going to tolerate this kind of behavior from an umpire.

But there is no indication that is going to happen, come to think of it. While Big Z misses six games, MLB is missing a golden opportunity in my opinion.