On Friday night, down a run in the eighth inning and with the leadoff runner on first, the Marlins' Dan Uggla squared around to bunt. Cory Wade's pitch came inside and hit him in the hand. Home plate ump (and crew chief) Joe West awarded Uggla first base but first base ump Ed Rapuano over-ruled West, saying Uggla hadn't pulled his bat back fast enough. Marlins manager Fredi Gonzalez popped out of the dugout to protest... and immediately got ejected by Rapuano for arguing balls and strikes. Because, y'know, if it wasn't a HBP then by rule it was a foul strike.

Uggla then struck out, slammed his bat on the ground in frustration, and naturally got tossed too.

Today's ejection was even more egregious. John Lackey, making his first start off the DL and having had to sit through a 76 minute rain delay, threw his first pitch of the game behind Ian Kinsler. The second one caught Kinsler in the ribs... and home plate ump Bob Davidson ejected Lackey. Two pitches into his first start of the season.

I tend to be as pro-organized labor as they come, but at what point does someone in baseball do their Ronald Reagan impression and break the umpire's union? The hair-trigger egos of umps like Davidson and Rapuano have simply become a detriment to the product on the field.