Baseball Should Ban Arguments With Umps

Kick all the dirt you like, it won't change the call. But that doesn't stop MLB players and managers from harassing umpires. "Why is this the only sport where these childish rebellions against authority are not only accepted, but condoned and sometimes even celebrated?" writes Bill Plaschke in the Los Angeles Times. "Can you imagine the NFL allowing its coaches to run across the field to scream at a referee?"

The problem is that these arguments do more than "undermine the umpire’s authority," writes Plaschke. "They cheapen the game’s integrity." It's time for a rule change, he argues: "Public and prolonged challenges to an umpire’s decision—any decision, all decisions—will result in immediate ejection." (More MLB stories.)