Reds' manager Dusty Baker was suspended for two games on Friday, following an altercation with umpire Eric Cooper on Thursday night. Bob Watson, baseball's vice president for on-field operations, handed down the suspension and a $1500 fine as he claimed that Baker made inappropriate contact with Cooper. Baker, who did not even receive a call from Watson before the ruling was made, was not happy.

"Isn't this America? What kind of judicial system do we have when we don't have an appeal?" Baker asked. "Players get appeals (because of a strong union), but coaches and managers don't get an appeal. You shouldn't have to have a union to get an appeal. Everybody gets to go to court, right? That's the part I don't understand."

"I've only been suspended twice in my whole life, 58 years, and never in school or anywhere else — just twice in 58 years by the same man (Watson)," Baker told the Dayton Daily News.

The drama began to unfold during the seventh inning of the 8-2 loss Thursday, Edwin Encarnacion was called out on strikes by Cooper for the second out and dropped his bat at the umpire's feet in disapproval. Told to pick up his bat, Encarnacion acquiesced and returned to the dugout.

The dispute resumed when Encarnacion took the field defensively after the third out, and Cooper ran him. It was the first ejection of the third baseman's career. The exchange became heated and Cooper eventually threw Baker out of the game, too. Baker inadvertently dropped his cap but intentionally kicked it after his ejection. The umpire filed a report with the league office. Watson called general manager Walt Jocketty and Baker on Friday and informed them of his decision.

Baker was told that he grazed Cooper with his left shoulder, which prompted the league's response, according to the team's website.

Chris Speier, the Reds' bench and infield coach, field in for Baker and managed his first game in Cincinnati's 3-2 win over the Padres on Friday night. The win snapped the club's four-game losing streak and gave the Reds their first win of a seven-game West Coast road trip.

The punishment seems a bit harsh, but what is interesting is that unlike a player, Baker could not appeal as managers are not union members. Still, it's nothing like the 30 games Pete Rose was suspended for when he bumped umpire Dave Pallone in the chest in the late 1980's.

Umpires more often than not let their egos get in the way. A good umpire is one that goes unnoticed. Cooper was from acheiving that goal on Thursday night. 

Last night, Indians outfielder Ben Francisco hit a ball that clearly was a home run.  The umpires, however, saw it differently, and called the ball in play.

This is just one of multiple instances this week where there's been a controversy over whether a ball went out of the park or not (ESPN, in its infinite wisdom, has decided to make neither the Indians game clip nor their piece that compiled all of the incidents available online).  So the question becomes, why can't instant replay be implemented in MLB?

With every park nowadays having an outfield fence with at least 20 unique quirks, and the fans being right on top of the fence, umpires simply don't know what to look for anymore.

What's that, you say?  It's going to slow up the game?  There'll be too many plays in question?  Fine, I'll meet you halfway.  Let's only review potential home runs.  A couple video reviews ought to take care of any questions on that.  What will that take, maybe a minute?

I'm willing to go with that for a year or two, just to prove that it can work, and once that happens then we can look at expanding replay.  Do we really need to have a World Series game decided by a blown call before any action gets taken?

Oh, wait, I forgot, that's how Bud Selig operates.  Wait till the problem actually occurs, and then look at everything after the fact.  Come on, step it up guys.  This isn't tough, make the right call.