[mcrowder]

Pete, I have to tell you how this story would play out...

Commish calls me and tells me that my umpire walked off the field because of fan abuse.

I call umpire to get the story. I say, "What did the fan do or say?" "He said 'We're getting it both ***** ways now!'"

I say, "and you cancelled the game and left the field over THAT?!?!?!"

I totally agree with enlisting the coaches help or field admin's help if a fan is being threatening ("I'll get you in the parking lot", etc) or is so verbally over the top that he's likely to be sent to jail for disrupting the peace. But simple complaints that happen to include a simple cussword?

I'm not sure such an umpire would work in my area very much after that. I support my umpires to the hilt - but surely umpires must be able to ignore something as small as this. And an umpire who refuses to work a game with this mild of a complaint is extremely unlikely to move up at all.

Ignore them. If they start threatening, address it. But other than that, ignore it.