[Rich]

Originally Posted by bob jenkins

1. Not necessarily.

2. Based on what I've read, the coach has backed off his initial allegations.

(3 & 4 -- no comment).

Here's what I think. This was a typical "chain of events" scenario. No single action was "over the top", but when added together they lead to a negative situation. If any action had not occurred, we wouldn't have had this. (If Bradley hadn't flung the bat, if Runge would have noticed and addressed it immeidately, if Winters had stayed out of it, if Winters hadn't made a show of addressing it, if Runge hadn't brought it back up later, if Bradley had let it go, ...)

They were all to blame, and all have the "defense" of "well, he started it."

MLB is right to send them to "time out", and I bet MLB know more about the story then will ever be made public.

If they would've just ejected Bradley in the fifth inning, none of this would have happened. Just evidence to show that "keeping people in the game" brings risks to the umpires, as well.