[yawetag]

Originally Posted by JugglingReferee

So I see that the PU had to "take" the bodily pushes from this loonie-bin.

At what point would an umpire be permitted to defend himself with force?

From an article on Yahoo (emphasis mine):

MLB thinks Drake handled it well. He did make a bad call on the strikeout, according to PITCHf/x data. That happens. His willingness not to get confrontational once Molina backed him off with a shower impressed baseball officials. The report delivered by Drake said he was bumped four times and spit on twice.

“As an umpire, he’s required to help defuse the situation,” said Brian Lam, the attorney for the umpires’ union, the World Umpires Association. “As professionals, we’re all required to do things we wouldn’t as people. As a person, Rob Drake would’ve probably punched the guy.”

Had Drake done that, he would’ve been fired. If an umpire so much as bumps back against a player or manager haranguing him, he faces disciplinary sanctions from MLB. While it’s true umpires are meant to stay above the fray, it’s emasculating for anyone to stand there and take abuse that goes beyond verbal.