It’s been a bad couple of days for Major League Baseball umpires.

Tuesday night Bob Davidson ejected Tampa Rays outfielder Carl Crawford for arguing a strike call. Crawford deserved to be ejected. Arguing balls and strikes makes that almost automatic these days.

But the troubling thing was how as soon as Crawford turned around to question the call, Davidson got right up in the batter’s face and escalated the issue. The two went face-to-face for awhile before manager Joe Maddon could get between them – and in doing so, it looked to me like Maddon grabbed or bumped Davidson as part of the argument.

There is talk that both Crawford and Maddon could get suspended. What about Davidson? He is just the latest example of an umpire making things worse rather than better when a player or manager has a beef. Or is he?

Seemingly not wanting to be upstaged, first base umpire Joe West ejected Chicago White Sox Manager Ozzie Guillen in the second inning and starting pitcher Mark Buehrle in the third after calling two balks on the lefty hurler.

In the second inning, according to media reports, West started yelling at Buehrle before Guillen could get on the field to calm the situation and West then ejected Guillen before he could even get a few words into his argument.

West seems to enjoy getting publicity these days. He’s the same guy who blasted the Boston Red Sox and New York Yankees earlier this season because both teams refuse to speed up their pace of play. An ump since 1976, he once ejected two cameramen at Shea Stadium for allowing the New York Mets to view replays of a controversial play.

This isn’t to single out these two guys. There are many times it seems as though umpires are getting more and more “in your face” when players and managers question calls. That’s not to say they should allow themselves to be walked upon. But umpires should not be immediately getting in the faces of the people who question them.

Fans pay to watch these guys play. I’m sure some of the players are jerks and nobody likes to have their integrity or authority questioned. But there are better ways to deal with arguments than by immediately making them worse. Players and managers get suspended if their behaviors are deemed too out of hand.

Umpires are rarely treated the same way. That has to change.