No Fighting in Baseball

I'm a baseball guy. Played a good portion of my life, including 10 years as an adult. I've enjoyed the game, and while I appreciate the history, there are things I'd like to see changed.

Coming home tonight, I heard two people debating the Harper incident. A pitcher threw at a batter, and the batter charged the mound. A fight ensued, and the benches cleared. You can read here: http://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/19499351/bryce-harper-washington-nationals-suspended-four-games-hunter-strickland-san-francisco-giants-six

The first guy, an ex-NFL player, said that the whole process is silly. Anyone coming off a bench should be suspended as well. In every other sport, that happens. There's also no reason to throw at someone for staring at you, not running fast enough, or any of the other silly reasons pitchers get upset. Actually the team as well.

The second guy, supports the benches clearing, saying it's part of the baseball code. He's not an athlete, but has kids playing high level baseball. He also doesn't want to see a 1-on-9 situation when there's an issue.

I think throwing at a batter is silly, at a minimum, and really assault. You throw at me, I'm taking the bat out there and putting you down. My take is batters (or runners) throwing a punch get suspended. The umpire and go out there and give instructions to stop. Each time he does so, we get a multiplier of the suspension. The individual causing issues gets suspended as well, but pitchers get 3x the suspension. They've got a deadly weapon in their hands, and throwing at someone purposely shouldn't be tolerated.

Anyone off the bench, bullpen, or that joins the fight gets a 2x suspension.

No fighting in baseball.