As I said, it was obvious our coach intended to get himself tossed. He wasn't going ballistic or anything, just complaining aggressively that there is no way those pitches were strikes, and was not backing down til he got tossed.
So my real question is I guess one for coaches more than umps - do you ever get yourself tossed in order to fire up your players, stand up for them, etc.?
A somewhat similar situation happened last fall in football. My son, a nose tackle, was getting chop blocked on play after play. A chop block is totally illegal because it is dangerous. When engaging the offensive lineman, another lineman takes his legs out.
Our coach (the most repsected coach in HS football in Oregon) complained every time it happened. Finally, about the fifth straight time one drive, he went onto the field and directly confronted the ref. He got the unsportsmanlike call .... but the chop blocking magically stopped.
I called him the next day to thank him. He was standing up for my son, and literally protecting my son's health.
While the situation in my son's baseball game was different because there was no injury risk because of the bad B/S calls, it did feel to me somewhat the same, as if the coach was taking a stand for his players.