Dodgers third-base coach Larry Bowa, who came with new manager Joe Torre to the ballclub, has refused to follow the new major league rule that makes base coaches wear helmets.

"I'll make a real joke of it," he told the L.A. Times. Bowa said he would even be willing to write a check for whatever fine baseball would assess for the entire 162-game season.

The hot-tempered Bowa is way off base here.

The rule was put in place after Mike Coolbaugh, a first-base coach for Colorado Springs in the Rockies organization, was struck by a line drive last season and killed.

Having base coaches wear helmets is a good idea and one, ironically, that Dodgers broadcaster Vin Scully has promoted for decades.

For Bowa to thumb his nose not only at baseball, but at the game's most beloved broadcaster and the memory of Coolbaugh is completely classless.

Write a check to cover the whole season? What Major League Baseball should do is suspend Bowa without pay until he agrees to comply.