I'm completely with you on this. This is exactly why posters need to realize this forum is not their f***ing basement and that they're not alone with their friends making jokes. The fastest way to insulate a community is to think of it this way.
It's a professional baseball team's fan message board. Everyone from children to seniors could pop by to cheer on the team and they shouldn't have to sift through 4chan-esque snark before they decide to leave the site completely. (I'm not even absolving myself of this either. I know in my 2200 posts here that I've posted more than a few offensive jokes or unnecessary barbs. I really try to keep them under wraps though and I'd be a hypocrite if I got pissed for someone else calling me out on them, which has happened.)
On the topic of being banned - regardless of whether or not I know the details of the exchanges that goes on between mods and regular posters, I am under the impression that more than once a poster has been banned for using the report option on a post a mod thought was overkill.
Is this not what the report feature is for? Even if the reporter is a prude (not saying s/he is), s/he should have a right to report whatever they find offensive without actual action being taken against them.