Posted on 10/23/2006 6:59:40 AM PDT by MAD-AS-HELL
DETROIT -- Kenny Rogers pitched eight scoreless innings Sunday, running his shutout streak this postseason to 23 innings while helping the Tigers even the World Series at a game apiece.
And yet, all anyone can talk about is Rogers' dirty left hand.
Early in the Tigers' 3-1 win over the Cardinals, there appeared to be a dispute about something on Rogers' pitching hand. Television cameras caught a brownish substance, possibly dirt, on the palm of Rogers' left hand in the first inning, and showed it several times. By the second inning the substance was gone, and the pitcher's hand looked clean.
(Excerpt) Read more at sports.espn.go.com ...
that would have been Geroge Brett. I think it was Billy Martin who called him on it.
I'm not sure how you came to the conclusion that the other team tried to throw him off his game. They purposely did not make an issue out it. He had something suspicious on his hand. If you watched the game, you know that. It didn't cause the Cardinals to loose but it was illegal in baseball.
Thanks, I didn't remember his name.
That's the legend. Some folks doubt he actually invented the curve ball, though.
My personal favorite example of the fine lines drawn in baseball is the stealing of signs. Legal on the field, but illegal if it uses any technology or personnel not on the field. Unless of course, the technology or personnel not on the field steals signs in one game, then uses the information "on the field" in another game. Starts to sound like an ad hoc pirate code after a while.
Why would he bother to scuff a ball if he has this magical "dirt" compound he can use that he can hide on his person and nobody can detect it except when he decides to show off and put it on his wrist so the world can see?
And we all know that here in America, the legal principle is "guilty until proven innocent." </sarcasm>
Of course! You've got HDTV, so you could see what the rest of us analog dinosaurs couldn't. I guess you also were able to make out that the last letter in the name on the back of the Cardinals' manager's uniform is an "O". See, I always thought it was "LaRussa," but I don't have Hi-def.
And we all know that here in America, the legal principle is "guilty until proven innocent." </sarcasm>
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I must disagree. The legal principle here is....it's only illegal if you get caught. Then if you get caught, just say it's no big deal. It shouldn't be illegal in the first place. Everyone does it.
Now THAT makes sense.
Rogers wasn't "caught." He was told to clean whatever it was off his hand, and he did. You allege that since his performance from that point forward continued to be stellar, he must still have been cheating; he just moved an illegal substance from his hand to another place. You have no basis for that.
There have been pitchers caught red-handed on the mound in attempts to cheat, most famously Joe Niekro's vain attempt to flip an emery board out of his pocket, hoping the umpires would not notice it falling to the ground. There is no such similar prima facie evidence Rogers just got better at cheating once he was "caught."
Rogers wasn't "caught." He was told to clean whatever it was off his hand, and he did.
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Therefore, he did nothing illegal since he wasn't caught. Do you even know who told him to clean his hand? I'll give you a hint, it wasn't the umpire. It was in his dugout as he came in from the first inning.
This isn't the first time Kenny was "accused" of cheating. But last time, he was called on it for scuffing the balls with his finger nails. Every single ball had the same scuff on the MLB logo that he pitched. He denied it, but was warned they are looking. After that, they hit him like he was a little leaguer. Gee, must be coincidence.
By your reasoning, once you stop Rogers from cheating, it's like batting practice, right? Well, what happened last night? He gave up two hits in eight innings. Thanks for destroying your own argument.
Rogers denied any umpire ever asked him to remove anything.
How do you figure? Rogers said several times that the umpire, or any offical, never asked him to wash anything off.
The Card didn't complain. The media and fans are the ones bringing this up.
He hasn't done well in the playoffs in the past. I believe he pitched terribly for the Yankees and the Mets in the playoffs.
Go back and watch it again and look at the brown spot that appeared on the top of his hat at the start of the 2nd inning - he continually rubbed his fingers on that spot for the rest of the game, which he didn't do in the first inning. The guy's a cheater.
That would be a decent argument if the following were true:
1. The opposing pitcher had a similarly colored spot on his hand (he didn't)
2. The rosin bag were dirty (when they showed the rosin bag, it looked pretty clean and white)
The interesting thing about that split-screen picture is the ball. Look at how the "substance" is all over the ball. Also, notice how shiny the "substance" is. It's not dirt, and it's not sweat in that cold weather either.
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