Posted on 10/23/2006 6:59:40 AM PDT by MAD-AS-HELL
I have heard about it on bats but what does it do?
A second reason- maybe Mister Rogers is just that good at pitching, that is why he pitched so well in the later innings, even with clean hands.
Hmmm? I suspect the second reason.
Can you folks explain to me what the tar does to the ball.
I have heard about it on bats but what does it do?
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Spit balls were made illegal in the 1920's I believe. When foreign substances are put on the ball (dirt, spit, grease, gum, etc), the ball starts to move in very weird ways, very unpredictable. Scuffing the ball in any fashion also creates weird movement and improves grip and is also illegal.
Pine tar in this instance was used to improve the grip on the ball, esp in the cold. With pine tar, a curve ball is more extreme, a breaking ball breaks harder, slider more movement, etc. It allows the pitcher a huge advantage. It really does little for a fastball, but Rogers the Cheat is not a fastball pitcher.
Why put pine tar on his hand for the world to see? It didn't make any sense to me. Stupidity? Brazenness?
On the other hand, why would an umpire tell a player to clean a legal, non-foreign substance called dirt off his hand? Why? Infield dirt is not a foregin substance. It doesn't make any sense according to the rules.
I found the answer in LaRussa's statement yesterday.
LaRussa's reluctant response yesterday to a question was that he didn't think it was dirt. (I didn't think it was dirt either because of the way it was handled, and because dirt doesn't leave a stain like that when its washed off.) I was partially right in what I was thinking yesterday because LaRussa said that after he was informed by his people, he had a decision to make, and he decided that he did not want to have the umpire go out and 'undress the pitcher', 'for the integrity of the game'. He said he told the umpires 'to take care of it'.
What this tells me is that what we have here in MLB is a tacit gentlemen's agreement that cheating is ok and will be tolerated, as long as it is not blatant.
The players know it goes on and are used to it. The managers are used to it. The umpires are used to it. MLB will do nothing about it. Rogers just went a little to far.
Tolerating cheating for the integrity of the game. I love it. Straight out of the Bill Kwrinton School of Ethics. No doubt, it's for the children. Tony LaRussa proved yesterday that he's in on it. He didn't want to show up his golf buddy. Dusty Baker even approves.
Kruk said last night that Rogers will just hide the pine tar in a different place. It won't be on his hand.
For Major League Baseball and the Boys and Girls Clubs of America, God Bless America.
Cordially,
Dirt is a foreign substance. You cannot rub dirt on the ball. A dirty ball is replaced every time by the ump. The only thing allowed to be applied to the hand is rosin. Period. Nothing can be applied to the ball and nothing can be applied to your hand except rosin. They make exceptions to licking the fingers and blowing into your hand when it's cold.
There was alot of debate and alot of shows on this last night and LaRussa was actually in a difficult position. He could have been thrown out of the game had he said something at the time it was happening without further information.
According to the rules, managers can't use TV footage during a game. If someone called him and said what was going on in the 1st, he couldn't bring it to the attention of the umps without different information. Yes, some of the players were saying the ball moved funny and the fouled balls had pine tar on them. Excused would be from the bat fouling them off regardless of where the bat scuff was to pinie tar. When this was brought to the umps attention in the 2nd, he said pitches didn't look funny to him, but he will tell Rogers to wipe his hands (which he already did).
When Rogers walked off the field to the dugout in the 1st, he was told by Detroit Coack Van Slyke (former Card) to wipe that off, which he did (you can see Rogers head down the tunnel). When the Ump approached Rogers in the 2nd, Rogers had his roid attitude going on (you can see him raising his arm and walking away from ump).
You can also see Rogers has a different color under the bill of his cap than the rest of the Tigers. Why? The black under bill of the cap better hides pine tar. Watching video of him the rest of the game...he goes to his cap before every single pitch. Coincidence I'm sure, but he rarely did that in the ALCS games he pitched. But why would he. He had the same magic dirt on his hand.
Rest assured, if this goes to a game 6, we will see a different Kenny.
Dump the ump.
Apparently, the umpires do not regard dirt as a foreign substance:
""Dirt is not a foreign substance. That's the playing surface. … There was absolutely no detection that he put anything on the ball by any of the umpires. That rule regards if he deliberately put something on the ball to doctor the ball. There was an observation, and [Marquez] saw there was dirt, and he asked him to take it off... Because it was observed as dirt. "Umpires, they've been around for more than a week or so. This is not their first summer away from home, so they've got a pretty good idea as to what dirt is and what a foreign substance is."
---umpire supervisor Steve Palermo
Cordially,
Oh, we heard what the Steve the ump said. However, it doesn't pass the smell test for very many professionals. First thing, yes dirt is the playing surface. But you can't intentionally put it on the ball. Spit is also in the game, but you can't spit on the ball. Finger nails are also part of the game, but you can't scuff the ball. His position is a spin for MLB that doesn't want this publicity.
Dirt is illegal if he puts it on the ball. Dirt is not illegal on the hand, so why ask him to remove it?
He probably just ran out of toilet paper...and used his hand.
Eggsactly.
Rosenthal makes some good points here: Rogers' smudge leaves lots of issues
Cordially,
Excellent read Diamond. Excellent read.
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