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 ...
He seemed to pitch just as well without it. It was removed after the first inning and he pitched eight. There was no mention of this in his prior appearances where he also threw shutout ball.
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Actually your incorrect. GO read the whole story. ESPN looked at prior games footage during the playoffs and he seemed to have that substance on his throwing hand EVERY TIME he pitched.
He is a CHEATER.
"Oh, wait -- he didn't get shelled the rest of the game? His pitching in the 2nd inning as just as devastating as the 1st inning when he had a "substance" on his hand? "
Not really too tough to figure this one out. Someone watching the telecast calls the dugout and lets them know Kenny's been busted. So, he moves the location of the stuff he's loading the ball with.
I don't have a dog in this fight. I just was a fan of Gaylord Perry many years ago, so I'm aware that loading the ball can be done in lots of creative ways.
If you read the story, it explains that the umpires never saw anything on the balls that would suggest a substance was used.
He had some good stuff last night. The opposing team tried to throw him off his game. It didn't work.
LaRusso knew it was pine tar when a ball ended up in the Cards dugout in the middle of the first inning. You could see him and others inspecting it. My new HDTV could see it was tar as clear as a bell. It was not dirt. It was shiny and sticky looking. I was yelling at the TV for LaRusso to run on the field and catch the dirtbag Rogers red or brown handed.
So it's ok to cheat as long as it's in the beginning? As I stated in my original comments, Kenny pitched great and has been pitching well prior to this..so why would he EVEN ATTEMPT to cheat in the first place?
If MLB and Fox actually had that kind of approach, don't you think we would have seen a World Series between the Yankees and the Dodgers?
Didn't say it's okay. But you gotta admit, he pitched a heck of a game even after the 1st.
Considering how long Kenny has been around, it is more likely he did it to throw the opposing batters off their game, worrying about the ball being tampered with. I think Rogers got in their heads.
I just know there's something....
This is from the ESPN news desk. Facts are FACTS. He is a cheat.
After the substance was noticed, ESPN reviewed tapes of Rogers' pitching performances earlier in the postseason. The tapes revealed that, in starts against both the Yankees and Athletics, a similar-looking brown substance was spotted on Rogers' hand.
It was LaRussa who didn't ask. If he had asked for an inspection when he found out about the "brown substance" in the first inning, Rogers might have been pulled right there. But LaRussa missed the opportunity, as he so often does.
I think they actually tried. You can only "fix" certain things. Sometimes wrong teams win. Just ask New York, Chicago or Boston fans.
So the Cardinals were Bushwacked by the Tigers! But then again, Cardinals are in season and Tigers are an endangered specious!
So far all you have is inuendo. If it was pine tar, why did the umpires who inspected it say it was dirt? Perhaps a Karl Rove conspiracy before the elections? Umpires know the difference. Maybe this is the October Surprise.
Ummmm, if Rogers was cheating and that was giving him an advantage, how was he then able to pitch 7 more scoreless innings after cleaning his hand?
So, I guess the umpires were paid off then? The plate umpire stated he looked at Roger's hand, and it was Dirt, he also said the balls had nothing on them.
Also, the Cards didn't do any better after the first inning. IT was simple what was up, LaRussa knows Roger's has a hair trigger temper, and that if you can get him upset and off his game you can rock him. So the Cards tried to rattle Rogers and piss him off in the first inning. It didn't work. The whole thing was gamesmanship on both sides. Hell, Rogers may have intentionally dirtied up his own hand to get inside the Cards heads and make them think he was doctoring the ball.
I am neutral to either team. I admit I am a huge Pujols fan since his 2nd season in the majors. But being a U of MI fan, having spent time in A2, having family in Detroit (dad is originally from there), and knowing how dismal the tigers have been, I would find it great to see them win...but not cheat to win.
A bunch of sour grapes. The article does not conclude he cheated. The facts do not support that he did. You would have to beleive the umpires are lying and covered up for Rogers.
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