Posted on 10/23/2006 6:59:40 AM PDT by MAD-AS-HELL
That's it... The Tigers should be summarily disqualified and the Yankees should be subsituted to finish out the World Series... Yeah, that's the ticket!
Oh for crying out loud. You act like pitchers have never before in the history of the game either actually tampered with the baseball or put on a show to make it look like they had tampered with the ball.
Mike Scott with the Astros had the players perpetually convinced that he was tampering with the ball -- so much so that he didn't have to actually do it. Batters were completely psyched out. Same thing with the old man of the mound, Hoyt Wilhelm, back in the 1950's and 60's.
Who knows whether Rogers had something illegal on his hands (if it was pine tar, it sure did wash off pretty easy). But the classic headline in today's paper ("Cardinals Left to Wonder What Rogers Was Up To") tells you a lot. Rogers got into the Cardinals heads.
Pitchers can legally rub the ball with their hands and rub their hands with dirt, rosin, and sweat. Not much you can do to a ball outside of putting a piece of chewing gum on it or sanding a flat spot (which is going to make the ball do some crazy stuff) is going to have any more effect than the ordinary sweat-rosin-dirt combination.
But I'll admit, it's kinda' fun to play the outrage game ("we was robbed!").
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?
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As stated before by anyone that has watched baseball for decades. A cheating pitcher can move the tar to his glove, his cap, etc. I've seen nail files pulled out of pitchers pants.
Once this is suspected, the minds of the opposing team changes. They are now wondering if he moved it. As ESPN stated, Kenny had this "dirt" on his hand, same spot in all starting post season games for him.
FUnny dirt. However, if I were him, I would have left the "dirt" on there because it obviously helped in the first inning. So why remove something that is helping you, yet no illegal?
What a non-issue. I think that Rogers smears dirt on his hand in big games to psych out the other team. They batters notice the dirt, and think it's some "substance". This freaks them out take them out of their game...which of course works to Rogers advantage.
Yep, I have pointed that out several times and they ignore that point. They just keep insisting he cheated because they know he did.
A lot of "Howard Sprague" types on this thread.
Here's a crazy theory, maybe because the umpires told him to. I know, it is a tin-foil hat theory, but I am sticking to it.
This is from the ESPN news desk. Facts are FACTS. He is a cheat.
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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The article concluded that dirt seems to attach to the same spot of his throwing hand before every playoff game he pitched. The umps had nothing to dismiss him for because he "washed" off this sticky dirt that he never noticed on his hand in the first inning.
There is NO WAY a MLB pitcher will wash his throwing hand after a great first inning in 30 degree temps. Not gonna happen unless forced to.
Did the Plate Umpire look at his hand before he got back to the dugout after the Top of the First? I was watching the ESPN stories, and it looked like the conversation between Rogers and the Umpire took place during the Second Inning, after the hand had already been washed.
I may be off base here, but that is certainly the impression I got.
In any case, unless LaRussa requests an inspection, there is nothing to inspect. If there was any failure here, it can be placed at the feet of LaRussa.
Here's a crazy theory, maybe because the umpires told him to. I know, it is a tin-foil hat theory, but I am sticking to it.
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Uh, he washed his hands BEFORE the umpires called him out on it. Nothing to discuss ofter that. Again, if it was dirt, why in every game he has pitched in post season, was the "dirt" stuck on the same spot of his throwing hand?
Hang in there, you can justify it sooner or later.
The Umps saw and examined the subtance on his hand, concluded it was dirt and told him to wash it off.
Switch me over to rooting for Detroit. I was pulling for the Cards since they came within 2 games of the greatest September collapse ever and a WS win would make for a great comeback story, they are representing the Astro's division, they are a red state(!), and as a longtime fan of Houston teams I can empathize with the Cards being so tantalizingly close but not winning it all for such a long time now. But you've done a great job of reminding me how at the end of every year Cards fan whine and whine and whine some more. Plus I'd like to see Leyland win it all, really felt for him after that amazing series where Atlanta shocked the Pirates, and he's done great things with mediocre teams.
Keep whining, it just turns more Americans against the Cards.
From the article : "after the first inning, Alfonso Marquez, the home-plate umpire, asked him to remove the dirt so there wouldn't be any question about any controversy."
There was a noticeable dirt mark on his pitching hand, and after the first inning, Alfonso Marquez, the home-plate umpire, asked him to remove the dirt so there wouldn't be any question about any controversy.
Just amazing how he pitched the same for the next seven innings without cheating.
/sarcasm
Like the previous poster said, you Cards fans are such pathetic whiners..................
Maybe the umps should carry some moist toilettes in their pocket and supervise the hand wiping at the mound.
LOL. "Sticky" dirt? So you shook hands with Rogers after the first inning?
Ever tried to "wash off" pine tar? I suppose Rogers could have dunked his hands in gasoline after the first inning, but it seems unlikely.
Looks like Rogers got into the Cardinals heads - and yours. Funny how that still seems to work after more than a hundred years.
Perhaps we should go over what is in the article:
"There was a noticeable dirt mark on his pitching hand, and after the first inning, Alfonso Marquez, the home-plate umpire, asked him to remove the dirt so there wouldn't be any question about any controversy. And I think if you see the following innings, he pitched fine without the dirt."
There was an observation, and [Marquez] saw there was dirt, and he asked him to take it off."
"It was observed as dirt. [The umpires] have a pretty good idea what dirt is and what a foreign substance is."
Sounds to me like the umpires observed it and asked him to wipe it off. I am not sure where you are getting your information from.
Perhaps the Tigers should get proactive on this and include signs in the bathrooms telling the players to wash their hands before returning to the game. I know Wendy's does this.
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