That is it. I am with wes9. Shit on the hands is ok if piss is.

Steve, where do we draw the line under your theory that they just throw the ball and hit the ball? Paint an aluminum bat with a wood grain finish and go at it?

Rodgers is a cheat. LaRussa is a pussy for not calling him on it if for nothing better than poor form in it being so damn obvious.

petercobber wrote:Steve, where do we draw the line under your theory that they just throw the ball and hit the ball? Paint an aluminum bat with a wood grain finish and go at it?

Make a rule that makes sense. If it's okay to throw a wet ball when it's raining or the grass is wet, then throwing wet balls should be okay. I don't see how sweat or spit can be called "foreign substances." If it's okay to use rosin, why not pine tar? Why is rosin magic?

Let the umpire throw out any balls he doesn't like, and eject a pitcher if he thinks he's destroying baseballs intentionally. Otherwise, deal with it.

And I think the rule about bats is a fine one: They have to be made of wood, and cannot be larger or smaller than certain dimensions. Fine rule.

DrAwkward wrote:

hogrot wrote:Without the shitstain on his hand, maybe the Yanks pound him in Game 3

connor wrote:Sometimes when you fuck someone in the ass, you get some stuff on your hand.

Oof. Funny, but not appreciated.

= Justin

What about when the game moves to St. Louis? Is there some system in place that I'm unaware of to prevent pitchers from sullying their hands with tar when they take their turns at bat? A dry chemical scrub administered by the umpires between innings?
Gregg Zaun said something yesterday to the effect of, "Y'know, I'd prefer the pitcher use a little something to improve his grip if it means one isn't going to get away from him and go for my melon! Ha."
But that was Gregg Zaun.

steve wrote:If it's okay to throw a wet ball when it's raining or the grass is wet, then throwing wet balls should be okay. I don't see how sweat or spit can be called "foreign substances." If it's okay to use rosin, why not pine tar? Why is rosin magic?

And why is it acceptable to screw with the baseball itself?

I would not see a band called "The Calming Effect Of The Humidor".

Bradley R. Weissenberger wrote:I would not see a band called "The Calming Effect Of The Humidor".

Is it on? Does it have to be official? Brad that's twice in one day.

I'd suggest after the series is decided.

It was grease from below the beltline.

At least he pitched a great game after the fact.

Also, I believe the ump/MLB backed him up in order to protect MLB itself. Wash it off, move on with the game. Which would be much harder to do if he had gone out and gotten shelled in the 2nd inning. Oh well, the media shitball is rolling now...with no end in sight.

Regarding the silly rules of pitching wetness, pointing out the obvious here: Pitching doesn't bring in the audiences like the big hitters do. Sorry, people like dingers. Simple fact. MLB has to abide by their wallets. Why they don't enforce the rules excessively then? HGH pretty much counters it, for now. Also, a disaster like that in a National forum? Fahgetaboutit. The umps had to handle it the way they were told to.

Bradley R. Weissenberger wrote:
And why is it acceptable to screw with the baseball itself?

Shiny!

Also, please read this with emphasis on euphemism:

Blackburne took on the challenge. Next time he returned to his home in Burlington County, he checked out the mud along tributaries of the Delaware River until he found some muck (the whereabouts of the mud hole is still a dark secret) with a texture he felt would do the job. Taking a batch to the Athletics' field house, he rubbed some balls with the stuff. It worked like a charm! What's more, it had no odor and didn't turn the balls black.

mrdfnle wrote:Brad that's twice in one day.

I had a college friend who claimed that he would "hit" double digits if he was home by himself on a sick day from high school.

We're talking about very different things, obviously.

rrmanless wrote:Also, I believe the ump/MLB backed him up in order to protect MLB itself. Wash it off, move on with the game. Which would be much harder to do if he had gone out and gotten shelled in the 2nd inning. Oh well, the media shitball is rolling now...with no end in sight.

electrons wrote:MLB has to abide by their wallets. Why they don't enforce the rules excessively then? HGH pretty much counters it, for now. Also, a disaster like that in a National forum? Fahgetaboutit. The umps had to handle it the way they were told to.

These I don't get. It seems like it would be better for the umps to inspect the guy's hands, and if they're sticky, toss him out. That way, the game is clean, the umps are playing by the rules, and the eventual Tigers' victory doesn't have an asterisk next to it. There would be more publicity than there is now, but it would be good publicity for MLB and bad publicity for Rogers.

Or even, if they're going to lie about it, to at least inspect the guy's hands and then lie about it. That way the lie has some plausibility to it. As it is now, they can't even plausibly tell us it was dirt, because they don't even know.

One other thing - to the argument that, even after the visible pine tar is washed off, the hand remains sticky: why not just wash the visible part off before the game even starts? No Fox close-ups, no lying umps, no asterisk. Just good, clean cheating.