Let’s be clear about this: Pine tar and steroids have little in common. Pine tar will not cause long-term health problems unless you’re actually eating it. It’s sticky, and if you’ve ever gotten it on your hands, you know it tends to stay tacky for quite a long time.
Last week’s kerfuffle surrounding Tampa Bay Rays — and former Nationals — reliever Joel Peralta’s ejection from a game at Nationals Park for having pine tar on his glove resulted in an eight-game suspension, far too harsh for the crime. Yes, the rules state that a pitcher may not apply any foreign substance to the baseball, but inasmuch as there are pine tar rags in every big league clubhouse, the term “foreign” loses some of its steam.
Had there simply been a smudge of pine tar on Peralta’s glove, he might have escaped with simply an ejection, but there was pine tar all over it. But the infraction aside, the biggest issue stemming from the incident seems to be that someone on the Nationals blew the whistle on their ex-teammate. That, in the eyes of some, is unforgivable.
I’ve heard for years that when a player changes teams, his new club essentially debriefs him on his old team: signals, tendencies, etc. Really, how is this any different than that? I wouldn’t label it “cowardly,” as Rays skipper Joe Maddon did; it’s just part of the game. As some old ballplayer said long ago, “If you’re not cheatin’, you’re not tryin’.” The same must go for blowing the whistle.
MASN colleague Mike Wallace — who knows a thing or two about throwing a ball in anger — recently chatted with an ex-teammate who’s now a big league pitching coach and asked him how many major league pitchers use something on the ball other than their bare fingers.
“About half, I’d guess,” was the reply.
With more than 300 pitchers in the major leagues at any one time, that’s a lot of potential suspensions.
There are several ways to doctor a baseball. Some use spit or some type of personal lubricant to create a slick spot so that the ball is released with a forward spin. Some cut or scuff the ball, which also affects the ball’s flight. Pine tar — or some other type of stick’um — gives the pitcher a tighter grip and improves his control at the point of release. A tighter grip means a tighter spin on a breaking ball, which, depending on your interpretation, may be an advantage or may not be.
As the argument goes, hitters use pine tar to get a better grip on the bat, so why shouldn’t pitchers be allowed to have a better grip on the ball? That’s a question for the rules committee to answer next winter. But if 50 percent of big league pitchers indeed use something that apparently is largely undetectable, maybe the time has come to re-examine what’s truly a “foreign” substance and what seems to be pretty benign.
Examiner columnist Phil Wood co-hosts the “Mid-Atlantic Sports Report” and is a regular contributor to “Nats Xtra” on MASN. Contact him at [email protected].
