Eddie Harris: [wiping his finger across his chest] Crisco. [wiping it across his waist line] Bardol. [wiping it along his head] Vagisil. Any one of them will give you another two to three inches drop on your curve ball. Of course if the umps are watching me real close I'll rub a little jalapeno up my nose, get it runnin', and if I need to load the ball up I just... [wipes his nose] ...wipe my nose.
Vaughn: You put snot on the ball?
Harris: I haven't got an arm like you, kid. I have to put anything on it I can find. Someday you will too.
Does that soundbite from Major League sound familiar after watching Game 2 of the World Series? Starring as Harris: The Gambler in a locker room full of 98-mph throwin'-24 year-olds.
I noticed the crap on Rogers' hand right before the Fox broadcasters brought it up. Maybe it was nothing intentional, but Tim McCarver -- if he knows anything -- surely knows what pine tar looks like. Having been a catcher, he knows how pitchers cheat. So why would he even bring it up if he didn't have a strong hunch? I suppose controversary sells....
Rogers: Er, what substance on my hand?
Ump: Why are you rubbing my shoulder with your hand?
Rogers: Oh, am I?
Ump: Yes, you are.
Rogers: Sorry 'bout that. See, there's nothing on my hand.
With or without a little help from a foreign substance, Rogers was dominant tonight. Still, if he was using something, I'm not sure why the umps didn't do more than ask him to wash his hands. (I'm not sure that's what actually happened. Fox's reporting on the subject during the game was vague at best. Maybe the postgame reporting will reveal whether Rogers washed it off between innings, or washed it off only after being prompted to do so by the umps.) If the latter was true, and he was guilty, then he should've been tossed from the game with a suspension pending. Them's the rules.
At any rate, I'm happy to be heading back to St. Louis with the series tied, our ace on the mound in Game 3, and Rogers out of the picture until Game 6.
UPDATE: ESPN has photographic evidence: Rogers is a cheat. In his start in the ALCS, he featured the same mysterious blob on his pitching hand. See the photo below to compare the two starts.
1 comment:
I think the real question is why La Russa didn't force the issue. He could easily have asked for an inspection when Rogers was on the mound, right? In which case there would have been an ejection. I just wonder how much his friendship w/Leyland factored into his decision not to ask for an official inspection (while Rogers was on the mound). Surely La Russa knows there's nothing in the rule book about requiring a hand-washing. This ain't kindergarten--it's the World fucking Series.
I like the photo with the hand on the shoulder--that's hilarious.
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