Roger's finger 'stuff'

[LMan]

I missed the start of the game last night. What was the boo-har-har about a substance on Roger's hand?

[Toadman15241]

To me, it looked like he had pine tar on his hand. LaRussa went out and talked to Marquez about it. Marquez asked Rogers to wash his hands after the first inning, but he never inspected Rogers' hand to see if the substance was dirt or pine tar. Rogers claims that the substance was dirt and rosin.

[tjones1]

There it is. Looks like he got his hand caught in the cookie jar! Seems fishy to me. MLB probably won't do anything since he wasn't ejected, but bottom line is he should have been ejected. Or at least Marquez should have inspected Rogers' hand. Marquez also went over to the crowd and spoke with umpire supervisor Steve Palermo. I wonder what was said between the two. My momma didn't raise no dummy, I've never seen any dirt look like that before.

What's interesting is they've showed pictures of this "dirt" on his hand in the exact same spot when he pitched in the ALDS and ALCS.

[David B]

Originally Posted by LMan

I missed the start of the game last night. What was the boo-har-har about a substance on Roger's hand?

We probably will never know, but the fact that the umpire (who is a professional) did nothing probably means in reality that its insignificant.

The media just wants to have something to talk about.

I did hear an interview with Todd Jones last week though and he said on radio that in cold weather all of the pitchers will put pine tar on their hands and that its allowed by MLB.

He probably would not say that today since its been blown up, but in his interview he said it was used by nearly all of the pitchers and that the umpires allowed it.

When asked why he said something about that without it they wouldn't be able to throw strikes and MLB didn't want everyone getting hit.

The things that go on in MLB that we just are never aware of ...

Thanks
David

[ozzy6900]

The substance could have been anything. Just because it is brown, does it have to be pine tar? For all we know, Rodger could have just come from the toilet!

[sj]

If it's allowed then why did they want him to wash it off?

[Jurassic Referee]

When did they change the rule on using pine tar?

In the 1988 NLCS, Jay Howell, the Dodgers' closer got caught with pine tar on his glove. He got tossed and then handed a three-game suspension. He argued that he didn't know it was illegal, and MLB told him "Too bad" and that he shoulda known the rules.

[blueump]

If it were pine tar (for argument's sake) and it was on his hand, what rule does this violate? It's not on his glove. It wasn't defacing the ball. Is there a real rules violation? If so, which one?

Is simply having pine tar on the hand illegal?

[UmpJM]

blueump,

How about:

8.02

The pitcher shall not--

...(b) Have on his person, or in his possession, any foreign substance. For such infraction of this section (b) the penalty shall be immediate ejection from the game. In addition, the pitcher shall be suspended automatically for 10 games.

JM

[kylejt]

That's not dirt, Turface, Diamond Pro or pooh. It's pinetar.

Apply a little of that to one edge of a ball, and watch your slider dance. That's a good place to put it too, right on the heal of your thumb. Just roll the ball back in your hand, and viola'. That is until those darn HD cameras showed up.

[blueump]

Originally Posted by CoachJM

blueump,

How about:



JM

But...for sake of argument...how can pine tar in a baseball game considered a foreign substance? I know this was played at a AL park, but what if the pitcher has batted and the pine tar from the bat is on his hand. Is pine tar a foreign substance...and is there a specific rule that prohibits pitchers from having pine tar on their hands?

[mcrowder]

Originally Posted by blueump

But...for sake of argument...how can pine tar in a baseball game considered a foreign substance? I know this was played at a AL park, but what if the pitcher has batted and the pine tar from the bat is on his hand. Is pine tar a foreign substance...and is there a specific rule that prohibits pitchers from having pine tar on their hands?

Yes there is. And it's pretty complicated to understand, so I'll post it for you:

Originally Posted by 8.02

The pitcher shall not--

...(b) Have on his person, or in his possession, any foreign substance. For such infraction of this section (b) the penalty shall be immediate ejection from the game. In addition, the pitcher shall be suspended automatically for 10 games.

Oh, wait, that was in the post you were responding to ... Um... so what part of this rule does not make it clear to you that having a foreign substance on his hands is illegal?

[blueump]

Originally Posted by mcrowder

Yes there is. And it's pretty complicated to understand, so I'll post it for you:


Oh, wait, that was in the post you were responding to ... Um... so what part of this rule does not make it clear to you that having a foreign substance on his hands is illegal?

So a pitcher bats, gets pine tar on his hand, and is ejected for having a foreign substance on his hand??? Back to my original question which ... um ...you responded to:

How is pine tar a foreign substance in baseball?

[mcrowder]

Originally Posted by blueump

How is pine tar a foreign substance in baseball?

Are you trolling me? Surely you're kidding.

[BigTex]

Originally Posted by blueump

So a pitcher bats, gets pine tar on his hand, and is ejected for having a foreign substance on his hand??? Back to my original question which ... um ...you responded to:

How is pine tar a foreign substance in baseball?

Pine Tar is not a foreign substance in baseball, it is however a foreign substance to the HAND. A pitcher may not have ANY foreign substance on his pitching hand. As for all the other things brought up previously, it is also illegal to have poop on your pitching hand, wether or not you are aware it is there. A PITHCER CAN HAVE NOTHING ON HIS PITCHING HAND. If he bats, and gets pine tar on his hand, he better clean it off before he takes the mound.