OBR: illegal act by pitcher
 

I am watching my beloved Orioles play the Red Sox on TV.

Baltimore is batting with the bases loaded down 2-0. Pitch is thrown into dirt and blocked by the Red Sox catcher. Plate Umpire ted Barrett throws a new ball back to the Boston pitcher Dice-K. Dice-K then wipes the sweat off his face and neck then directly applies it to the baseball and rubs it in between his bare hands.

Why is this not a violation of OBR 8.02a4,5, or 6?

Seems to me sweat is a foreign substance.

Sweat isn't a foreign substance.

Spit is specifically covered in 8.02(a)(2).

even though Dice-K is japanese?

I really don't think you can load a ball with enough sweat to do anything. Sweat, due to its makeup, dries very quickly in the air. A good hawcker, on the other hand..............

I would not penalize either as sweat would get on the ball everytime a human hand touched it. But in reality it is as foreign to the baseball as is dirt, mud, shoe polish, vaseline, etc.

The real question is has OBR made a list of what they consider a foreign substance or a definition of such?

or

Why do they accept one bodily fluid (sweat) and reject others (spit, blood)? If sweat can be rubbed in with the bare hands enough to render the substance innefective to the movement of the ball then so can spit.

How many times have you ever seen an MLB pitcher lick/spit in his hands off the bump and rub up a ball. If he's off the dirt, and rubs it up ... nothing

Now THAT'S funny :D

JJ

hahahaha! That was good.