So it was obvious Rogers was cheating last night, prior to the 3rd inning. That was obviously pine tar. I noticed it before Fox noticed it though. I was watching him pitch and noticed he was really rubbing the ball in an odd way, and thought to myself, "Why is rubbing the ball so much..." Well then Joe Buck got the shot of his hand up and the rest was history. And its obviously pine tar, because dirt and chocolate cake is a joke, Todd Jones said it might be chocolate cake.
And photos from the ALCS show the Gambler with tar on his palm as well. So that explains how he's gotten his demons off his back. And even if you 'wash' it off the residue can still be on there, you'd pretty much need goo be gone to get it off. Which would then make your hands slipperly and you'd throw a good spit ball.
So he cheated, doesn't matter all that much, the cards got pitches to hit and didn't. Rolen did he's been amazing, like a pheonix rising out of arizona, he's proving his worth despite his fielding woes.
The reason Larussa didn't make a stink about Rogers? Two reasons, Leyland and Taveraz. He's probably cutting his buddy a break to be honest. The Larussa of last year would have had a heart attack if garner had tried this. The second reason is Taveraz did it in 2003, people wondered what was on his cap and why he grabbed the bill of his cap before every pitch... he was a sticky ball pitcher. And as soon as his trick was figured out, or at least as soon as someone finally complained he threw his hat into the stands at busch (to hide the evidence) and has since been an awful pitcher. So Larussa knowing his sinful past probably didn't want to punish his friend for something he allowed himself.
All in all its sad, but in a lot of ways a part of the game. Roids, growth hormones, sticky balls, scuffing, and spit balls have been part of the game since its beginning... well not the roids and hormones that's a new addition. I was impressed how the cards almost pulled it out in the 9th, granted i had fallen asleep by then. I just hope the cards ride the wave of home crowd and come back and win three in a row.
Posted by holtonian at October 23, 2006 02:35 PM | TrackBacknot EVERYone has cheated in baseball. but here's my story...
i was 12 (or 13).
a 6 foot who-knows-how-many inches was on first. i was playing second base.
he always steals, and we knew he would.
a pitch went past the catcher.
the really