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Pineda is throwing junk balls?


Morgan423

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Everyone does it so the batters don't complain.

My guess is someone pulled him aside and told him not to be so obvious.

I am sorry but I just don't get the whole "everyone does it..." mentality.

Isn't that considered cheating? Don't they have rules against what you can do to the ball?

Honestly I don't know anymore, I always thought it was a gimme that you could NOT use sandpaper, vasoline, etc,.

That's how steroids became out of control, "everyone is doing it...."

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I am sorry but I just don't get the whole "everyone does it..." mentality.

Isn't that considered cheating? Don't they have rules against what you can do to the ball?

Honestly I don't know anymore, I always thought it was a gimme that you could NOT use sandpaper, vasoline, etc,.

That's how steroids became out of control, "everyone is doing it...."

The argument for their use (which I am not agreeing with) is that the better grip lessens beanballs.

Dirk Hayhurst wrote a piece on it today.

http://deadspin.com/a-major-league-pitchers-guide-to-doctoring-a-baseball-1562307090

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I am sorry but I just don't get the whole "everyone does it..." mentality.

Isn't that considered cheating? Don't they have rules against what you can do to the ball?

Honestly I don't know anymore, I always thought it was a gimme that you could NOT use sandpaper, vasoline, etc,.

That's how steroids became out of control, "everyone is doing it...."

The important thing here is to determine if he was using sunscreen, or pine tar. I don't recall pine tar being acceptable, but that sun screen is accepted. It sure looks like pine tar to me, he's a cheater and I am throwing out my opinion of his start.

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Interesting suspicion here that Pineda has been doctoring the baseball, including a screen shot of his pitching hand covered in what looks like Pennzoil (pine tar maybe?). Of course he was denying it after the game.

http:// bleacherreport.com/articles/2025176-michael-pinedas-hand-contains-suspicious-substance-while-pitching-vs-red-sox

He sure did have something on his hand. Some kind of substance.

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I am sorry but I just don't get the whole "everyone does it..." mentality.

Isn't that considered cheating? Don't they have rules against what you can do to the ball?

Honestly I don't know anymore, I always thought it was a gimme that you could NOT use sandpaper, vasoline, etc,.

That's how steroids became out of control, "everyone is doing it...."

The only thing pine tar does is give the pitcher a better grip on the ball. Something opposing batters are probably happy with, especially on nights where the weather makes it difficult for the pitcher to get a "feel" for the ball. It doesn't "doctor" the ball or make the thrown pitch act erratically like a wiffle ball. Now Vaseline, sun screen, etc., may cause the ball to slip off the finger tips causing a ball to lose rotation and effect it's trajectory when thrown. The Red Sox certainly didn't complain and even Ortiz said, "everybody does it; it's no big deal". Pineda's mistake was making it look so obvious. It looked like he had been changing the oil in his car in between innings.

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The only thing pine tar does is give the pitcher a better grip on the ball. Something opposing batters are probably happy with, especially on nights where the weather makes it difficult for the pitcher to get a "feel" for the ball. It doesn't "doctor" the ball or make the thrown pitch act erratically like a wiffle ball. Now Vaseline, sun screen, etc., may cause the ball to slip off the finger tips causing a ball to lose rotation and effect it's trajectory when thrown. The Red Sox certainly didn't complain and even Ortiz said, "everybody does it; it's no big deal". Pineda's mistake was making it look so obvious. It looked like he had been changing the oil in his car in between innings.

Yea all it does is:

Improve command

Tighten spin (makes the slider harder to spot)

Help it break a bit more at the end

That hardly seems helpful at all. ;)

Of course if the hitters don't mind then whatever. Far be it from me to be outraged on their behalf.

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Yea all it does is:

Improve command

Tighten spin (makes the slider harder to spot)

Help it break a bit more at the end

That hardly seems helpful at all. ;)

Of course if the hitters don't mind then whatever. Far be it from me to be outraged on their behalf.

They hitters don't want too much investigation in to them either.

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Yea all it does is:

Improve command

Tighten spin (makes the slider harder to spot)

Help it break a bit more at the end

That hardly seems helpful at all. ;)

Of course if the hitters don't mind then whatever. Far be it from me to be outraged on their behalf.

That's your opinion. But I'll side with the host of MLB players, both current and retired hitters and pitchers, who have been all over ESPN and the MLB Network since the Pineda incident, discussing pine tar's effect and believe it does not make the ball do anything unnatural. It improves grip. I didn't hear any of them decry the practice.

Red Sox reliever Chris Capuano said, "There' just a difference to me. I think performance enhancement, to me, is doctoring the baseball. Scratching the ball, scuffing the ball. Maybe some kind of slippery substance to make the ball like a spitter.

"That's really crossing the line. But something to give it a little tack is essentially the same thing as a rosin bag. When you lick your fingers and get it wet and stick to rosin, it's to get a grip. Whether it's sunscreen — some guys put shaving cream on their arm. Sometimes it just gives it a little tack.

Capuano defended the practice, saying "it's not making the ball do anything unnatural."

The 35-year-old ex-Met did say Pineda shouldn't have been so obvious about it.

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