MLB gives guidance on foreign substances

[VaBird1]

22 minutes ago, big_sparxx said:

so let's get this straight then... it's cheating when you let the batter know what pitch is coming, and its cheating when the pitch is doctored....

why not just let it all go?

I don't think there is a rule against telling the batter which pitch is coming though...

[Camden_yardbird]

1 hour ago, panick said:

So Glasnow was cheating(and he knew it), and now he's whining because he has to obey the rules. He says MLB doesn't understand. I think he's the one that doesn't understand.

Is it cheating if the interpreters of the rule ignored it?  MLB and by extension the umpires were not interpreting sunscreen as a foreign substance and were not enforcing against it.  Pine tar, only if egregiously used.  In fact it should throw up a red flag to everyone that despite defining some 50 or so terms in the rules, MLB does not define foreign substance.

Is it cheating in basketball if the refs don't interpret half the dribbles in the league to be a "carry".  They are by a strict interpretation of the rule but they don't have a strict interpretation.

Words, and by extension rules are fluid, subject to interpretation.  Lawyers make a lot of money because of it.  The fact is major league baseball isn't changing the rule, they are changing their interpretation.

I do think the pitchers have gone too far this year.  Its clear in a lot of instances that what they are using for grip is altering movement and that is a problem.  Major league baseball needs to balance player safety (too much or too little grip results in injured hitters) and it needs to provide competitive balance.  Both of those require some level of grip aid for the pitcher above and beyond the rosin bag.

[VICIOUS]

What's this going to do about Analytics and Pitching? Was it really about the substances being used to create the spin rate?

 

[OsFanSinceThe80s]

1 hour ago, VICIOUS said:

What's this going to do about Analytics and Pitching? Was it really about the substances being used to create the spin rate?

 

Probably find a new way to bend the rules. 

[Can_of_corn]

On 6/16/2021 at 11:36 AM, Camden_yardbird said:

Is it cheating if the interpreters of the rule ignored it?  MLB and by extension the umpires were not interpreting sunscreen as a foreign substance and were not enforcing against it.  Pine tar, only if egregiously used.  In fact it should throw up a red flag to everyone that despite defining some 50 or so terms in the rules, MLB does not define foreign substance.

Is it cheating in basketball if the refs don't interpret half the dribbles in the league to be a "carry".  They are by a strict interpretation of the rule but they don't have a strict interpretation.

Words, and by extension rules are fluid, subject to interpretation.  Lawyers make a lot of money because of it.  The fact is major league baseball isn't changing the rule, they are changing their interpretation.

I do think the pitchers have gone too far this year.  Its clear in a lot of instances that what they are using for grip is altering movement and that is a problem.  Major league baseball needs to balance player safety (too much or too little grip results in injured hitters) and it needs to provide competitive balance.  Both of those require some level of grip aid for the pitcher above and beyond the rosin bag.

We don't have any evidence that HBP will go up if they don't use grip enhancers.

[Camden_yardbird]

20 minutes ago, Can_of_corn said:

We don't have any evidence that HBP will go up if they don't use grip enhancers.

Anecdotally we do.  We have plenty of hitters who say "I don't care if pitchers use substances for grip so they don't hit me."

So at least hitters believe that's a thing, unless pitchers just gaslit the hitters for the past 80 years.

[Can_of_corn]

1 hour ago, Camden_yardbird said:

Anecdotally we do.  We have plenty of hitters who say "I don't care if pitchers use substances for grip so they don't hit me."

So at least hitters believe that's a thing, unless pitchers just gaslit the hitters for the past 80 years.

HBP has been up the last few years.

I think if you can't control your 96 mph fastball throw 94.

[bobmc]

On 6/16/2021 at 11:36 AM, Camden_yardbird said:

Is it cheating if the interpreters of the rule ignored it?  MLB and by extension the umpires were not interpreting sunscreen as a foreign substance and were not enforcing against it.  Pine tar, only if egregiously used.  In fact it should throw up a red flag to everyone that despite defining some 50 or so terms in the rules, MLB does not define foreign substance.

Is it cheating in basketball if the refs don't interpret half the dribbles in the league to be a "carry".  They are by a strict interpretation of the rule but they don't have a strict interpretation.

Words, and by extension rules are fluid, subject to interpretation.  Lawyers make a lot of money because of it.  The fact is major league baseball isn't changing the rule, they are changing their interpretation.

I do think the pitchers have gone too far this year.  Its clear in a lot of instances that what they are using for grip is altering movement and that is a problem.  Major league baseball needs to balance player safety (too much or too little grip results in injured hitters) and it needs to provide competitive balance.  Both of those require some level of grip aid for the pitcher above and beyond the rosin bag.

Troy Percival was the culprit thirty years ago!  Angels clubhouse guy, Bubba Harkins, who supplied many MLB'ers, says so.

"Harkins recalls what happened next like this: Percival asked him for a utility knife, rosin, liquid pine tar and Mota stick. Percival showed him how to saw off the can’s lid and combine the ingredients, holding a lighter under the bottom to melt the contents before pouring it into a three-ounce tin to reharden. “It’s like taking ketchup and mayo and making Thousand Island,” Harkins says now. “Three simple ingredients that every clubhouse has.” (Percival declined an interview request.)

https://www.si.com/mlb/2021/06/14/sticky-stuff-bubba-harkins-speaking-out-daily-cover

[Can_of_corn]

Bump.

Now that the period of fan outrage is over guys are using again.