It was noticed mid-way through his outing when cameras picked up a glistening substance on his palm, leading many to speculate he could have been cheating.
Deadspin listed the aforementioned rules straight from the MLB rule book:
The pitcher shall not
(2) expectorate on the ball, either hand or his glove;
(4) apply a foreign substance of any kind to the ball;
(5) deface the ball in any manner; or
(6) deliver a ball altered in a manner prescribed by Rule 8.02(a)(2) through (5) or what is called the “shine” ball, “spit” ball, “mud” ball or “emery” ball. The pitcher is allowed to rub the ball between his bare hands
The strange thing is, players deem it okay to use rosin, a sunscreen mix or even pine tar — in most cases — as long as it helps the pitcher grip the ball in order to control command. After all, we don’t need anymore head injuries. But if it was one of those three, why not admit to it? What does Pineda have to hide? It most certainly doesn’t look like sweat and dirt…
Pineda claims it was just dirt rubbed over his palm because he was sweaty, but does dirt look like this?
Photo via Imgur
…The pic above actually coming from a Yankees fan living in Boston as a public joke.
Here is video of the suspicious substance. It should be noted the Red Sox didn’t even make a fuss — it’s entirely a media/fan driven story. Gotta love baseball.
Josh Helmuth is the editor of CraveOnline Sports. @Jhelmuth – “Like” on Facebook
Photo Credit: Getty
