Where do we begin with Michael Pineda?
Who is he? Why did he cheat? What the heck is pine tar?!
Essentially, Pineda is a 25-year-old Yankees pitcher who is turning in his first year following season-ending Tommy John surgery nearly two years ago after a trade via Seattle. He’s pretty good too, having posted a career 3.54 ERA so far.
Now it gets a little weird. Because, well, that’s baseball…
Pineda got kicked out of Wednesday night’s game against the Red Sox after Boston management noticed he had a brown substance smeared all over his neck.
Suspecting it was pine tar, which is illegal in baseball, Red Sox manager John Farrell requested the umpires investigate Pineda during the second inning (which you see in the photo above). After the brief inquiry the umpires determined the substance was in fact pine tar and Pineda was booted from the game.
Wednesday’s incident came just less than two weeks after the Red Sox learned Pineda was using pine tar in a game against them on April 10. Pineda hid the pine tar on his hand and didn’t get caught that night. Afterwards he claimed it was only dirt.
Wednesday night’s more brazen performance didn’t work out quite as well. Many expect Pineda will also serve at least a 10 game suspension.
But what is pine tar and why is it illegal?
Official Rule 8.02 states: “The pitcher shall not apply a foreign substance of any kind to the ball.”
The rule is set in place to prevent pitchers from doctoring the ball in any way that causes it to move non-organically — to say the least. In short, a baseball can move in unthinkable ways if the right compound is applied it with an arm hurling it 95 mph.
The funny thing is — aside from the fact Pineda was traded to NYC from Seattle for Jesus Montero, who was also busted for cheating (PEDs) — is that most pitchers use pine tar — more than any other substance — just to simply keep a grip on the baseball (in cold weather, especially, supposedly). After all, if a baseball is thrown at you at 95 mph, you want the pitcher to have control. Otherwise, this happens:
According to MLB.com, Pineda admitted he applied pine tar to himself before the second inning of Wednesday’s game because he was having trouble keeping a grip on the ball due to the cold weather and that he didn’t want to hit any batters.
“I know I made a mistake,” Pineda said. “I feel so sad today. It was a really cold night and in the first inning I [didn’t] have a really good grip on the ball.”
But at this point I’m sure you’re as confused as anyone.
If pine tar is illegal, then how is it widely accepted that pitchers across baseball use it copiously? Why aren’t suspensions rampant?
The pine tar rule is an out-of-date rule — just like many non-written rules in baseball. It’s turned into a code that says, “don’t make it obvious and we’ll look the other way.” It’s like this because players and personnel know it’s better for a pitcher to have control on the ball rather than submit a career ending hit-by-hitch.
It’s also widely accepted that pine tar doesn’t effect the trajectory of the baseball as once thought. But still, a rule is a rule, and if it’s obvious the pitcher is breaking it, the rule has to be enforced.
So what is pine tar?
NBC News explained it best on Thursday:
It’s made by distilling pine wood at a high temperature in a closed container. Under those conditions, the wood breaks down quickly and turns into charcoal and tar, which can be further distilled.
The method was made popular in Scandinavia, where shipbuilders found the tar to be a good sealant and water repellent for wood. The cash crop earned the nickname Stockholm tar.
It’s basically a really dark, sticky goo that gives baseball players an amazing grip. You can use it on bats, unless it’s more than 18 inches away from the handle, which is what happened to George Brett in 1983.
The most famous pine tar incident in history:
Silly baseball.
Let the rallies begin to legalize pine tar!
Josh Helmuth is the editor of CraveOnline Sports. @JHelmuth – “Like” on Facebook.
Photo Credit: Getty
