A lot of people have been talking about Kenny Rogers having some strange substance on his hand during the World Series game the other night. As a huge baseball fan, it doesnt really bother me. It is true that if he had something other than dirt on his hand that he was breaking the rules. But also it is up to the Cardinals to have the umpires check. If they had requested, and the umpires found something on his hand, he surely would have been ejected. But they didnt and so he went on to pitch very well and only give up 2 hits. I was never a pitcher, but i just dont think that this strange substance is the reason he has been pitching well.
To me its similiar to a lacrosse player using a pocket that is too deep, or a hockey goalie using a stick that is too wide. These are violations of the rule, and against the spirit of the game. But I have heard them used in comparison to using steroids. And in my opinion they are nothing like using steroids.
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John Kruk compared it to using a corked bat, which seems like a more reasonable comparison to me. I can't believe that the Cardinals didn't check. At the very least they get into Kenny Rogers head and that would certainly lead to him beating up a member of the media and that is exactly what this World Series needs.
i think that is a fair comparison, but even that i think provides more of an advantage. it doesnt seem like throwing 90 and hitting your spots and changing speeds is something that is really helped by whatever substance he had. it it likely that he was just getting a better grip on the ball. if there was anything on the ball the umpires would have noticed since they change balls every few pitches these days...
I thought the Cardinals did say something, that's why the umpire went up Rogers as he was coming off the field after the first, and the "substance" was gone after that.
M, i am not saying its ok to break a rule. i agree you shouldnt do it. i am just saying he wasnt really ever caught.
and E, i dont know if the cards said something. maybe they did, i am not sure. it sounded unclear to me. Rogers said they never asked, Tony L said they did. who knows. regardless it was gone the next inning. what if it was dirt?
also i feel like this sounds like i like K-Rog, when I dont. I just noticed non-baseball people talking more than normal about baseball because they think this is like water-gate type conspiracy stuff happening.
I don't think it really matters anyway because it was gone in the second inning and he still threw like 8 scoreless innings. Although you should check out uni watch for this week. It points out that he's the only person in the league who wears a bp hat during the game, and it just so happens that those hats have dark brims while the regular tigers hats have light grey brims. Easy to hide a foreign substance that way.
Here's the thing. It appeared on his hand during several gams and there is no doubt that it was pinetar. Guys like Rodgers (who I suspect uses HGH due to his sqare dead) can't help but cheat. LaRussa should have called him out since he is a jerk and would also be suspended for game 6. I don't understand why he was thinking....I guess he was showing respect for his buddy Jim Leyland or start a controversy, but this is the world series man....screw all that jazz.
But if you are going to use pinetar, why not by the cheezy clear franklin clear pine tar or spray some stickem on your hands instead of using the stuff that the players use on their bats.
A columnist on espn.com also pointed out that he could have hid it on the underside of the bill of his cap, since it's black.
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