Rogers cheating!

spnited --

I agree that the Wetzel column is a joke.

I really do think its disingenuous for ESPN, et. al, to hype this like it's some big deal. Tons of pitchers do it, especially in cold weather. And, frankly, if he wants to get a grip with the tar rather than going to the bag between every pitch (which you'd have to do so as not to tip the breaking ball) I say great, it will speed up the game considerably.

If the Cardinals really think he's cheating, have the umps check the balls. If one's got a load of tar, run him.

The other complete joke is the implication that a little pine tar could turn dogass Kenny Rogers, who couldn't get a fucking match out in Minnesota two years ago, into a guy that throws 23 consecutive scoreless innings in the playoffs. The guy is pitching his ass off, changing speeds with masterful control. It's not like he's suddenly throwing a frisbee slider or a Mike Scott splitfinger.

He's throwing his same stuff, just better. Give him credit, much as I loathe him.

 

Hal McRae breaks the code of Omerta and calls out the Gambler... Cards say Rogers used pine tar, scuffed ball
By Bob Nightengale, USA TODAY
ST. LOUIS — The St. Louis Cardinals believe not only was Detroit Tigers pitcher Kenny Rogers doctoring the ball with pine tar Sunday in the World Series, he was scuffing baseballs.

"It was so blatant," Cardinals hitting coach Hal McRae told USA TODAY on Monday. "What was so strange about it was how obvious it was, in the World Series. It's a shame a guy would cheat in a World Series game. It hurts the integrity of the game.

"He wasn't just cheating by using pine tar; he was scuffing balls, too. We collected about five or six balls that are scuffed. He had to be using his fingernails or something."

Rogers, whose eight scoreless innings helped tie the series at one game apiece with Game 3 scheduled Tuesday at Busch Stadium, adamantly denied he cheated. Rogers, answering questions for nearly 30 minutes Monday, said he had only mud, dirt, rosin and spit on the base of his left thumb.

"Maybe it looked like pine tar; I don't know," said Rogers, who has pitched 23 scoreless innings in this postseason. "I'm skeptical of a lot of stuff (in baseball), too, but I'm not skeptical of my ability to pitch. My pitching isn't that dominant. ... I just know how to pitch."

Major League Baseball has no plan to investigate, according to spokesman Rich Levin, saying the issue was addressed Sunday night.

Cardinals manager Tony La Russa, who said Monday, "I don't believe it was dirt, didn't look like dirt," met with his team before the workout to explain his reasoning for not having the umpire crew inspect Rogers.

"I was not going to be part of the BS where I was going to ask the umpire to go to the mound and undress the pitcher," La Russa said. "I alerted (plate umpire Alfonso Marquez). I said, 'I hope it gets fixed. If it doesn't get fixed, then I'll take the next step.' " http://www.usatoday.com/sports/baseball/playoffs/2006-10-23-rogers-folo-cards_x.htm

 

The whole thing is so depressing.

Kenny Rogers is an idiot. A liar, a cheat and an idiot. For me, it raises the question: "Why am I spending valuable time on this planet making my life's work to talk/write about idiots?"

I'm so over baseball. Greed has made the season too long. Arrogance has made the games too long. Corporate ownership is messing it up. Young people aren't drawn to the game anymore. African Americans aren't drawn to the game anymore. Everybody cheats and few care. You can't even depend on the rule book, because apparently, there's another set of 'unwritten rules' everybody's allowed to break.

The only word I can think to describe it is 'depressing.'

 

So LaRussa now sends BP Coach Hal McRae out to do his dirty work for him? (two days after the fact, when the media storm is raging out of control--then he accuses Rogers of scuffing to try and change the subject ) He really should be fired...

 

Tony's getting an excuse ready for when he gets his ass handed to him in the WS again.

What a fucking whiner.

 

"I was not going to be part of the BS where I was going to ask the umpire to go to the mound and undress the pitcher," La Russa said. "I alerted (plate umpire Alfonso Marquez). I said, 'I hope it gets fixed. If it doesn't get fixed, then I'll take the next step.' "

TOTAL BULLSHIT!
If what McRae says is true anfd this is how LaRussa responds, it's time for the Cards players to say "Fuck You" to the genius who won't stand up for his team.

 

Also note that the story is now that he was scuffing the ball as well as using the tar.

I guess because they know damn well that pitchers use pine tar and rosin and other shit all the time, and anyone who knows anything about baseball knows that pine tar wasn't the reason they couldn't hit him.

 

Yep, this is all about LaRussa covering his own ass now in case things really go bad. (and protecting the 'genius' image)

 

St. Louis media is ready to annoint LaRussa to sainthood for his willingness to "play the game the right way." Give me a break.

 

I agree with everyone who says it's a non-issue.

I can remember going to Triple-A games in the northwest, before I was a sports reporter, and sitting front row beside the bullpen. Before games, pitchers would actually ALLOW THE FANS to help them rub up baseballs with a mixture of shaving cream and something else (I can't remember what the substance was, it was nearly 15 years ago!) "to get a better grip on the ball." It made the ball EXTREMELY tacky, to the point I'd go wash my hands before the game and it was still sticky in the third.

If they are doing it there, in the cold spring, they're doing it in Detroit in the cold fall - and that includes the Cards.

Non-issue.

SSM

 

La Russa certainly knows how to play to his market.
When does his contract expire, anyway?

 

Probably sun tan lotion, that works too.