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Peavy's pine tar
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6 Apr 2008
Jake Peavy pitched a masterful game yesterday for the Padres. Watching the highlights on ESPN, I noticed something as Peavy went to shake another player’s hand after the last out.
Look a the right hand—his pitching hand.
That’s pine tar. Peavy’s cheating.
All it is, is HGH on his hands. Ha HA. Your an idiot. You most likely just pissed him off and is going to be nastier than ever. How come the umps never said anything to him after he wants a new ball. They look at the balls to see if it is bad or not. Peavy Rocks.
He must have a funny way of batting, only using his fingers and all, not a full grip on the bat. The "stuff" is on every finger except the pinky and his palm. If he intented to clean it off he would have seen it on his fingers. Also cheating is cheating, steroids and stealing signs. Thats why people get angry, it's not fair. I'm against it all. Anyway, if something like this happens again, then something needs to be done, but let this one go.
When declaring someone to be an idiot, a command of third grade level spelling and English might be helpful. Each person defending Peavy with the "batting" excuse should probably check videos or photos of him batting. You'll notice that he wears batting gloves. As an umpire, I'll point out that no rule exists prohibiting sign stealing. Umpires also don't often check for doctored balls unless the opposing team asks them to. And finally, actually try watching the umpire when a pitcher rejects a baseball. They may give it a cursory glance, but rarely do they inspect it. There's no reason to. MLB games have a virtually unlimited supply of balls. Twelve dozen are prepared for each game, with about 80 of them actually getting used. Besides, why would Peavy toss a ball back in after he doctored it? A little critical thinking instead of pure rabid fan emotion would be nice.
OMG are you fuckin serious?!?!?!?! That's an awful photoshop pic. I could have done better. Leave him alone!! Just because he pitches an awesome game he has got to be cheating right?!?! You're a DOUCHE!!!
How about... the mixture of dirt, saliva, and the powder from rosin bag? Almost every picher licks thier fingers. Some of the rosin dried powders are actually made of pine tar. When you mix it with your slobber and the dirt, it can be like the picture shows, I guess. It is kind of not OK, but OK thing.
Adam Kalsey: you are a beast man way to shut them guys up. tom: peavy uses batting gloves.....hpw the hell is he going to get pine tar on his fingers. bino316: peavy does lick his fingers but he always wipes them with his pant
By the way, Adam the genius, Peavy does NOT wear batting gloves. See his second at bat against the Dodgers on April 11, 2008, for example!!!
D-Zone, You might want to watch some sports newscasts or something. Then you wouldn't say stupid things in public. There's video and photos from multiple sources. Bino316, by rule, pitchers must wipe their hand off after going to their mouth. Mitch, not being in southern California, I don't see Peavy hit often. And there's not a whole lot of pictures of pitchers batting. However, the one [clear picture I did find is here](http://bp3.blogger.com/_CzXDSEy6WYQ/RlqHenOZjmI/AAAAAAAAAcA/_ClzbcY6UiY/s1600-h/Padres+vs+Brewers_052707_Peavy+01.jpg). Peavy's wearing gloves. In general, pitchers do. They don't want to get a blister while batting. What he was doing tonight, I can't speak to. Perhaps Baseball Tonight will show some of the game.
I think baseball players...all athletes for that matter...should be allowed to cheat. I've been a baseball fan since childhood and quite frankly I'm getting a little bored. I want to see 120 mph fastballs, 10+ home runs per game, and 2 stolen bases in one pitch. I'm down with whatever they need to do to make this happen...tar, roids, 200ft center fields, etc. Imagine going to a mlb game played in a pony league field! Thats what I want to see...
I see the emotions are running high on this topic and @Patrick I must say that I would agree with going to a game and seeing highlight after highlight would be great (I would go to more), but there still needs to be some class kept within the game. There is a fine line of dilution and abuse that can easily be crossed. I see and understand the attachment with the game and players, but honestly we all know there are shortcuts taken within the game and it is apparent to me those that are too emotional to accept the truth. Kalsey - keep up the good work. I always enjoy a good read to start my day
We'll never know for sure if it was just dirt on Peavy's hand that game, but let me put it this way: Everyone was saying "we're watching you now Peavy!" Well he just pitched 8 shutout innings against the Rockies with 11 strikeouts, and he's clearly one of the top 3 pitchers in the game right now along with Johan and Brandon Webb. For a guy like Kenny Rogers who's at the end of his career and trying desperately to win a world series ring, I can see why he'd try to pull something like that. But for Peavy he's in his best shape of his life and he's pitching lights out, why in the world would he risk getting caught for something like that? In any case, I think his pitching performances are speaking for themselves, he doesn't need to cheat in order to be absolutely dominant.
Kalsey, I would not go as far as saying Peavy is cheating. This seems a little too obvious for him to try and out and out cheat. Most of the time when a pitcher wants to use an illegal substance they will rub some on the inside of their glove, and go to it after a pitch. This technique is much less obvious than having something smeared all over your hands in clear view. I also did not hear much about this issue, was it not brought to light or did it turn out to be no big deal?
Folks, just letting you all know - a pitcher can use pine tar to improve grip on the ball (it just can't get on the ball itself)
Wilson, as an umpire instructor I can tell you that's not correct. Rule 8.02 in the MLB rules states "The pitcher shall not... have on his person, or in his possession, any foreign substance. For such infraction of this section the penalty shall be immediate ejection from the game." A similarly worded rule exists in all other rule codes from Little League to high school to college. The pitcher is not allowed to apply any substance directly to the ball or glove and may not apply any substance to his hands other than rosin.
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Mitch
April 8, 2008 8:08 AM
Also, Adam, have you ever pitched a complete game no-hitter so you would know what throwing that much does to your hands, and have you ever held a bat iwth pine tar on it, or picked up true baseball field dirt, or even used a rosin bag? Those who can, do, and those who can't just try to bag.