Joining ‘sticky ’ debate
Ex-big leaguers weigh in on crackdown on foreign substances
When Tri-city Valleycats manager Pete Incaviglia was a big-league slugger, he didn’t mind opposing pitchers putting something extra on the baseball – even a little pine tar - just to get a better grip.
Incaviglia knew the possible alternative and how dangerous it could be.
“We wanted guys to have a grip on the baseball,” said Incaviglia, whose team lost 8-5 to the Sussex County Miners on Saturday at Bruno Stadium to fall to 4-16. “A guy’s sweating out there and the ball slips out of his hand going 97 (miles per hour), and you catch one in the cheek. And that’s not fun. I’ve been on that end of that.”
That said, Incaviglia understood why Major League Baseball is beginning to crack down on pitchers using socalled “sticky stuff.”
MLB announced last Tuesday that beginning Monday it will enhance its enforcement of the rules that prohibit applying foreign substances to baseballs.
Under new guidelines, any MLB pitcher who is caught
possessing or applying a foreign substance in violation of the rules will be ejected and suspended for 10 games. All substances except rosin are prohibited.
ESPN, citing unnamed sources, reported Saturday MLB umpires will inspect pitchers between innings and/or after they come out of a game, unless they’re behaving suspiciously during an inning. Closers will be inspected before entering a game.
Incaviglia, who hit 206 homers with six teams from 1986 to 1998, said he draws the line at pitchers using substances that give them a competitive edge. Substances popular among pitchers now include a sunscreen-and-rosin mix, as well as Spider Tack, a industrial glue that can generate more spin on the ball.
“The stuff they’re talking about actually alters the flight of the baseball,” Incaviglia said. “I don’t even know what it is. That you can’t have. You can’t have anything that’s altering the flight of the baseball. For them to get a better grip? I think that’s OK, from a safety standpoint.”
Sussex County manager Bobby Jones, a former big-league pitcher from 1997 to 2004, said MLB is going too far. When he pitched in the altitude of Colorado with the Rockies, the lack of humidity made the baseball feel “like a cue ball.”
“Without having any tack (grip), the hitter’s at risk, more so than anybody,” Jones said. “And also you’re going to find that pitchers are going to get hurt because they’re going to have to grip the ball that much tighter. I think maybe they can put something together where there’s substances that are banned, but then there’s certain things that are just for tack and it’s not that big of a deal. I think they’re making a grave mistake by not allowing guys to have some sort of tack.”
Tampa Bay Rays ace Tyler Glasnow tore his ulnar collateral ligament against the White Sox on Tuesday. He blamed the injury on not using his usual sunscreen/rosin combination in order to prepare for Monday’s crackdown.
The MLB batting average has plummeted to .238 this season, down from .255 in 2011 and .264 in 2001.
Jones said he thinks it has more to do with the way batters are being taught to swing than pitchers doctoring the baseball.
“Yes, the pitchers are nasty,” Jones said. “Yes, the pitchers are better than ever in a lot of ways with stuff. But they’re not better pitchers today than they were in the past. I just think it’s guys with a lot of holes in their swings and so it’s a lot easier to pitch and they’re trying to make excuses for why they’re not hitting and striking out all the time.”
In the Frontier League, only rosin is allowed. Any pitcher caught with a foreign substance faces ejection and a suspension, usually about three games because of the shorter season.
Incaviglia said he suspects a couple of opposing pitchers of using prohibited substances, but hasn’t spoken to his own pitchers about being careful.“none of our guys use anything that I know of,” Incaviglia said. “I haven’t noticed it yet.”