Romo explains dropped pants
A’s pitcher says intent wasn’t to disrespect ump
ARLINGTON, Texas — A’s reliever Sergio Romo said he acted in the moment and did not mean to disrespect an umpire when he dropped his baseball pants on the field during a check for foreign substances Tuesday night.
“I didn’t know I was going to react that way,” Romo said before Wednesday’s game against the Rangers. “Definitely didn’t have it planned or none of that. Getting caught up in the moment also, I’d just got done pitching an inning and I made a pitch I wasn’t too happy about. That’s still on my mind.”
Romo had completed the seventh inning, in which he allowed a twoout home run to Texas’ Eli White, and was walking to the A’s dugout when umpire Dan Iassogna approached to perform a check of Romo under MLB’s new enforcement against pitchers’ use of sticky substances.
Romo animatedly tossed his glove and cap to the ground, removed and dropped his belt to the ground, then unzipped his pants and pulled them halfway down. He then continued to the dugout.
“I’ll say this, I know it’s not the umpire’s fault,” Romo said Wednesday. “I hope Dan doesn’t find what I did disrespectful or that I did it intentionally to disrespect, because I didn’t. It just kind of happened.
“Look, I’ve been doing the same thing (pitching) for over 13 years, you know? And I
guess in a sense, maybe subconsciously in the back of my head, I had a little bit of resentment over the fact that not all of us are guilty.
“My spin rates have been pretty much the same my whole career, if I can recall, based on the fact that I don’t ever use anything.”
Umpires on Monday began doing substance checks of all pitchers who appear in a game, mostly between innings and involving a quick check of the pitcher’s glove, hat and belt.
MLB introduced the policy this month in response to what it termed “a prevalence of foreign substance use by pitchers” in the majors and minors. Rosin, a legal substance, is used to improve grip of the baseball, but other sticky substances are said to enhance the amount of spin on pitches, making them more effective.
Romo, who has relied heavily on a slider throughout his career, said he creates a “dry tack” by licking his fingers and wiping them on his pants and that pitchers do “need some kind of grip.”
“Look, I’m not for it (substance use), but I’m also not against some kind of tack,” Romo said. “In a sense I’m against it because now guys can spin breaking balls like other guys can without stuff on their hands. These guys can do it with stuff on their hands. So it does take away value from certain guys and it does take away from the uniqueness of certain individuals, myself somewhat included.
“But I do see the other side, too, where guys that have used it in the past used it strictly for control. Because they have hit somebody before and they have injured somebody and they do have that genuine fear, it’s a sincere fear they have, that they don’t want it to happen again. I can see that side. But at the end of the day, an even playing field is what I want also. There isn’t a person in the league that won’t say that’s really what we want.”
Some have suggested that MLB change the baseball or introduce one accepted substance that pitchers can use to create a grip. Romo agreed he would like to see “some kind of consistency.”
“They have to find an even ground, they really do,” Romo said. “This game is too great and grand to be having these kinds of issues in my opinion.”
A’s manager Bob Melvin said Wednesday he had spoken with Romo about his reaction Tuesday night and reiterated, “That won’t happen again.”
“I’m pretty sure if there was a point to be made it’d be the point that I don’t use and there’s no point in checking me,” Romo said. “I could have expressed my passion differently. But at the same time, no, I don’t see that happening again.”