Enforcing own rules puts MLB in very sticky situation.
Sergio Romo gave up a home run and dropped his pants.
It wasn’t exactly the familyfriendly image that Major League Baseball likes to project, but MLB signed off on new guidelines allowing for this stunning onfield behavior.
Romo’s Oakland A’s were on their way to a 136 victory over the Texas Rangers Tuesday night when he was stopped coming off the field by an umpire, and Romo immediately began pulling off his uniform as if he were at his
locker preparing for a shower.
During his nine seasons with the Giants, which included three World Series championships, Romo was known as an animated reliever who was not afraid to show his emotions, but this was the first time he decided to undress on the field.
MLB’s decision to begin enforcing its rules on applying illegal substances to the ball has caused some eyebrowraising moments and, in at least two cases, exposed the process to serious secondguessing, with umpires sometimes going through the motions and players sometimes acting like children.
“He gave up a home run. He was pretty pissed off, and I think he acted on his emotions,” A’s pitcher Cole Irvin said of Romo.
“Whether you think it’s childish or whether you think he did it out of frustration, I don’t think he needs to go that far. We have to do it. Looking at that, I was kind of surprised, to be honest.”
Last week, MLB announced umpires would begin inspecting all pitchers, and everything from caps to gloves to fingertips to belts has been checked at least twice for starters and once for relievers. Tengame suspensions would be levied for pitchers caught using anything from simple sunscreen to highgrade Spider Tack.
Because MLB mostly has ignored its foreignsubstance rules, including Rules 3.01 and 6.02, pitchers found their spin rates dramatically increased by using tacky substances on the ball, giving them better grips, better velocity and better break — which have led to historically high strikeout rates and historically low batting averages.
Monday was the first day for the new policing, a day off for the Giants. Tuesday, inspections of Giants pitchers seemed relatively uneventful with starter Anthony DeSclafani courteously cooperating with the umpires while being examined, as he had vowed to do in a Chronicle interview in advance of the series.
Romo, not so much. After the seventh inning, in which he surrendered a twoout, 421foot homer to Eli White, Romo was confronted by umpire Dan Iassogna near the firstbase coach’s box and immediately tossed his glove to the ground. And cap.
As Iassogna picked up Romo’s stuff, Romo quickly unbuckled his belt and tossed it at the umpire’s feet. Then the grand finale: Romo unzipped his pants and pulled them down to his hips, his long jersey not fully covering his underwear.
It wasn’t a good look for Romo, the A’s or baseball. A’s manager Bob Melvin vowed it wouldn’t happen again and said as much to the reliever.
Meantime, Max Scherzer, the toptier ace of the Washington Nationals, erupted for another reason Tuesday – beyond the normal two umpire checks, he was checked a third time after Phillies manager Joe Girardi, who claimed it was “suspicious” when the pitcher touched his hair, made a request to umpires.
Fuming, Scherzer threw his glove and cap and glared into the Phillies’ dugout while yelling, “I got nothing” and “I got sweat.” At one point, an umpire actually ran his hands through Scherzer’s wet hair.
After his final inning, Scherzer left the field staring down Girardi, who stepped from the dugout to stare back. Then came a heated exchange between Girardi and members of the Nationals, including coach Kevin Long, leading to Girardi’s ejection.
Pleading innocence, Scherzer said after the game, “I’ll take off all my clothes if you want to see me.” It may become common practice.
A day later, the industry reacted to the initial policing. Washington general manager Mike Rizzo called Girardi a “con artist” and said there was no probable cause for the third check on Scherzer.
“It’s embarrassing for Girardi. It’s embarrassing for the Phillies. Was he playing games? Of course he was,” Rizzo said in an interview with Washington radio station WJFK, accusing Girardi of gamesmanship.
“The umps shouldn’t have allowed it, but it happened
and you have to deal with it.”
Yankees reliever Zack Britton called the optics, including those of Scherzer and Romo, “absolutely embarrassing” and added, “I was embarrassed that that’s what our game looks like right now.”
Unlike Girardi, Melvin said he wouldn’t request umpires to further check pitchers. According to a memo sent to all 30 teams, a manager can’t make a request in “bad faith” and can be ejected if umpires determine it was made simply to disrupt the pitcher.
“As long as the umpires are doing it, I don’t feel a need for me to get involved,” Melvin said. “That’s what they’re there to do. Something could transpire along the way. But as I sit here right now, I see no need.”
Melvin credited umpires for how they’re conducting the inspections, saying, “It’s gone really well, better than I would have expected. The umpires have been great about it. They seem very personable. It goes pretty quickly. It seems like there are smiles on the pitchers’ face and the umpires’.”
In Wednesday’s Giants game in Anaheim, Angels reliever Mike Mayers was seen explaining what was in his hair while his cap was held by an umpire. Nevertheless, Giants manager Gabe Kapler called the process from the first day “pretty easy, quick and simple off the field, and our pitchers knew what to expect. The umpires seemed to make it very easy as well.”
Still, it’s tough to imagine a frustrated pitcher who just scuffled on the mound to be giddy about getting checked, with fans watching in person and on television, for a foreign substance.
“Maybe they could find a way to make sure to do it before guys’ outings just in case,” A’s first baseman Matt Olson said. “That’s frustrating, I’m sure, having to do that after giving up some runs. I’m sure it’ll be a process, and umpires will find the right time to do it.”
Like others in the game, Olson suggested borrowing an idea from Nippon Professional Baseball in Japan, where the ball comes out of the box already tacky.
“At some point, there will have to be some sort of universal tack on the ball like in Japan,” Olson said. “Probably something they’ll have to address in the offseason.”
Commissioner Rob Manfred, whose news release last week addressed the need to “level the playing field,” said the implementation has “gone very well,” saying no player has been caught with a banned substance or ejected.
“Frankly, the data suggests that we are making progress with respect to the issues that caused us to undertake the effort in the first place,” Manfred said in an interview with The Athletic, referring to lower spin rates.
Until further notice, the process will remain intact. Pitchers will continue to get checked on the field. Many won’t mind. Some will object. Others might even begin to undress. Whatever it takes to enforce the rules.