Pitchers Adulterating Baseballs
nytimes.com
Pitchers Adulterating Baseballs
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Re: Pitchers Adulterating Baseballs
#2Reminiscent of the countless ball tampering incidents in the sport of cricket. [1]
Of the England cricket team in 2005:
"It was my job to keep the shine on the new ball for as long as possible with a bit of spit and a lot of polish. And through trial and error I finally settled on the type of spit for the task at hand. It had been common knowledge in county cricket for some time that certain sweets produced saliva which, when applied to the ball for cleaning purposes, enabled it to keep its shine for longer and therefore its swing." He found Murray Mints worked the best.
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ball_tampering#Examples_and_al...
Re: Pitchers Adulterating Baseballs
#3Water is wet
Re: Pitchers Adulterating Baseballs
#4If you're a baseball fan, the book 'The Glory of Their Times' mentioned in the NYT article is a phenomenal read. It's the recollections of about 20 players about their playing days in the early 20th century, and is a reminder of why the game is so special.
Re: Pitchers Adulterating Baseballs
#5Reminiscent of the countless ball tampering incidents in the sport of cricket. [1] Of the England cricket team in 2005: "It was my job to keep the shine on the new ball for as long as possible with a bit of spit and a lot of polish. And through trial and error I finally settled on the type of spit for the task at hand. It had been common knowledge in county cricket for some time that certain sweets produced saliva wh…
How pervasive does altering the ball have to become before we start to be suspicious if the ball doesn't look altered?
Re: Pitchers Adulterating Baseballs
#6I struggle with this, I think as long as you aren't getting spit in your eye as a batter, who cares if a pitcher throws a spit ball, a cutter, or any other "cheat" pitch. I feel like that is living on the margins and that you probably aren't affecting the balls flight path as much as you think you are. 60' 6" isn't really a great distance, and batters have generally hit 1 out of every 3 or 4 times they bat since basically forever...
Re: Pitchers Adulterating Baseballs
#7If you're a baseball fan, the book 'The Glory of Their Times' mentioned in the NYT article is a phenomenal read. It's the recollections of about 20 players about their playing days in the early 20th century, and is a reminder of why the game is so special.
I absolutely love this book.
I read an article a few years ago that casts some doubt on Rube Marquard's story [1], which was one of my favorites from the book. I don't think this actually changed my opinion of the book, but just added a little more color to it.
I think it's this one. 1. https://mlb.nbcsports.com/2014/03/28/whos-the-worst-pitcher-...
Re: Pitchers Adulterating Baseballs
#8I struggle with this, I think as long as you aren't getting spit in your eye as a batter, who cares if a pitcher throws a spit ball, a cutter, or any other "cheat" pitch. I feel like that is living on the margins and that you probably aren't affecting the balls flight path as much as you think you are. 60' 6" isn't really a great distance, and batters have generally hit 1 out of every 3 or 4 times they bat since basi…
A cutter isn't a cheat pitch, is it?
Re: Pitchers Adulterating Baseballs
#9Here is my take. In long past times, baseballs were reused until warn out, and those that went into the stands were returned. This allowed the balls to get naturally bruised up, which inadvertently gave pitchers more (unpredictable) movement than today's clean, unused baseballs. Because of this, old pitchers may not have had to throw with as much elbow rotation as today's pitchers do to get effective levels of movement. This lower spin requirements meant less strain on arms of pitchers, letting them throw more innings and longer games than you typically see in today's baseball. Giving that pitcher's elbows are going out at record frequencies in the MLB in the last decade, I'm all for allowing pitchers to rough up balls some, moreover, enhance it beyond what they can do now. Optimally, I think the league should intentionally texture-ize parts of the ball to give pictures the spin they need, and thus help minimize injury risk.
Re: Pitchers Adulterating Baseballs
#10I struggle with this, I think as long as you aren't getting spit in your eye as a batter, who cares if a pitcher throws a spit ball, a cutter, or any other "cheat" pitch. I feel like that is living on the margins and that you probably aren't affecting the balls flight path as much as you think you are. 60' 6" isn't really a great distance, and batters have generally hit 1 out of every 3 or 4 times they bat since basi…
A cutter isn't a cheat pitch, is it?
No it's not: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cut_fastball
I do think it would make sense to give pitchers some additional grip aid like pine tar when the temperature is below a certain level. It seems like in the unwritten rules of the game, this is usually allowed if kept discrete.
The great body of unwritten rules is what makes baseball so enjoyable to follow over many years but also may be contributing to the declining interest in general. It's a slow game the rewards patience, subtlety, etc.