Quote:
Originally Posted by Ksyrup
Follow-up on the K-Rod cheating incident(s):
"It's the same stuff I've had since I was called up [in 2002]," Rodriguez said, showing his cap to a pair of reporters at his locker to show the resin residue on its bill. "A lot of pitchers use it. They rub it on their pants and use it when they need it. I have it on my cap. You can see it in all the pictures; it's there.
"I don't see why they're making a big deal out of this. We can't worry about things we can't control. They haven't made it illegal, so it's something I do."
Um...it is illegal to have any substance under the bill of your cap. That's what the resin bag is for, and why it is kept away from the mound. If you could put it under the bill of your cap, you could also put other illegal things there. So the substance might not be illegal, but where you keep it and use it is.
It's become readily apparent that the days of Gaylord Perry are long gone. These days, there are too many cameras to keep cheating like this hidden.
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"Cheating like this".
Got it. So why is it cheating again? Because a legal substance isn't where it should be on a player's person? How does that affect the game? If the substance has been deemed legal and usable by players on the field, why does it matter where they keep the stuff? Are you saying it's not resin? Because everyone seems to believe it is indeed just resain, a legal substance.
You call this cheating. Cheating is trying to gain an edge through means outside of the rules. How exactly is K-Rod gaining an edge here? Because he doesn't get as tired constantly going back behind the mound to get the resin bag? Because by putting it on his cap instead of on his pants leg, he can reach up easier, so he's not so fatigued? What exactly is the edge here?
If you say the edge is somehow in how his pitches move, clearly you have missed every Angels win between 2002 and now, because if you had ever seen the guy pitch, you would know there is no foreign substance that can make a guy's pitch move
like that. I mean, honestly, it's one of the most wicked sliders to come along in some time. You honestly think any substance out there exists that turns a normal slider into a something as knee-breaking as K-Rod's out pitch? His fastball has pop, but is fairly straight. His change is only effective because of its contrast to his heat. His curve is his weakest pitch. When exactly is he using his resin to cheat again?
Yes, I'm an Angels fan and acknowledge it willingly. But anyone who thinks this is cheating is either overreaching on semantics (where a
legal substance is placed?!?) for reasons that are unclear to me, or obviously has a sharp disgareement with how baseball authorities themselves view the affective qualities of resin on the game.
The blogger is doing this to sell a book. Sad to see anyone taken in by it. Bob Watson, by all accounts the biggest beauracratic asshole in baseball as the head disciplinarian, already contacted Bill Stoneman and said there wouldn't be any investigation. Read between the lines. This is nothing.
If you want to talk about GMJ possibly using HGH, okay, that's another subject altogether.