A Yankees pitcher got ejected after doctoring his ability to grip the ball smoothly using pine tar for the second time already. Michael Pineda is now facing suspension after the incident in the second inning Wednesday of the Boston Red Sox Vs. New York Yankees game.
According to Yahoo! Sports, Boston Red Sox's John Farrell made the move to have the Yankees pitcher ejected from the game. Farrell reportedly asked umpire Gerry Davis to check Pineda's neck after noticing some distinct spots of a foreign substance, which was later identified as pine tar.
After Farrell's inquiry, the Yankees pitcher was ejected of the game swiftly for inspection. Authorities then found out that the foreign substance on Pineda's neck was indeed pine tar.
According to MLB's Rule 8.02, "The pitcher shall not apply a foreign substance of any kind to the ball." The rule then continues by saying that any blatant violation will face a corresponding suspension for 10 games.
Just last April 10, Pineda reportedly used the same substance to secure his team's win against the Red Sox. His pitching hand appeared to be gobbed with pine tar, but the Red Sox didn't complain then.
After the said game, Pineda explained that it was only dirt, but no one really believed his statements and most even shrugged the incident away. Back then, because the Red Sox didn't complain, the league didn't punish the Yankees pitcher.
Hoever, this time around, the Red Sox are not letting Michael Pineda to get away with this after pulling the same trick for the second time. Rules against foreign substances aren't generally enforced unless it's very obvious or the other team raises the issue to the authorities.
The reason why many pitchers secretly use certain substances when pitching the ball is for them to get a better grip. Commonly used substances for this purpose include sunscreen and pine tar.
When it comes to the player's thoughts on the use of foreign substances for better ball grip, Red Sox slugger David Ortiz opined, "Everybody uses pine tar. It's not a big deal."
On the other hand, Dustin Pedroia called it a "non-issue" since other pitchers had been involved in similar controversies as well.
Meanwhile, people involved in the said pine tar controversy except for the Yankees pitcher who got ejected began to took it to Twitter to explain a couple of things to fans.
"Brian Cashman: This is not something that we are proud to be sitting in. We are certainly embarrassed. We as an org. are responsible," Bryan Hoch wrote.
"Michael Pineda said he apologized to his teammates. Said he was having trouble controlling ball in 1st inning and didn't want to hit anyone," Hoch added.
"Pineda: i did it by myself... Yeah it's pine tar," Daniel Barbarisi tweeted.
"Pineda: i'll learn from this mistake. This no happen again," Barbarisi added a couple of minutes later.
"Farrell: Fully respect on a cold night you're trying to get a little bit of a grip, but when its that obvious, something has got to be said," Barbarisi wrote.
"General consensus of #RedSox: All pitchers use something, everybody fine with it. Just can't be so obvious about it. Farrell has no choice," Pete Abraham tweeted.
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