It's a shame that this Spaeder guy is leading this charge. He is so bad on the radio right now it's unbelievable. He can't get words out, says these vague "facts". He will never get national traction on the big shows because he is AWFUL on the radio.
It is objectively weird as hell that no major media outlet is saying anything about Spader’s reporting. He’s not some internet troll...he’s well-respected within the industry (or so I thought), and clearly has intel/connections to active players in the Union. I didn’t listen to his radio piece, but I’m just surprised (really we shouldn’t be), that neither this, Kratz’ COL statements, even Logan Morrison’s NYY statements just fly under the radar. It’s head scratching and mind boggling, but then I remember that people are morons and believe whatever they want to believe...just sad from an investigative journalism standpoint that this stuff is back page news, if that. What a shame.
I like him, but you’re right, it was really bad. I can’t figure out if he was trying to carefully word what he was saying or if he was high. It was weird.
Gerrit Cole Struggles With Grip, Tells MLB 'Just Talk To Us' Gerrit Cole called out Major League Baseball in its attempt to regulate foreign substances after struggling to keep a firm hold of the baseball during his start against the Toronto Blue Jays on Wednesday night. "It's so hard to grip the ball," a frustrated Cole said. "For Pete's sake, it's part of the reason why almost every player on the field has had something, regardless if they're a pitcher or not, to help them control the ball." This was Cole's first start since Major League Baseball sent a memorandum detailing enhanced enforcement of Official Baseball Rules 3.01 and 6.02(c) and (d), which prohibit applying foreign substances to baseballs. Those foreign substances are frequently used to doctor baseballs for increased spin rates. Cole added: "We are aligned in a lot of areas with the commissioner's office on this. ... Please, just talk to us, please just work with us. I know you have the hammer here. But we've been living in a gray area for so long. I would just hate to see players get hurt. I would hate to see balls start flying at people's head. I had a really tough time gripping the baseball tonight, especially early when it was windy. I don't really care to be inflammatory here, so I am just going to leave it at that."
Its clear that the union got the talking points out to the pitchers... complete with all of them subtly mentioning that they could start to throw balls at guys heads... My question is why did they all deny "anything" when pressed on it earlier? Now they're all simply "OF COURSE WE NEED SOMETHING TO GRIP THE BALL... GAHHH!" If they were aligned with MLB, they could have all worked towards a solution before it got out of hand. MLB does not want suppressed offensive numbers. They were willing to let it go until it got to this sort of dominance between pitchers/catchers. My guess is they'd turn another blind eye to steroids before giving in on the pitching substances as only one of them "gets viewers" (although I like watching dominant pitching).
My God...what a joke. Cole cannot in all seriousness be advocating for sticky substances because he’s worried about player safety. At least try to appear reasonable. This is the same sport where half, if not more, of the players advocate for throwing at other players. To spin this is a safety necessity is just so dumb and so bad. Gee, how did players manage to not hit others in the head for the first century plus?
Love RoyO, but I'm not sure i believe that, especially at the end of his career. And I'm not denigrating any pitcher who used whatever stuff they let him get away with...they all mostly did. They got rid of sandpaper and emory boards and then the grease just got better. It has gotten a bit silly recently with science getting ahead of the rules (where have we seen this before?). MLB is just horrible about reacting to things, from the amphetamines and painkillers, to the drugs in the 70's, to steroids, to technology, to sticky stuff. They're always a step behind. Because they are incredibly incompetent, willfully or not, mostly willfully.
It is my theory that most cheating starts with "most favored teams" so they are not concerned. But let any other team do it better and it becomes a problem. The difference between innovation and cheating seems to be who does it, not what they do. Stealing signs is part of the game. It has been since they first started using signs. Doing it better is just wrong (if you aren't a favored team.) Honestly, if Barry Bonds had played for the Yankees, would there even be a steroid era?
Yeaaaah. The Yankees never, ever got in trouble for PEDs. Not ARod, not Giambi, not Roger, not Andy, not any of the other 29 guys who were implicated. Nope.
I agree with you but he's ******** on the Yankees so we should allow it. Judge is probably a bigger steroid cheat than ARoid
Right at the end...batters have gloves...That's the solution. No sticky substances on the ball. But wear sticky gloves!!!
Is it just me or has our starting pitching gotten even better/more consistent since the sticky icky scandal came out?
