Two games and two controversial starts for NY Yankee starting pitcher Michael Pineda. In both games television cameras caught him with a foreign substance on his pitching hand. Although it has not been confirmed, the substance resembles pine tar.
Pine tar is a wood preservative that because of its sticky texture, batters apply this to the handles of their baseball bats to improve their grip. The advantage to using pine tar is that it prevents the bat from slipping out of the batters hands during a hard swing. Another advantage is the sticky texture allows the batters to loosen their grip on the bat and thus creates more “pop”. This substance can be applied to bats legally and according to the rules of baseball up to 18 inches from the handle of the bat (see George Brett for a famous incident involving the rule).
Although it has become more obvious that pitchers are using pine tar and other substances to get a better grip on the baseball. In Thursday’s game the substance was noticed by the cameras and people rushed to their social media sights to accuse the pitcher of cheating. The Red Sox never brought the substance to the attention of the umpires. Why? The substance was gone by the 5th inning after television cameras noticed and pointed out.
Social Media, and sports radio were abuzz after the incident. The use of pine tar, or spit, or scuff marks, or another way of doctoring a baseball is illegal and has been since the 1920s. But how many fans questioned why the rule exists, and how did it become a part of the game. Let’s take you back to a player by the name of Ray Chapman, and the 1920 MLB season.
So who is Ray Chapman? From 1912-1920 Ray Chapman was a baseball player for the Cleveland Naps (the team later became the Indians). The 5’10”, 170 lbs Short Stop had a career batting average of .278. He hit over .300 for three seasons and led the Indians in stolen bases four seasons. He led the league in put outs for three seasons and assists for one season. He is sixth all time in sacrifice hits and he holds the single season record with 67 in 1917 (He still holds that record to this day). A true team player, his greatest sacrifice came in 1920.
The day was August 16th, 1920, late in the afternoon. NY Yankees vs Cleveland Indians at the Polo Grounds. Ray Chapman was at the plate. A submarine pitcher named Carl Mays was on the mound. (Back in those days the pitcher’s doctored the baseball with dirt, spit, tobacco juice, scuff marks, spikes, basically anything to give the pitcher the advantage). It was the top of the fifth inning. Chapman stood in the batter’s box. The pitch was inside and Chapman didn’t move. The pitch hit Chapman in the head. Chapman fell to his knees and then to the ground with blood pouring out of his left ear. His speech was interrupted and he could only mumble as he was helped off the field. He was taken to the hospital, where he died 12 hours later.
To this day the impact of that game is seen in MLB every game. Chapman is the only player to die as a result of a play on the field. Rules were changed, umpires were told to replace any balls that were damaged, and to ensure that pitchers were not using doctored baseballs. No more scuff marks and spitballs became illegal For pitchers the changes that were implemented were almost immediate and forever. For batters, they would have to wait for technology. 30 years later, batting helmets were made and established as mandatory for batters to use. (Chapman was one of the main reasons used to support the use of baseball helmets).
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