Former Royals reliever says pitchers using sticky substance are ‘effectively cheating’
The hot topic around Major League Baseball is proving to be a bit of a sticky situation for the game.
That terrible pun aside, the league has said it plans better enforcement of the rule about pitchers using foreign substances on a baseball.
This is from a New York Post story on the subject: “(T)here are, to name two examples, Spider Tack, which was originally designed to help weight lifters, and Pelican Grip, originally designed to help batters improve their bat grip .... These substances go well beyond aiding a pitcher. The industry-wide belief is they enable pitchers to transform into considerably superior performers.”
Specifically, a better grip helps pitchers put a greater spin on the ball, which makes it difficult for the batters to hit.
USA Today noted Wednesday that MLB hitters have a .237 batting average, down 15 points from the 2019 season.
Former Royals reliever Peter Moylan said pitchers using the substance are bad for the game and they are cheating.
“Chronologically, this is my history with Stickum: I pitched in 2006 all the way to 2013 without any sticky stuff at all,” Moylan said on the Farm to Fame podcast. “Nothing. I didn’t use anything. ....
“Move on to 2013, I’m in Arizona with the Dodgers in spring training, and it’s my first-ever spring training in Arizona. The air’s different, it’s thinner, the ball doesn’t move like it was, and guys were like, ‘Hey, you might want to try some sticky stuff.’
“So what I did then is I would spray sunscreen on my arms and I would use the given rosin and I would tap the rosin on my arm and it would give you a little bit of a shine. Maybe what sweat used to do times three. ... It just gives you grip, it doesn’t increase spin, it doesn’t allow you to grip and rip and make your nasty breaking balls even nastier, so no hitters had a problem.
“What’s happened now is they’ve taken that from 2013 to where we’re at right now. And they’ve invented ways to make things so sticky and increase your spin rate and increase the breaking ball movement so much that it’s effectively cheating is what they’re doing. ...
“Guys, enough. It’s done. You’ve gone too far. You are effectively cheating. And it’s bad for the game of baseball because you’ve taken it to a level where you’re advantage is well above where it should be. ... It’s enough, guys. Stop it, seriously, because you’re ruining our game.”
Moylan doesn’t believe Major League Baseball will be able to police the sticky-fingered pitchers this year.
Here’s the clip from the podcast:
Moylan pitched for the Royals in 2016-17, appearing in 129 games with a 2.46 ERA.
