Sticky Night

I know this will send the Cantankerous Friend into one of his patented fits of indignant apologist mode since he’s added the hated Yankees to his protected species list along with Presidents Carter, Putin, and Obama but justice was finally served last night at Fenway.  I was watching the game with the wife and a slightly disinterested Buddy the Wonder Pooch when she asked why the cameras kept focusing on Yankee pitcher Pineda’s hands.  I explained about his blatant use of pine tar in his last start which significantly improved his control of pitches.

He wasn’t using it in the first inning and was typically wild and tagged for two runs.  He came out in the second inning with a generous gob of the stuff applied to his neck and showed vastly improved control with a lot better bite on his slider.  I know virtually every pitcher (including the Red Sox) uses something to help with their grip but this was easy to see and obviously provided him with a competitive advantage.

Farrell finally went out to ask the umpires to check and although everybody in the stands and watching on TV could see the smear he did his best to avoid finding it until the last moment.  Pineda was rightfully ejected and embarrassed the proud Yankees with his inept childishness.

I know it seems like I’m an old codger complaining about the younguns again but there is a feeling of entitlement in professional athletes today that the rules don’t apply to them.  While this is most evident in the crime blotter festooned with their antics, last night was a case where a guy was specifically warned to knock it off and chose to ignore the warnings.  Maybe he can use the upcoming suspension time to figure out how to wear his baseball cap straight so he doesn’t look like a thug. 

This was one of the few times as a Red Sox fan that I actually felt some sympathy for the Yankees.  Whatever else they are they always seemed to try to honor baseball traditions and play honorably (well except for A-Roid but he’s a case unto himself – just ask him).  That’s one of the things I love about baseball.  They obviously have a better team than the Red Sox this year (boy it hurt to write that) but Pineda is flawed if he can be dominant with pine tar.  Someone might want to mention to him that the playoffs are played in cold weather as well.  

Since that whole conversation about my beloved game of baseball was kind of a downer, here’s a lift.  Someone posted this on Facebook today – no truer words have been said.  I’m sure the Cantankerous One is trying to figure out how to be a cat person just so he can object: