Did Kenny Roger cheat?

[Amars]

DETROIT – The point isn't whether Kenny Rogers was cheating in the first inning of Sunday's Game 2 of the World Series.

The point isn't whether it is believable that a pitcher wouldn't notice a huge clump of dirt (if it was that) on his pitching hand. The point isn't even about Kenny Rogers, whose left hand was brilliant both clean and dirty. He's a secondary story here.

The point is that faced with suspicion, controversy and potential scandal, Major League Baseball once again did what it always seems to do – covered its eyes, fell back on its history of silence and hoped it would all go away, unwilling to find out what, if anything, was going on.

http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/news;_y...vLYF?slug=dw-rogers102206&prov=yhoo&type=lgns

 

[phinman1]

Of couse he was cheating. Credit LaRussa with handling this with class, probably out of respect for Leyland.

 

[finswin56]

He may have been cheating, but I don't think it's anything like throwing a "spitter" or the like. Pine tar is sticky. He was probably just looking for a better grip on the ball since it was freezing last night in Detroit. Cheating? Yes, technically, but nothing huge IMO.

 

[Rocky Raccoon]

He may have been cheating, but I don't think it's anything like throwing a "spitter" or the like. Pine tar is sticky. He was probably just looking for a better grip on the ball since it was freezing last night in Detroit. Cheating? Yes, technically, but nothing huge IMO.

:yeahthat:

 

[GreenMonster]

He may have been cheating, but I don't think it's anything like throwing a "spitter" or the like. Pine tar is sticky. He was probably just looking for a better grip on the ball since it was freezing last night in Detroit. Cheating? Yes, technically, but nothing huge IMO.

That is a lame excuse.. You can't doctor the ball in anyway.. Being cold is part of October baseball. Players have been able to grip the ball in much colder weather for the last 100+ years, he is just as accountable now as a 95% day in the summer.. Everyone knows you can't use pintar on your hands or the ball when pitching.

 

[finswin56]

That is a lame excuse.. You can't doctor the ball in anyway.. Being cold is part of October baseball. Players have been able to grip the ball in much colder weather for the last 100+ years, he is just as accountable now as a 95% day in the summer.. Everyone knows you can't use pintar on your hands or the ball when pitching.

I'm not saying it's A OK.
Let me put it this way. Larussa probably could have had Rogers ejected if he pushed hard enough. Some will say he didn't push it for respect to Leland. BS, it's the World Series. Larussa didn't push it because he probably had similar usage on his team.

From what I understand, it's not all that rare for a pitcher to use a little pine tar on cold nights. Rogers screwed up by keeping it visible. If you've touched pine tar before, you know it doesn't just wash off very easily. I bring this up, because I think it VERY likely that someone on St. Louis could have been doing the same thing. I think this is one of baseball's, not so dirty little secrets.

 

[NJFINSFAN1]

I'm not saying it's A OK.
Let me put it this way. Larussa probably could have had Rogers ejected if he pushed hard enough. Some will say he didn't push it for respect to Leland. BS, it's the World Series. Larussa didn't push it because he probably had similar usage on his team.

From what I understand, it's not all that rare for a pitcher to use a little pine tar on cold nights. Rogers screwed up by keeping it visible. If you've touched pine tar before, you know it doesn't just wash off very easily. I bring this up, because I think it VERY likely that someone on St. Louis could have been doing the same thing. I think this is one of baseball's, not so dirty little secrets.

Did you see the story about Planco (Spelled wrong) uses some kind of oil on his body to be protected from the cold? If I'm Rogers, I say, hey, he touched the ball, it came from him!

 

[djfresh47]

Espn showed a close-up of his hand and he had the same "clump of dirt," vs the Yankees and A's on the same part of his hand. Pitchers use it all the time but when it is that blatant La Russa has to get him ejected. I don't care if La Russa has that much respect for Leyland he's gotta respect his team more and get him ejected. The roaster was still dealing after he cleaned his hand but La Russa blew it. He would've got a 10 game suspension and would have been out of the world series!

 

[finswin56]

Did you see the story about Planco (Spelled wrong) uses some kind of oil on his body to be protected from the cold? If I'm Rogers, I say, hey, he touched the ball, it came from him!

But, then Kenny would have to answer the questions about why he was touching Planco's body.

 

[WarriorWelker83]

That definetly wasn't dirt, but i dont think whatever was on his hand was really the reason he was so dominant in that game. I just wish i knew what it was and how it got there.

 

[BAMAPHIN 22]

I'm not saying it's A OK.
Let me put it this way. Larussa probably could have had Rogers ejected if he pushed hard enough. Some will say he didn't push it for respect to Leland. BS, it's the World Series. Larussa didn't push it because he probably had similar usage on his team.

From what I understand, it's not all that rare for a pitcher to use a little pine tar on cold nights. Rogers screwed up by keeping it visible. If you've touched pine tar before, you know it doesn't just wash off very easily. I bring this up, because I think it VERY likely that someone on St. Louis could have been doing the same thing. I think this is one of baseball's, not so dirty little secrets.

:rawk:I thought that you brought up some interesting points...If they find out Rogers was cheating... Then this will really damage MLB's image. The point is that faced with suspicion, controversy and potential scandal, Major League Baseball once again did what it always seems to do – covered its eyes, fell back on its history of silence and hoped it would all go away, unwilling to find out what, if anything, was going on.

 

[DonShula84]

He obviously didnt need it there whatever it was because he washed it off after the first inning and then continued to dominate

 

[Samphin]

He obviously didnt need it there whatever it was because he washed it off after the first inning and then continued to dominate

Not true, it wasn't pinetar, but it was a substance that is used a lot in the music industry. People who play the harp use this gum on their fingers to help ppluck the strings and whatnot. The stuff is so tacky that even after you wash it off thoroughly, it remains sticky for up to 24 hours. So, even though it was visibly gone, he still had use of the gum.

Furthemrore, the cold weather excuse doesn't fly because pictures have surfaced today of Mr. Rogers using this stuff against Oakland in July...

He cheated and got caught, I just wish everyone would admit to it. The Cardinals probably cheat as well, and that is why LaRussa didn't make a huge fuss about it, because it oculd lead to his team getting exposed as well.

 

[DonShula84]

Not true, it wasn't pinetar, but it was a substance that is used a lot in the music industry. People who play the harp use this gum on their fingers to help ppluck the strings and whatnot. The stuff is so tacky that even after you wash it off thoroughly, it remains sticky for up to 24 hours. So, even though it was visibly gone, he still had use of the gum.

Furthemrore, the cold weather excuse doesn't fly because pictures have surfaced today of Mr. Rogers using this stuff against Oakland in July...

He cheated and got caught, I just wish everyone would admit to it. The Cardinals probably cheat as well, and that is why LaRussa didn't make a huge fuss about it, because it oculd lead to his team getting exposed as well.

Oh he cheated, It didnt appear he needed to though. How do you know the substance on his hand was this gum used in the music industry though? I think La Russa should have made a bigger fuss over it, if Rogers comes back to pitch in a game 7 he's going to wish Kenny was suspended.

 

[Perfect23]

he still would of dominated