John Lester doctoring the ball?

[RedeemerKid]

:hitter:

http://thebiglead.com/2013/10/24/jon-lesters-glove-contained-a-green-substance-was-he-cheating/

 

[kalinecountry]

I saw this similar story in my travels this morning.
http://www.cbssports.com/mlb/eye-on...n-lester-may-have-doctored-the-ball-in-game-1
from cbssports

both show he is clearly going to that spot on the thumb part of his glove.

 

[byco42]

More egregious was that call by Dana Demuth that his mates bailed him from. Demuth called Pedroia out on this play. The call was reversed. He should be relieved of his duties for the series.

 

[kalinecountry]

I wonder if that play wasn't against the redsox at fenway, if the call would have been reversed.

 

[byco42]

I wonder if that play wasn't against the redsox at fenway, if the call would have been reversed.

I hope so. Otherwise there is no hope for mankind.

 

[beez]

Did Pedroia even touch the bag? Looks like he could have been called out for interference. (Not that Demuth ever had that in his mind)

 

[RedeemerKid]

Doctoring the ball is one of those things that if your team does it, you smile a bit and you like it. You call it part of the game, or even talk about the Gaylord Perry's of yesteryear and how ball doctoring is really an "art".

If the other team does it, it's an outrageous and blatant effort to cheat the game and the fans of the pureness and beauty of America's pass time.

The truth can be perhaps best found if it happens in a game where you don't care what the outcome is. No rooting interest.

So that being said, I say we tie John Lester to the back of an Anheuser Busch delivery truck and drag him all the back to St Louis. Or, sign him to a deal with the Tigers ASAP.

 

[Thumb]

First Buccholz accused of spitballs, now Lester.

 

[RedeemerKid]

First Buccholz accused of spitballs, now Lester.

Bucholz appeared to have a mullett full of vaseline.

 

[Rebbiv]

I don't care. If a Tiger pitcher is doctoring the ball, then he suffers the same fate. Lifetime ban for a 3rd offense, just like PED users. Cheating is still cheating.

 

[RedeemerKid]

I don't care. If a Tiger pitcher is doctoring the ball, then he suffers the same fate. Lifetime ban for a 3rd offense, just like PED users. Cheating is still cheating.

Honestly, I tend to lean that way myself too.

But what about stealing signs? Using just your eyes, ears, and hands to interpret and relay a signal?

No substance. No drugs.

 

[tigermud]

So they are whiny bitches and cheaters? figures.. I hope they lose the next 4 games, lit up like a xmas tree and held to zero total runs for the reminder

 

[tomdalton22]

does anybody know what he was using?

 

[beez]

Honestly, I tend to lean that way myself too.

But what about stealing signs? Using just your eyes, ears, and hands to interpret and relay a signal?

No substance. No drugs.

Stealing signs is not cheating...

 

[kalinecountry]

This is a big reason I hate these smug bastard sox fans, point this out to them as I have in a few emails,
not one agrees, all in denial, nothing there, they are jealous,

redsox fans have become who they themselves loathed for years and years,
self absorbed and hypocritical like they accused yankee fans of being.



As for cheating like this, should be harsher penalty for first time, make it 30 days first offense, and go from there,


the sign stealing.....as long as there is no electronic device, or someone with binoculars or a telescopic lens from afar,

 

[Rebbiv]

This is a big reason I hate these smug bastard sox fans, point this out to them as I have in a few emails,
not one agrees, all in denial, nothing there, they are jealous,

redsox fans have become who they themselves loathed for years and years,
self absorbed and hypocritical like they accused yankee fans of being.



As for cheating like this, should be harsher penalty for first time, make it 30 days first offense, and go from there,


the sign stealing.....as long as there is no electronic device, or someone with binoculars or a telescopic lens from afar,

Agreed. Signs and unaided sign stealing has been part of the game for a long time. Effective unaided sign stealing can really only happen when you have someone on base and there is a debate as to how "effective" it is.

There is no debate about how effective of doctoring a ball is.

 

[motownwebguy]

does anybody know what he was using?

It's High Octane Juice, developed and distributed by the Gaylord Pine Grease Spit Company.

 

[byco42]

Did Pedroia even touch the bag? Looks like he could have been called out for interference. (Not that Demuth ever had that in his mind)

He was in the defined basepath and that's all that's necessary.

 

[mhughes0021]

does anybody know what he was using?

I think svp said it was some greenish slime lol.

Not the same stuff bucholtz used which is bullfrog and I guess is used fairly prevalently.

 

[mhughes0021]

It started when Blue Jays broadcasters Dirk Hayhurst and Jack Morris suggested that Red Sox right-hander Clay Buchholz was doctoring the baseballs he used while throwing seven shutout innings against Toronto on May 1 at Rogers Centre.

It continued with a column on Yahoo! Sports this week that the foreign substance Buchholz was using is spray-on BullFrog sunscreen, combined with powder from the rosin bag. The story suggested that 90 percent of Major League pitchers do the same to get a better grip on the ball.

Coincidentally, Buchholz will make his next start Saturday against the Blue Jays at Fenway Park. It's likely that he'll be under extra scrutiny because of the allegations made in the wake of his torrid (6-0, 1.60 ERA) start.

The pitcher and Red Sox manager John Farrell have both denied the accusations. But here's the kicker: While this may be a big deal to the fans and media, a random sampling of opinion across Major League Baseball was generally met with a shrug.

"I don't mind if it's just something that helps them get a grip and get the ball over. Everybody does it. We don't care. We know it's for grip. Coming up through the Minor Leagues, we know that everybody is doing it. All the pitchers do it just for grip," said Braves first baseman Freddie Freeman.

Added Atlanta catcher Gerald Laird: "I don't have a problem with the guys using it. I want guys to have a good grip on the ball so that they know where the ball is going. If it's just something to get tackiness and get a feel for the ball, I'm fine with it. I don't want a guy out there feeling like the ball is slick. I want the guy to have a good feel for it."

One manager first said he didn't know anything about it, but offered to look a little deeper.

"Asking around, it seems like a lot of guys do it for grip. Not to make the ball do stuff," he said.

Despite that general acceptance of the practice, pitchers tended to take the see-no-evil approach. Veteran Royals left-hander Bruce Chen said that he's heard stories of pitchers loading up the ball but insisted he doesn't know anything about BullFrog.

"If I feel the ball is too sticky, I don't want it. I've never heard anything about sunscreen on anything. The guy's throwing well, so they're just trying to fish for something," Chen said. "But I've heard stories of people putting Vaseline in between their teeth and under their lips and under their tongue, and that's how they make the ball [do something]. Like, dude, you gonna put Vaseline in there and swallow it?"

Teammate James Shields also scoffed.

"I've never used sunscreen or any of that matter in my career. But I really don't know anything about that, to be honest with you. I am not aware of it at all," the right-hander said.

In his last start, the first after the comments by Hayhurst and Morris, Buchholz gave up four runs in six innings, his worst outing of the year. That, of course, doesn't prove anything.

"It's getting old and I'm not going to talk about it anymore," Buchholz said. "I'm sick of talking about it. I haven't done anything wrong. I'm doing things within the rules of the game. ... I haven't used that [sunscreen] all year. I've used it in the past when I need to use sunscreen on a sunny day on the mound. Is there anything wrong with that? Isn't that when you're supposed to use it?"

Buchholz has not been accused by Major League Baseball, an opposing team or an umpire.

"That's all that matters. It means I'm doing things the right way. I'm not breaking any rules," he said.

Farrell struck a similar note.

"I don't know of our pitchers using sunscreen. You know, seemingly, the comments that came out of our series up in Toronto suggested some form of cheating, and yet Clay uses rosin, which I think every pitcher that walks through a mound, and certainly on a Major League mound, would use. But the fact is Clay hasn't used any foreign substance," he said.

"We'll take those accusations as a compliment to a guy that's really pitched well."

And, for what it's worth, the forecast calls for a chance of rain in Boston this afternoon.