3 ms·

The pitch doctoring rule is an anachronism. It's a leftover from when they'd use the same ball until it was brown and falling apart. From before stadium lightin

by Igelau 5y ago

The pitch doctoring rule is an anachronism. It's a leftover from when they'd use the same ball until it was brown and falling apart. From before stadium lighting. They blamed the spitter for killing a guy who couldn't see it and banned it. Of course, they didn't really ban it. They selectively enforce it. Joe West wants another headline, so he confiscates a dirty hat. And no umpire ever even raised an eyebrow at Mariano Rivera having some kayfabe ball trajectory that no one else does. It's a gatekeeping rule that allows the league to have another hand in who gets in trouble and who gets to excel.

getlawgdon 5y ago
What on earth is a "kayfabe ball trajectory"? Closest thing I could imagine is what's these days is called an eephus and which is complete legitimate and which some variant of has been occasionally tossed by pitchers for many decades.
- xhkkffbf 5y ago
  Kayfabe comes from fake "pro wrestling." It means acknowledging that it's all scripted and puncturing that layer of fiction that it's a real competitive sport.
  - krapp 5y ago
    >It means acknowledging that it's all scripted and puncturing that layer of fiction that it's a real competitive sport. It means exactly the opposite actually... kayfabe is pig-latin for "be fake." It's when you play the part and refuse to admit it's fiction.
mkovach 5y ago
Baseball banned the spitball for many reasons, but the main one was to increase home runs (Babe Ruth was proving to be pretty popular.) Another reason given reason, which I only give partial merit to, is because of the Spanish Flu Epidemic in 1918 and the lack of sanitary for the "unsanitary pitch". It was banned in two steps. In 1920, players could assigned up to two pitchers to throw the spitball. After that season, 14 players were grandfathered in and allow to continue throwing a spitball. Burleigh Grimes threw the last legal spitball in 1934. Carl May threw a pitch that killed Ray Chapmen in 1920, which the spitball rules still allowed teams to have spitballers. May was generally a wild pitcher, in fact he had hit Chapman's teammate, and manager, Tris Speaker in the head in 1918. May's claim was Chapman was crowding the plate, He throw a high inside fastball, that his May's teammates claim was a strike, to brush him off the plate. It was an unwritten rule about brush back pitches that lead to Chapman's death. Chapman's death had nothing to do with getting the spitball getting banned. Rivera was the best pitcher I have seen in throwing a cutter. His long fingers let me get unique grip on it. The problem that MLB didn't see was that my providing information about spin rates, pitchers would be able to start experimenting, see results, and adjust.
edmundsauto 5y ago
The Rivera comment is off-base: the movement on his pitches was because of his particular skill in throwing a cutter, not anything against the rules. I agree baseball selectively enforces rules. But I think the spitball has been enforced since the 1980s/Gaylord Perry era. And Joe West is a particularly egregious umpire, probably the worst in the game.

by Igelau 5y ago

getlawgdon 5y ago

What on earth is a "kayfabe ball trajectory"? Closest thing I could imagine is what's these days is called an eephus and which is complete legitimate and which some variant of has been occasionally tossed by pitchers for many decades.

xhkkffbf 5y ago
Kayfabe comes from fake "pro wrestling." It means acknowledging that it's all scripted and puncturing that layer of fiction that it's a real competitive sport.
- krapp 5y ago
  >It means acknowledging that it's all scripted and puncturing that layer of fiction that it's a real competitive sport. It means exactly the opposite actually... kayfabe is pig-latin for "be fake." It's when you play the part and refuse to admit it's fiction.

mkovach 5y ago

Baseball banned the spitball for many reasons, but the main one was to increase home runs (Babe Ruth was proving to be pretty popular.) Another reason given reason, which I only give partial merit to, is because of the Spanish Flu Epidemic in 1918 and the lack of sanitary for the "unsanitary pitch". It was banned in two steps. In 1920, players could assigned up to two pitchers to throw the spitball. After that season, 14 players were grandfathered in and allow to continue throwing a spitball. Burleigh Grimes threw the last legal spitball in 1934. Carl May threw a pitch that killed Ray Chapmen in 1920, which the spitball rules still allowed teams to have spitballers. May was generally a wild pitcher, in fact he had hit Chapman's teammate, and manager, Tris Speaker in the head in 1918. May's claim was Chapman was crowding the plate, He throw a high inside fastball, that his May's teammates claim was a strike, to brush him off the plate. It was an unwritten rule about brush back pitches that lead to Chapman's death. Chapman's death had nothing to do with getting the spitball getting banned. Rivera was the best pitcher I have seen in throwing a cutter. His long fingers let me get unique grip on it. The problem that MLB didn't see was that my providing information about spin rates, pitchers would be able to start experimenting, see results, and adjust.

edmundsauto 5y ago

The Rivera comment is off-base: the movement on his pitches was because of his particular skill in throwing a cutter, not anything against the rules. I agree baseball selectively enforces rules. But I think the spitball has been enforced since the 1980s/Gaylord Perry era. And Joe West is a particularly egregious umpire, probably the worst in the game.