![]() ![]() Harkins claims that he was never informed of the memo or told to alter his practice by the Angels. The memo was intended as a warning that after decades and decades of looking the other way, MLB intended to finally crack down on the practice.Īs a result, Brian Harkins, for parts of four decades a clubhouse attendant for the Los Angeles Angels, was fired by the Angels back in March after MLB brought it to the Angels' attention that Harkins was supplying a mixture of pine tar and rosin to pitchers. Angelsīack in February of 2020, Chris Young, who at the time was MLB vice-president of on-field operations, issued a memo to teams strongly reiterating the rule against foreign substances. Now the clash between these two rulesets, the rulebook versus accepted practice, is primed to get ugly. Rosin does little besides dry a pitcher’s hand, which can actually inhibit grip to a degree. However, the strict rulebook interpretation says that you can’t use anything but the rosin bag. ![]() As Jones states, “I use pine tar on my bat so the bat doesn’t slip out of my hands.So a pitcher can use pine tar on the ball so it doesn’t hit me in the face.” Mike Trout, Adam Jones, and Bryce Harper are all quoted as being in favor of the practice, and again, this is one of the things that most players have historically understood as sensible, if not a textbook application of the rules. Getting a good grip on the ball is not, and even hitters generally appreciate the courtesy, lest a 100 mph heater that slips out of the pitcher’s hand comes screaming toward their head. Loading up the ball is against the unwritten rules. The unwritten rule is generally that you can’t embarrass the league with a big gob of pine tar, a spit ball, or any overt nonsense on the mound. Trace amounts of pine tar under the hat or in the glove, patches of Bullfrog sunscreen on the arm to mix with rosin, these are long-accepted practices in baseball despite violating the letter of the rules. This has been common practice going back to the game’s origins. Pitchers have always used a bit of the tacky stuff on their fingers. And once again it’s going to be caused by the game’s unwritten codes. Only a year after the Houston Astros sign-stealing scheme damaged Major League Baseball and cast further aspersion on the league’s ability to police itself, the next self-inflicted wound may already in progress. ![]()
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