TBS cameras on Corpas warming up before coming into yesterday’s 4-2 Colorado win in Game 1 of the National League Division Series at Citizens Bank Park clearly showed the righthander pour a cup of water or soda on the front of his shirt before leaving the bullpen and then rubbing dirt on the area.
Then, when he went into the game, he appeared to go to that spot before several of his pitches in order to get a better grip on the baseball. Since the Rockies’ road jerseys are black, any discoloration on the shirt would have been difficult to detect.
The article notes that it’s illegal for pitchers to apply anything to the baseball. The problem here, as we’ve seen with K-Rod and Joe Nathan and many other pitchers, is that the rule’s entirely unenforced. You can go out there with pine tar smeared all over your cap and rub your fingers in it before a pitch and not get called.
Here’s a totally awesome video of what went on, at least until MLB takes it down:
Will baseball, having failed to do anything about similar incidents all year – including cases where there was clear video evidence – take any action here? As much as the playoffs are higher profile, it still seems unlikely.
8 comments ↓
I’m not sure what to make of the “spill.” He’s either a very bad drinker, or trying to cover up what he was doing. I am reminded of the scene in Airplane when the Ted Striker admits he has a drinking problem and to illustrate it dumps his drink all over himself.
oh, I was hoping you’d noticed this.
The best way to hide something is to do it in plain sight. It can’t be wrong then…
Wait–Joe Nathan cheated? Where? When?
M’s, Ted Striker wasn’t illustrating his drinking problem, he was exhibiting its manifestation. oy, that was the joke.
Yeah, I was wondering what Joe Nathan cheating he was referring to as well…
Wouldn’t have been an issue if he didn’t repeatedly touch that spot later.
prl -really, that’s your comment? I understood the joke, and my wording was just fine for the point I was making. I am actually sort of surprised you were able to draw upon several multisyllabic words to make your entirely irrelevant point.
By the way, Derek, Corpas appeared to go to his shirt less often while pitching last game. I guess that’s not surprising given the attention he knew was on him, but if he dumped somthing on himself this time, he did it during a bathroom break or something. Admittedly, I was focused on the game, so I might have missed something.