Justin Verlander. Gerrit Cole. Max Scherzer. Corey Kluber. Félix Hernández. Several of the best pitchers in major league baseball have been singled out for cheating.
Their fault?
They would have coated the balls with a magic potion.
It is their self-proclaimed supplier, Brian Harkins, who has just denounced them in a lawsuit against major league baseball and the Los Angeles Angels (his former employer). Mr. Harkins admitted to making a lotion made from pine resin and rosin. He passed his concoction on to pitchers, who applied it to the ball to better grip it or make it “more alive”. Which, you guessed it, is prohibited.
But where are the other clubs to demand an investigation? Penalties ? Suspensions?
…
Nowhere.
History is being treated like a shameful family secret. Swept under the carpet, on which we add a table, a secretary, a sideboard in solid wood and a giant lead Buddha, to make sure that no one wants to go pass the Swiffer.
Why this silence?
I’ll give you the answer in a few paragraphs. But first, you should know that this form of cheating is not a new phenomenon. Far from there. For over 100 years, pitchers have scratched, scribbled, dirty, wet and soiled balls. There is even a word for the ensuing throw.
La « spitball ».
In French, the wet ball.
According to historian Peter Morris, it was pitcher Jack Chesbro who started the fashion in 1904 by coating the ball with liquid to reduce friction. The success was instantaneous. That season, the New York Yankees right-hander won 41 games. The highest total of victories since 1900.
The following summer, the wet ball entered the repertoire of almost every pitcher in the league. Yes, it was disgusting. Especially at the time, we often used a single ball for the whole game. “It was black, full of tobacco and liquorice stains,” star player Sam Crawford said in The Glory of Their Times.
The batters replied. Whenever possible, they coated the ball with bitter flavors to discourage pitchers from licking the ball before each shot. The Chicago Cubs used mustard. The Cleveland Indians, tincture made from hot peppers. Then the pitchers counterattacked, cleaning the ball with benzene – a carcinogen …
To end this ridiculous escalation, voices have called for a ban on the wet ball. At first without success. “Spitball is a technological development, and I guess it should be encouraged,” legendary manager Ned Hanlon said.
But in 1920, in order to encourage the offensive, the major leagues finally banned this disgusting practice. Well almost. Active pitchers benefited from a “grandfather clause”. So the wet bullet survived legally until Burleigh Grimes retired in 1934.
Irony ? Grimes was then elected to the Hall of Fame. Just like Gaylord Perry and Phil Niekro, two other pitchers who outrageously slipped the ball.
In his essay K : A History of Baseball in Ten Pitches – the best baseball book I’ve read – journalist Tyler Kepner reviews the history of the wet ball since its ban. Fascinating. It reads like Gargamel’s grimoire.
In the 1950s, Sports Illustrated offered star pitcher Preacher Roe $ 2,000 to explain his tips to readers. “Between innings,” says Kepner, “Roe popped a stick of Beech-Nut gum in her mouth and announced to her teammates: I got myself a new batch of curved balls! Once on the mound, Roe spat on his thumb and pretended to smooth his eyebrows, before dropping the gum juice on the ball.
In the 1960s, ball handling was so common it was blatantly mocked. Don Drysdale, former pitcher for the Montreal Royals, was the spokesperson for Vitalis hair gel. In an advertisement, after passing his hand through his hair, he was attacked by the opposing manager. “Greaseball! Greaseball! It’s illegal ! Cried the manager. Then Drysdale defended himself by saying, “Vitalis does not contain fat. If we all used Vitalis, we could end the greaseball. ”
In the 1970s, Gaylord Perry confessed to his sin in his evocative autobiography: Me and the Spitter. On occasion, throwers got caught in the bowl of candy. Joe Niekro got kicked out of a game after pulling out a pad of emery paper from his pocket.
Brian Moehler got pinched with sandpaper. Michael Pineda had applied so much pine resin to his neck it could be seen on TV. The funniest ? In 2017, a ball remained stuck on the breastplate of receiver Yadier Molina. The latter swore never to have applied resin to his protective device. We never got to the bottom of the story. But inevitably, someone, somewhere, tripled the recipe for the magic potion …
According to Tyler Kepner, some practices are more acceptable than others in the eyes of players. “Here’s the logic: Stickiness helps control the throw. It’s OK. Sandpaper and KY help improve movement. That is not correct. ”
As each club seems to have its little secrets, no one is crying out loud. All rely on Confucius: “Silence is a friend who never betrays. ”
History lesson: When you live in a glass house, you should never throw a baseball. Even less if it is soiled.
K : A History of Baseball in Ten Pitches, de Tyler Kepner (Anchor Books)
.
