World Series Game 2 Thread

[Michael]

He was cheating.

Prove it. You can't. How do you explain the rest of the game where Rogers has pitched as well as before he washed the "pine tar" off? You can't.

Did he cheat? Definitely. Did it matter? Definitely not. Why did he bother? I have no idea.

That was pretty clearly pine tar on his hand, and we all know why a left-handed control/movement pitcher would use pine tar for in cold weather.

But, I'm not upset about it. I don't think it affected the game one bit. So, there's no real reason to be upset about it. Obviously it would have been nice to catch him in the act and get him thrown out of the game, but that didn't happen. We didn't catch it in time. And the rest is history.

It might have helped if it wasn't on his hand while we had runners on.

[cardsfansince82]

Did he cheat? Definitely. Did it matter? Definitely not. Why did he bother? I have no idea.

That was pretty clearly pine tar on his hand, and we all know why a left-handed control/movement pitcher would use pine tar for in cold weather.

But, I'm not upset about it. I don't think it affected the game one bit. So, there's no real reason to be upset about it. Obviously it would have been nice to catch him in the act and get him thrown out of the game, but that didn't happen. We didn't catch it in time. And the rest is history.

Obviously he has been fine without it. But you are okay with the umps ignoring the rules and telling him to wash it off?

[bschulte]

I'm mostly bothered by how monumentally stupid you would have to be to put it on your pitching hand, especially during the world series. Use your glove or something for crying out loud.

That's another reason I don't believe it was pine tar. You don't "hide" something like that in plain sight.

You don't hide from assault when you beat up a cameraman either. We aren't talking about the slickest criminal mind.

Eh, whatever. Believe whatever you guys want if it'll make you happier. It doesn't matter one way or the other to me.

[EastonBlues22]

The only reason we're even talking about it right now is because the Cards are putting up an 0-1-1 line through six.

If we had pounded him for 4 runs in the second inning, no one would care.

He's pitched a good game...the vast majority of which was undoubtably clean...and the Cards have helped him out more than once from their end too.

Personally, I don't care if the matter is never addressed after the game. You can bet that Leyland will take care of it if anything needs to be taken care of...

[GatewaySnayke]

Rule 8.02 The pitcher shall not --
(b) Have on his person, or in his possession, any foreign substance. For such infraction of this section (b) the penalty shall be immediate ejection from the game. In addition, the pitcher shall be suspended automatically for 10 games.

[GeddyWrox]

He was cheating.

Prove it. You can't. How do you explain the rest of the game where Rogers has pitched as well as before he washed the "pine tar" off? You can't.

I was more upset with Casey channeling Vina and leaning into that pitch earlier than I was about Rogers.

Unless that still TV shot posted in that other thread will be considered proof, which I don't think it will, you can't anymore. But I don't need any more "proof" to know he was doing it. What else could it have been? DIRT? Whats the advantage to having caked on dirt on your hand? With a night as cold as tonight, that would only make your grip worse. No pitcher starting in a WS would take the mound with something brown on his hand that WOULDN'T give him an advantage.

Guys that cheat (especially guys that get away with it even though most of the rest of the world technically knows they were doing it) are just one of my biggest pet peeves. It just really irks me. I was brought up to play by the rules, and it makes my blood boil when others think they are above the rules. Not being able to prove a cheater just makes my blood boil even worse.

Sorry for the in game rant. I am done.

[GeddyWrox]

The only reason we're even talking about it right now is because the Cards are putting up an 0-1-1 line through six.

If we had pounded him for 4 runs in the second inning, no one would care.

I'd STILL be pissed if we put up a 20 spot.

[Fat Strat]

Obviously he has been fine without it. But you are okay with the umps ignoring the rules and telling him to wash it off?

I don't think that they ignored the rules at all. From my understanding, when the umps went to check his hand Rogers had already washed it off. They didn't tell him to wash it off.

My guess is that someone got Rogers' attention in the dugout to tell him that his hand was featured on national TV and he quickly remedied the situation. I would also guess that someone in the Cards staff or org saw the same video and called down to Tony to tell him to talk to the umps.

We just didn't catch it in time and talk to the umps about it.

[EastonBlues22]

He was cheating.

Prove it. You can't. How do you explain the rest of the game where Rogers has pitched as well as before he washed the "pine tar" off? You can't.

Did he cheat? Definitely. Did it matter? Definitely not. Why did he bother? I have no idea.

That was pretty clearly pine tar on his hand, and we all know why a left-handed control/movement pitcher would use pine tar for in cold weather.

But, I'm not upset about it. I don't think it affected the game one bit. So, there's no real reason to be upset about it. Obviously it would have been nice to catch him in the act and get him thrown out of the game, but that didn't happen. We didn't catch it in time. And the rest is history.

It might have helped if it wasn't on his hand while we had runners on.

I doubt it, the only AB we had with RISP Encarnacion chased multiple balls way out of the zone and ended up "pulling" one about a foot wide...and high...for the out.

You're not going to do anything swing at crap out there.

[GatewaySnayke]

In case you think that Rogers wiped his butt and got a little on his hand...