[The Professor]

It is all very curious.

I'm not sure if it looks like dirt or not. And the fact that it is there in the same spot in different games stretching back to Rogers' run of dominance is intriguing.

He says nobody said anything. The umps said something different. Why didn't the Cardinals say something in the top of the inning before he could wash it off? Why didn't the umps inspect it closely. Of course, Rogers was dominating after the first inning, so did it really matter?

As far as the location of the junk. It's in a rather obvious spot if it wasn't just dirt. Seems rather blatant. At the same time, it is a perfect location if you want to rub up with your other fingers while "blowing" into the hand, then rub the thumb on those fingers. So, a) the location doesn't vindicate him and b)but if he was doing something illegal, it seems rather ballsy to put it there.

I really don't care. The Cards didn't hit him after the stuff was "washed" off, and they had their shot in the ninth. It didn't "cost" them the game.

Still, it is really interesting because I'm not sure I buy the 'dirt' story and wouldn't put it beyond Rogers (or any other pitcher - heck, I suspect subtle doctoring is still more rampant than we imagine) to do something tricky.