Baseball Stuck to Yadi's Chest Protector

[Airdrop01]

Possibly one of the weirdest things I've seen on a pro baseball field. Pine tar action in the extreme!

http://ftw.usatoday.com/2017/04/st-l...-happened-here

[Déjà Bru]

Originally Posted by Airdrop01

Possibly one of the weirdest things I've seen on a pro baseball field. Pine tar action in the extreme!

http://ftw.usatoday.com/2017/04/st-l...-happened-here

Not very funny if Molina is in the habit of rubbing the ball in that sticky stuff on his chest protector before throwing it back to his pitcher.

[Airdrop01]

I think it's not much more than a few at least catchers do put some on their gear ( shin guards often) to get a better grip with constantly being covered in dirt and dust or maybe too if it's cold. I suppose technically it's questionable but I've never heard players complain.

I know it looks bad but a lot -- well probably a lot -- of them do it. I know of four or five at least....

[Orcin]

If Yadi smears that much pine tar on the front of his chest protector, enough to make a ball stick like it was velcro'd, it seems odd that an umpire somewhere wouldn't have noticed it on the guy standing right next to him. I think it is more likely that the sticky substance came from the pitcher.

[David Watts]

Originally Posted by Orcin

If Yadi smears that much pine tar on the front of his chest protector, enough to make a ball stick like it was velcro'd, it seems odd that an umpire somewhere wouldn't have noticed it on the guy standing right next to him. I think it is more likely that the sticky substance came from the pitcher.

Ah, so what will be really funny is the first time a guy attempts to put down a bunt and the ball sticks to the bat

[Orcin]

And by the way, if Brett Cecil IS doctoring the ball, he should be getting better results.

[AnotherAlias]

Yadier Magneto.

Made this one today. Marvel movie fans will get it.

Anyway, this was an oddity. Pine tar would not do this and if there was that much of it on his protector, it would clearly be visible on him. It isn't pine tar imho. It's just that the velocity of the pitch, the spin and the seams all colluded to amaze us all.

Yadier didn't cheat. If there was that much pine tar on a ball to cause this, Cecil wouldn't be able to control a single pitch. And this is coming from a die hard Cubs fan.

[Airdrop01]

I don't really think anyone thinks just pine tar did it. I bet it's a combo of lots of stuff, maybe pine tar, (thus the pine tar to the extreme - maybe I should have been more clear) though catchers do use it. God just hates the Cardinals.

Seriously, it could easily be gum he had smeared on there not to cheat at all just that got in his hands. It's awesome either way. Never seen a K go down that way and probably never will again.

I need to look up the box score. I wonder how they scored it. WP? PB? E2? Hell, all I k ow is it's really cool.

Good picture!

[Déjà Bru]

I hate/love to be a gadfly, but this incident should be investigated. The guy obviously has a foreign, sticky substance on his equipment, and he is handling every pitch that is not in play. The opportunity to apply that substance to the ball in order to benefit the pitcher is obvious.

[Airdrop01]

Yeah he's got something. Lots do. Hell, Salvy often has it all over his shin guard.

[Orcin]

Originally Posted by Déjà Bru

I hate/love to be a gadfly, but this incident should be investigated. The guy obviously has a foreign, sticky substance on his equipment, and he is handling every pitch that is not in play. The opportunity to apply that substance to the ball in order to benefit the pitcher is obvious.

No evidence to support that accusation at all. Pure BS.

[MorseMoose]

Originally Posted by Déjà Bru

I hate/love to be a gadfly, but this incident should be investigated. The guy obviously has a foreign, sticky substance on his equipment, and he is handling every pitch that is not in play. The opportunity to apply that substance to the ball in order to benefit the pitcher is obvious.

Definitely should be investigated. Something is fishy.

[Déjà Bru]

Originally Posted by Orcin

No evidence to support that accusation at all. Pure BS.

My contention is that there should be an investigation into whether there IS evidence. Calling it BS because one does not want to believe without looking into it is not right.

A baseball does not stick to a vertical surface like that without a strong adhesive. The first question is, what was the purpose of that substance?

People think this is humorous but it really is not until it is established that it was an innocuous by-product of doing something that is legal and is not harmful to the game. I've seen multiple news articles on this incident and none of them mentioned this possibility.

[Déjà Bru]

http://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/1...-yadier-molina

TV close-ups of Molina's chest protector later showed a white, star-shaped smudge low on his chest protector where the ball was stuck a few seconds earlier. Molina took exception when a reporter asked if he puts pine tar or another foreign substance on his gear. "Do I put anything on my chest protector? No. That's a dumb question."

Right. A dumb question. Just as dumb as thinking everybody will believe that the ball stuck magically to his chest protector.

The article also said,

Catchers sometimes put pine tar somewhere on their uniforms, often around the shin guards, to help give them a better grip. There are no rules against the practice, though it is against the rules for players to have pine tar on their skin, or to place it on the ball.

Now, why that should be, I haven't a clue. This is the fielder who handles the baseball almost as many times as the pitcher. Yet, MLB is more concerned about not wasting a few seconds throwing four pitches for an intentional walk.

Cardinals manager Mike Matheny also said, repeatedly, that he had no idea how the ball stuck to Molina.

Now, THAT is BS, my friends.

[Orcin]

I agree that it absolutely should be investigated. I don't know how you would go about that now, since the baseball is long gone. The Cubs should have charged out of the dugout and demanded to see the ball at the time. The umpire should have stopped play and had Yadi's chest protector placed under lock and key. Since the evidence trail is quite tainted, I don't think an investigation is possible at this point. But hey, check Yadi's chest protector today and every day for the rest of the season if it makes you feel better.

Think about this... if there were enough sticky substance on the chest protector and/or ball to make a round baseball adhere to a flat plastic surface while a grown man is thrashing around looking for the ball, don't you think the umpire standing right there looking at it would have noticed?

No one is saying the ball magically stuck to his chest protector. But your explanation has no merit or factual support. You are basically saying, "It's the only one I can think of so it must be true." Ever been to logic class?

[Déjà Bru]

Originally Posted by Orcin

I agree that it absolutely should be investigated. I don't know how you would go about that now, since the baseball is long gone. The Cubs should have charged out of the dugout and demanded to see the ball at the time. The umpire should have stopped play and had Yadi's chest protector placed under lock and key. Since the evidence trail is quite tainted, I don't think an investigation is possible at this point. But hey, check Yadi's chest protector today and every day for the rest of the season if it makes you feel better.

Think about this... if there were enough sticky substance on the chest protector and/or ball to make a round baseball adhere to a flat plastic surface while a grown man is thrashing around looking for the ball, don't you think the umpire standing right there looking at it would have noticed?

No one is saying the ball magically stuck to his chest protector. But your explanation has no merit or factual support. You are basically saying, "It's the only one I can think of so it must be true." Ever been to logic class?

Ouch. I was on board until that last sentence.

[Orcin]

Originally Posted by Déjà Bru

Ouch. I was on board until that last sentence.

Worse than calling Mike Matheny a liar?

[Airdrop01]

Well, to be fair, Matheny is lying.

I'm telling you lots of catchers do it (I think I even said that in my first post but who knows I'm writing this on a tiny phone screen so I won't go back and look).

I don't even think it's a huge problem. I would almost bet he had, obviously, crap on his protector for grip and between it, the dirt and whatever sunscreen and rosin combo Cecil was using, as well as who knows what from the dirt (ever seen the crap down there? Gross) it stuck in the perfect storm of super epic pine tar and gum derivative goodness.

It's not cheating for Yadi to have it but what is idiotic is to pretend as Yadi did and then call the question idiotic or to believe Matheny, a catcher who sure as shoot knows what catchers do, when he says he doesn't have any idea how it happened.

I don't expect Yadi to say what it was, or Matheny to admit it. Yadi should just have not commented, and Matheny said what he should have said, but that also means he is absolutely lying.

[Déjà Bru]

Originally Posted by Orcin

Worse than calling Mike Matheny a liar?

But it's you and me talking here. Are you the same guy who said this to me? Hard to believe.

Look, I don't deal with personal confrontation here. Your reference to me attending logic class turns me off. I'm out of this thread, but I stick to what I said. In fact, I re-emphasize all of it.

[Orcin]

Originally Posted by Déjà Bru

But it's you and me talking here. Are you the same guy who said this to me? Hard to believe.

Look, I don't deal with personal confrontation here. Your reference to me attending logic class turns me off. I'm out of this thread, but I stick to what I said. In fact, I re-emphasize all of it.

I think you are being a bit over sensitive, but I am truly sorry for hurting your feelings.