![]() “The grip is connected to a load cell, and that’s measuring the force it’s applying,” Adams explained. By Saturday, all the pitchers have switched to Stevia. “Sugar has been added to the banned substance list,” comes the announcement on a Friday. Imagine the arms race this would kick off. There might be a CSI-type solution there - swab the hand, put it in a solution, and if it turns a certain color you’re busted - but the unintended consequences would be comic. It doesn’t seem like trying to test for substances on the mound is the way to go. But that doesn’t mean we can’t try to find a solution ourselves. ![]() Is there a way Major League Baseball could develop an objective on-the-field test that would give results almost immediately and eliminate this guessing game for the umpires, pitchers, and baseball fans? MLB declined to comment on whether they are pursuing anything in that vein. The current situation doesn’t seem fair to players who must figure out how much rosin is too much rosin, or to the umpires, who have to go with their gut to find that line themselves. The same pitcher, ostensibly doing the same things in both cases, has fallen on both sides of this precarious decision so far already. Over the last few years, baseball has tried several avenues of policing in order to get the tackier substances out of the game (with up and down results), but in the end, even today’s more stringent Sticky Stuff Policy comes down to a very subjective moment: the umpire, feeling the hands of the pitcher, has to decide what is sticky enough to demand a hand-washing, and what is sticky enough to eject the player. Pitchers could get as much as 500 RPM, and change the shape of their fastball enough to impact their results on the field. So only the most egregious offenders - pine tar splotches on the neck, maybe? - were singled out for punishment, and the rest of baseball looked the other way every other day.īut then it became obvious that there was a performance benefit that came from the added spin that stickier stuff could give a pitcher. The sport basically ignored the use of sticky substances most of the time, maybe because the idea was pitchers were trying to gain command of the baseball and didn’t want to hit the batter. While you want to keep your message point, don’t be that person who sends that one-line email.Before, the rules were selectively enforced. Otherwise, the reason for your check-in might get lost in the rest of the message. Keeping your message clear and concise will ensure that the question is apparent. If you’re following up with someone, you likely need them to complete an action.
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