Pine Tar Incident #2

The New York Yankees and Pine Tar have had a strange place in baseball history with the most famous of those being the George Brett Pine Tar Incident on July 24, 1983. Who can ever forget an incensed George Brett charging out of the Kansas City Royals dugout with bad intentions after a homerun was disallowed because the pine tar was higher on his bat than the baseball rules allowed. New York Yankees Manager Billy Martin noticed the pine tar on his bat earlier in the game when he got a hold of one of George Brett's bats that landed near the Yankees dugout. He did not point it out to the umpires until he needed to use it. Martin was very shrewd like that. Last Wednesday night on April 23, Pitcher Michael Pineda of the New York Yankees had little control over his pitches in the first inning because of bad weather conditions in a game against the Boston Red Sox. In between innings, Pineda dabbed some pine tar on his neck to help him get a better grip on the baseball. He had done this pine tar thing before (it had also been against the Red Sox) but that time he had dabbed the pine tar on the heel of his hand and it wasn't as noticeable. On Wednesday night, he dabbed it on his neck and it was noticed by the Boston Red Sox, the ESPN cameras, and to most everyone watching it on TV. Even my girlfriend, a non-baseball fan, noticed it. Red Sox Manager John Farrell also caught it and brought the pine tar smear to the umpires attention. Pineda was ejected and received a 10 game suspension as a result. Pineda did not even try to deny it and will not appeal his suspension.