Michael Pineda, New York Yankees' starting pitcher, was suspended for 10 games for having smeared pine tar all over his neck while playing against the Boston Red Sox.
The 25-year-old's action was a clear violation of Major League Baseball (MLB)'s Rule 8.02, which states that a pitcher "shall not apply a foreign substance of any kind to the ball" and warns of a 10-game suspension in the case of an offense.
Which sounds perfectly law-abiding and all (it follows the rule to the T--pun intended) except for one thing: pine tar is a generally-accepted part of baseball, at least as far as hitters and managers are concerned. (http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/mlb-big-league-stew/michael-pineda-suspended-10-games-by-mlb-after-pine-tar-incident-190834347.html).
In other words: Pineda was not punished for violating MLB's rule; he was punished for blatantly violating MLB's rule, for slathering the substance all over his neck and for not being (successfully) sneaky about it (though Manager Joe Girardi did admit to not having noticed the paste, so it must have not been too conspicuous).
This incident was the first pitcher’s suspension for use of a foreign substance in baseball since that of Joel Peralta (in 2012). Pineda began serving his suspension Thursday.
Allie Lefkowitz
Staff Writer
Period 4
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