Josh Donaldson believes there is widespread cheating across Major League Baseball by pitchers who are doctoring baseballs, and the Minnesota Twins third baseman is threatening to go public with the evidence.
Donaldson, who is no stranger to stirring up controversy on social media, made his claim on Twitter during an exchange with former MLB pitcher Dallas Braden. Donaldson delivered the provocative threat of having a “catalog” of proof in his possession that pitchers are indiscriminately cheating.
As noted by Michael Rand of the Star Tribune, the burgeoning scandal surrounding pitchers doctoring baseballs gained momentum this week when umpire Joe West asked St. Louis Cardinals reliever Giovanny Gallegos to change his hat due to the suspicion there was sunscreen on it:
Cardinals manager Mike Shildt was ejected for arguing about it, and after the game he went off on what he deemed selective enforcement that amounted to a “setup,” in his words, of his pitcher. He went even further than that in talking about baseball’s “dirty little secret” with strong words.
“Major League Baseball has got a very, very, very tough position here,” Shildt says, “because there are people effectively, and not even trying to hide, essentially flipping the bird at the league with how they’re cheating in this game with concocted substances. There are players that have been monetized for it. There are players obviously doing it going to their glove. There’s clear video of it.”
The scene played out as follows:
The notion that there is selective enforcement of rules involving doctoring baseballs follows how MLB issued a memo to teams during spring training that explained how pitchers will be monitored this season for use of foreign substances on baseballs.
Pitchers are banned from applying any foreign substance — including pine tar, among other materials — to a baseball. However, those rules have been rarely enforced over the years unless the opposing team registered a complaint. The MLB memo detailing how policies, protocols and procedures have been altered was expected to create a more transparent, fair and concise process.
That does not appear to be the case so far this season, at least when taking into account Shildt’s comments and Donaldson’s claims on social media.
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