Minnesota Twins manager Rocco Baldelli was ejected from Saturday's 6-1 loss to the New York Yankees after objecting to the way umpires handled a sticky substance on the hand of pitcher Domingo German.
Major League Baseball is really trying to crack down on pitchers using foreign substances, and when German was spotted with rosin on his right pinky, he was told by the umpiring crew to remove it before the next inning.
He did not.
When he went back out to pitch the umpire clearly called him out on not removing the rosin. Eventually the umpiring crew gathered together, talked to German through an interpreter and instead of ejecting him allowed him to remain in the game.
This did not satisfy Baldelli.
Just to sum this up…Domingo German was cheating by using sticky stuff, the umpires caught him using the sticky stuff, was only told to wash his hands, while the only person ejected here was Rocco Baldelli for wanting the umpires to enforce the rules. K. pic.twitter.com/ih5j5KJ9R2
— Jared Carrabis (@Jared_Carrabis) April 15, 2023
Baldelli said after the game that his issue was more with the process than anything German might have had on his hand.
Here is Baldelli on the matter from the Star Tribune.
"I wasn't going to go out on the field and return to the dugout, on principle, because I thought it was wrong," he said. "The pitcher didn't comply with what he was asked to do, and that upset me and upset everyone in our dugout. I can't go back in the dugout … and look everyone in the eye and say that's fine."
Umpiring crew chief James Hoye spoke to a pool reporter after the game and explained what happened without really offering much of an explanation as to why German was allowed to remain in the game.
Again from the Star-Tribune:
Crew chief James Hoye discovered Germán's pitching hand was unusually tacky and asked him if he was using rosin, which pitchers are allowed to use to get a better grip on the baseball as they pitch. "I said, 'I need you to clean it up,'" Hoye told a pool reporter after the game. When Germán came out to start the fourth inning, Hoye checked the pitcher's hand again, "and there was still some tackiness on his pinky. And I said, 'I just told you to clean this up.' "
It is hard to disagree with Baldelli here. The umpires clearly thought there was a violation, told the pitcher to fix it and then allowed him to stay in the game when he did not. No matter what you think of the rules you should at least want to see it applied and called correctly and consistently. Baldelli obviously thought that was not the case here.
German did not allow a hit until the sixth inning and finished the game with 6.1 innings pitched, allowing three hits, only one earned run and striking out 11 Twins batters. He also did not walk a batter. Kyle Higashioka and Anthony Rizzo both hit home runs for the Yankees in the win.
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