Domenic Vadala: Getting a grip on a slippery situation

A few weeks ago, Brian Matusz and the Orioles became part of a league-wide discussion about foreign substances used by pitchers on the baseball. That kind of started up again late last week when it was announced that Matusz's eight-game suspension was being upheld (never mind the fact that Milwaukee's Will Smith had his shortened to six games for the same offense).

I come at this from various angels. First off, I'm not a fan of opposing managers asking umpires to check guys. At a time when there are more people using some sort of foreign substance than not, it just comes off as hypocritical and petty. When Miami manager Dan Jennings asked to check Matusz, his team was mired in a long losing streak. It all but came off as a desperate move by a desperate manager.

Some folks will say, "If you don't break rules, you won't have to worry about that," and they're probably right. But to me it just comes off as the kid in the schoolyard who's always telling on other kids. Instead, the onus should be on umpires. How often are they throwing balls into the home dugout out of play? If there's something on the ball, if it has a funny smell, etc., then it might be worth checking the pitcher.

And if you look at the Miami series in question, I would submit that Buck Showalter isn't a fan of asking an umpire to check the opposing pitcher, either. I saw a foreign substance on the Miami starter's cap for most of the game the next afternoon. Yet Showalter didn't ask the ump to check, even though there might have been something there. And make no mistake about the fact that if I saw it, someone on the Orioles bench did also. Gamesmanship is fine - so long as it's between the lines.

But where I break with Showalter's idea is that he's said that perhaps baseball should allow a substance to be used since guys are doing it anyways. That's an interesting idea, but I'm not in favor of it simply because that's inviting guys to load up the ball. I would make an exception for rosin, however, given that there's a rosin bag on the mound.

I do agree with Showalter on another point. He's also said on numerous occasions that he'd like to see Major League Baseball switch to the style of balls that they use in Japan. Japanese League balls are tackier, as they apparently have some sort of finish on them that allows for them to be gripped more easily. If Major League Baseball really wants to continue now allowing foreign substances on balls (again, something I hope they do), that might be an effective compromise.

Perhaps you're asking why I'm against allowing pitchers to use something on the ball. Numerous hitters have indicated that they're in favor of anything that allows pitchers to grip the ball better, right? I understand that, and the fact is that guys are wary of being hit simply because the pitcher didn't have a proper grip.

However by introducing a foreign substance that would be allowed, baseball would be muddying the waters a bit. The rules are designed so as to avoid guys throwing spitballs. So if they were to decide on a substance that's acceptable, how is this enforced? How much is too much of said substance? Is it like the strike zone, where it's in the opinion of the umpire?

Rules that become nebulous like that generally can't be enforced with the same fervor. What happens when a pitcher is ejected because he applied what the umpire deemed to be too much of the allowed substance?

Ultimately, we now live in an age where everything is challenged on a daily basis. And I'm not talking about challenging calls in the game; I mean literally everything in society now appears to come under scrutiny if it's not precisely defined and clear as day. Does baseball really want to nebulize a rule just because everyone's doing it anyway?

In effect, I'm saying that the rules are fine as they are, and that they are rules for a reason. However, it shouldn't be left up to the likes of opposing managers to enforce them. But Showalter's idea is a fix-all: Use the Japanese baseballs. They give pitchers a grip without having to load up the ball.

Domenic Vadala blogs about the Orioles at Birds Watcher, and his opinions appear here as part of MASNsports.com's season-long initiative of welcoming guest bloggers to our pages. Follow him on Twitter: @DomenicVadala. All opinions expressed are those of the guest bloggers, who are not employed by MASNsports.com but are just as passionate about their baseball as our roster of writers.