St. Louis manager Tony La Russa and pitching coach Dave Duncan believe Arroyo used pine star to “sticky-up” baseballs that were slick Wednesday, Sept. 30, devoid of the Delaware mud that is normally rubbed on them before games. La Russa and Duncan both said the stain on the bill of Arroyo's cap was pine tar that helped him grip balls.
A pissed off Reds manager Dusty Baker remarked, “Where I come from, man, you call somebody a cheater and you better know what you’re talking about. That’s like calling somebody a liar, a snitch, a cheat or a thief. Those are strong words when you call somebody a cheater and I’m the man in charge over here.”
St. Louis pitcher John Smoltz said the balls were too slick and La Russa said the balls did not have the mud on them.
Clubhouse attendant Mike Dillon, who rubs mud on the balls, “I had nothing to do with those balls (Wednesday) and I’m the one who rubbed them up, but I had nothing to do with them. I don’t know what happened after they were over there but you look at them (Thursday) and they’ll be the same.”
When La Russa showed Dillon two balls he saved from Wednesday he said, “Do they look rubbed up to you?” Dillon said, “No. I rubbed up the balls but they weren’t like that. That’s all I’m going to say. I’m telling you I don’t cheat. I don’t lie. I had nothing to do with it. Somehow the mud got off them.”
La Russa said, “I knew they were up to shenanigans. I appreciate you saying that.”
Of Arroyo, La Russa added, “The guy’s got pine tar all over his hat and our guy (Smoltz) is out there naked. We’ve got about six of those balls around here. That was pretty lousy. (Arroyo) found a little edge. You can’t let the starting pitcher influence how the balls are prepared for the game.”
Arroyo responded, “I pitch on the road, too, and I can’t tell you how many times I was unhappy with the way the balls are rubbed up. Every time I pitch in Milwaukee I can’t stand the way the balls are rubbed up. They can run out any kind of balls they want and I won’t walk five guys (as Smoltz did).”
Baker said he didn’t hear any complaints about Arroyo rubbing pine tar on the balls until a writer told him Thursday morning.
"If anybody should know, it would be Duncan," Baker said. "I remember they had Julian Tavarez over there. They threw his hat out, remember that? His hat was all messed up. It's not like it's something new."
That was 2004 and Tavarez was suspended eight days for using pine tar (later reduced to four days). “And remember that left-handed relief pitcher they had?” Baker said. That would be Steve Kline, who wore the same hat all season and by season’s end it was no longer red but brownish black — the color of pine tar.
“That is all just stupid,” said Baker. “Nothing went on. News to me. I don’t believe in cheating.”
Arroyo (15-13) finished with 12 consecutive starts in which he went at least seven innings while allowing no more than three earned runs. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, he is the first Reds pitcher since at least 1900 to put together such a streak and only the fourth overall in the last 20 years, joining Greg Maddux (12 straight for the Cubs in 1992), Randy Johnson (14 for Arizona in 1999) and Curt Schilling (12 for Arizona in 2002). - Hmmmmmm. – Gregory Shapiro
Greg is an orthopedic surgeon that has a number of professional athletes including MLB players as patients. He’s an avid MLB fan and rotisserie player with some unique insight into the world of professional athletes.----------
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