Sweat and rosin.
No, it’s not the name of a failed country music duo, it’s what Max Scherzer insisted was all he had on his hand when the Mets ace was ejected from his start against the Dodgers in a dramatic scene Wednesday in Los Angeles.
Scherzer faces a 10-game suspension resulting from the ejection, which came before the bottom of the fourth inning. The previous inning, crew chief Phil Cuzzi — a documented stickler for sticky-substance enforcement — had inspected Scherzer’s glove and ordered him to change it due to excessive rosin.
“I’d have to be an absolute idiot to try to do anything when I’m coming back out for the fourth,” Scherzer said after the game, which became a 5-3 Mets win. “I don’t get how I get ejected when I’m in front of MLB officials doing exactly what you want and being deemed that my hand’s too sticky when I’m using legal substance. … I said, ‘I swear on my kid’s life, I’m not using anything else. This is sweat and rosin, sweat and rosin.’ I keep saying it over and over.”
What makes the situation tricky is that rosin is not considered an illegal substance, but MLB rules dictate that “player use of rosin always must be consistent with the requirements and expectations of the Official Baseball Rules. When used excessively or otherwise misapplied (i.e., to gloves or other parts of the uniform), rosin may be determined by the umpires to be a prohibited foreign substance, the use of which may subject a player to ejection and discipline.’’
Home plate umpire Dan Bellino said “the level of stickiness … was the stickiest it has been since I’ve been inspecting hands, which goes back three seasons.”
If Scherzer is looking for some help in a potential appeal of a suspension, he might look to an unlikely source.
Back in June 2021, when the league’s ban on pitchers using sticky stuff picked up steam, Trevor Bauer — then of the Dodgers and since exiled to Japan, where he’s playing after a lengthy MLB suspension over sexual assault allegations — conducted a makeshift science experiment to show the ball sticking to the palm of his hand after the application of just sweat and rosin.
Nearly two years later, MLB and pitchers still are trying to come to a consensus on what is and what is not allowed.
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Ohtani in The Bronx
The Yankees took two pretty big plunges in free agency this past offseason, bringing Aaron Judge back for nine years and $360 million and signing Carlos Rodon to a six-year, $162 million deal.
With Shohei Ohtani making his only trip of the season to The Bronx this week, it’s only natural to look at how the Yankees might be able to pursue the biggest star in the game if and when he becomes a free agent following this season.
Remember: The Yankees tried and failed to even get a second meeting with Ohtani when he first came to the majors as a free agent prior to the 2018 season. Ohtani’s representatives quickly told teams he was only interested in playing for teams on the West Coast and in smaller markets.
Now that the 28-year-old is in his sixth season in the majors, it’s unclear whether that mindset has changed, but some tea leaves were there to be read after Tuesday’s series opener.
The first came from Ohtani, who speaks only selectively after games in which he does not pitch, but addressed the media following the Angels’ win.
After praising Yankee Stadium and Yankees fans, Ohtani was asked what he liked doing in New York when he was in town.
Shohei’s reply through an interpreter?
“I actually haven’t stepped outside the hotel in New York, so I couldn’t give you an answer.”
For a player that initially preferred a smaller market, it doesn’t sound as if much has changed.
The second potential signal about whether the Yankees could be in play for Ohtani came from Aaron Judge, who was asked about Ohtani’s impending free agency in the wake of Judge’s megadeal with the Yankees.
“He’s one of the top hitters in the game and one of the top pitchers in the game,’’ Judge said. “Combine that with [being] a great all-around athlete, it’s gonna be exciting to watch and I’m excited to see where he goes.”
Much to the delight of every reporter within earshot, Judge continued, “I hope he likes…”
But Judge stopped without saying “pastrami sandwiches” or “cold weather in April and October,” and didn’t give us a clue as to what his pitch might be to encourage Ohtani to join him in The Bronx for the next decade.
Instead, Judge just said, “I’m excited to see where he goes.”
In fairness, no matter what Judge came up with, unless he’s prepared to share most of his contract, the only person who will be able to convince Ohtani to become a Yankee is the same person who convinced Judge to remain one: Hal Steinbrenner.
And Steinbrenner typically hasn’t handed out huge deals in consecutive offseasons.
And Ohtani’s next pact is likely to be more expensive than any in baseball history with Ohtani showing once again he’s among the most dominant right-handed starting pitchers in the game as well as one of the most dangerous lefty hitters.
Though there was plenty of attention on Ohtani on Tuesday and the Yankees took the rare, but not unprecedented step of selling Ohtani’s jersey in the team store, their bottom line didn’t appear to be much different.
On a chilly Tuesday night, they drew an announced crowd of 37,883, only a slight increase from their only other Tuesday night home game this season (April 4 against the Phillies: 35,392).
There was an announced attendance of 38,131 on Wednesday night as Judge responded to Ohtani’s homer the previous night by robbing Ohtani of another homer in the top of the first then clubbing a two-run homer of his own in the bottom of the first in the Yankees’ eventual 3-2, 10-inning win.
The last time Ohtani tested the market, Yankee general manager Brian Cashman was open about the team’s desire to acquire him.
On Dec. 1, 2017, speaking at an event in Stamford, Connecticut, Cashman said of his interest in Ohtani, “We have been preparing for this and thinking through this for quite some time. And we’re trying to leave no stone unturned in doing so.”
Just two days later, again in Stamford, Cashman made public that the Yankees had gotten bad news: “We have been informed that we have been eliminated from the Ohtani sweepstakes.’’
Less than a week later, Giancarlo Stanton was a Yankee, arriving in a trade from the Marlins with the Yankees owing him $265 million over the following 10 years.
Bring on Boston?
The Rangers got off to an ideal start to their postseason with Tuesday night’s lopsided Game 1 win over the Devils, using a pair of goals from Chris Kreider and elite goaltending from Igor Shesterkin.
But no matter how well the Blueshirts play in the opening rounds of the NHL playoffs, there likely would be no escaping the record-setting Bruins in the conference finals.
The same goes for the Islanders, whose hopes of advancing dimmed considerably with Wednesday night’s 4-3 overtime loss to the Hurricanes that puts them down 2-0 as they return to Long Island.
The Bruins are coming off a regular season in which they set league records with 65 wins and 135 points, and they cruised in Game 1 before hiccupping with a 6-3 setback against the Panthers in Wednesday night’s Game 2.
They got 61 goals from David Pastrnak — one of five Bruins to finish the year with more than 20 goals.
Here is some solace: Only eight Presidents’ Trophy winners — since the league began bestowing the honor in 1986 to the best regular-season team — have gone on to win the Stanley Cup. Perhaps the first crack showed up last night.
Down and out without Durant
As the Nets fight for their playoff lives in Thursday night’s Game 3 against the 76ers (7:30 p.m., TNT), Kevin Durant is sitting pretty out West with the Suns, who travel to Los Angeles for a Game 3 (10:30 p.m., NBA TV) with the series tied 1-1.
Durant now co-stars with Devin Booker after his failed partnership with Kyrie Irving in Brooklyn.
“He’s an all-around player,’’ Durant told reporters of Booker, who poured in 38 points in Tuesday’s Suns win. “He can do everything at an elite level on the basketball court, so we’ve got to utilize that. I feel like he’s an oversized point guard.”
The Suns still have their hands full with a Clippers team that is without Paul George, but they are certainly in better shape than the Nets, who have been overmatched in their first two games. The Nets have had no answers for Sixers star Joel Embiid or James Harden, another ex-Net.
Mikal Bridges has been a nice story since arriving from Phoenix in the Durant trade, but he’s not at the level of a Durant, Embiid or Harden.
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