Kansas City Royals catcher Salvador Perez may have been using pine tar to get a better grip on the baseball during Game 1 of the World Series Tuesday night, and New York Mets manager Terry Collins has no problem with that.
At one point during Kansas City’s dramatic extra-innings win, a FOX camera zoomed in on what appeared to be Perez touching some sort of substance on his shin guard. When asked about it Wednesday, Collins made it clear he did not get worked up over it.
“I’ve seen throughout baseball, everywhere, you have it,” he told reports, per Mike Oz of Big League Stew. “And again, catchers, they’ve got to get a grip, too, especially on cold and damp nights. They need a grip on the baseball, so they use pine tar for themselves. You know what, it’s so obvious. The umpires see it, too. And if it’s that obvious they would do something about it.”
Some have argued — mostly Mets fans — that Perez was putting the substance on his hand in an attempt to doctor the baseball for his pitchers. Collins said even if that was the case, he would rather have a pitcher in control on a cold night than throwing 95 mph fastballs at hitters’ heads.
Royals manager Ned Yost also did his part to downplay whatever Perez was doing.
“(Fans) look for any stupid thing to bring up,” he said. “It’s not illegal for a catcher to get an extra grip. A pitcher is illegal. But Sal is not putting anything on the ball for the pitcher. He uses it for his own, he just taps it lightly so that he gets a better grip when he throws, which is completely legal.”
We’ve shown you more than one example of pitchers using something — whether legal or not — to get a better grip on the ball. David Price appeared to have a substance under his hat and on his arm late last season, and we all remember the Jon Lester sunscreen incident during the 2013 World Series.
Old-school managers and players don’t seem to care. That should tell you all you need to do. It’s safe for everyone to move onto Game 2.
