Yadier Molina took offense to questions he received after the Cubs-Cardinals game on Thursday about his potential use of an illegal substance.
The turning point in the game occurred in the 7th when Kyle Schwarber blasted a 3-run shot to put Chicago up against St. Louis 5-4. The lead runner was able to reach base on a dropped third strike. Molina was unable to locate the ball in the dirt because it literally stuck to his chest protector rather than deflecting and going elsewhere. The bizarre incident led to some prodding from the media after the game, as expected, though Molina didn’t care for it much.
Molina repeated "I don't know" when asked about the mystery ball. Said "That's a dumb question" when asked if he put something on protector.
— Ben Frederickson (@Ben_Fred) April 6, 2017
Cubs manager Joe Maddon had a funny response to the incident.
Maddon: "I didn't know if they came out with Velcro on the protector or it's just like a fuzzy baseball. I'm not sure what happened."
— Patrick Mooney (@CSNMooney) April 6, 2017
The Cubs could have asked for an investigation, but there are two risks there. One, they already had a positive outcome thanks to it with their batter reaching base after a strikeout, so why look into things further? Two, it’s somewhat accepted that pitchers on all teams use pine tar or other substances, so you don’t want to open up a can of worms that can backfire and hurt your own staff if you call someone else out for it.
The real question would be if in this case, the sticky substance is on the catcher’s equipment rather than the pitcher’s.
