Baseball pitchers are not allowed to put "foreign" substances on a baseball. Personal sweat, mound dirt and resin are okay. But pine tar is not.
Yankee pitcher Michael Pineda had been accused in two early season starts of having a substance on his palm. He claimed it was dirt. His opponents did not raise the issue. In fact, a few batters had no issue with a pitcher on a very cold day getting a better grip on the baseball; better he have control or it could be flying out of control at someone's head.
But Pineda was caught during his last start with pine tar on his neck. It was too obvious not to be called out. The umpires went to inspect the complaint, then tossed Pineda from the game.
Apparently, the unwritten rule is it is okay for pitchers to get a better grip but don't be too obvious about it. Some writers believe the rule is so abused that it has been nullified by passive consent. A few writers believe that MLB needs to allow an "approved" substance so this "cheating" will no longer be an issue.
Adding a substance to a baseball can make pitches bite harder on curves or sliders, which would be to the pitcher's advantage.
Purists will say that if steroids was cheating because a player was gaining an illegal advantage, than a pitcher with substance is also cheating so the sport needs to clean up its act.
The league should either enforce its rules or change them.
