The league announced an eight-game suspension for Brewer pitcher Will Smith, who plans to appeal. Here's the MLB announcement:
Milwaukee Brewers pitcher Will Smith has received an eight-game suspension for having a foreign substance on his arm during the bottom of the seventh inning of his Club’s Thursday, May 21st game against the Braves. Joe Garagiola Jr., Senior Vice President of Standards & On-Field Operations for Major League Baseball, made the announcement.
Smith’s suspension had been scheduled to begin tonight, when the Brewers are to continue their series at Atlanta. However, he has elected to file an appeal. Thus, the discipline issued to him will be held in abeyance until the process is complete.
After the game Thursday night,
Smith admitted that he had a mixture of sunscreen and rosin on his arm.
That's in violation of MLB's rules, however it's not a particularly
uncommon way for pitchers to get a better grip on the ball. Smith said he had it on his arm in the bullpen, but "forgot" to clean it off when he took the mound.
The video of the incident clearly shows a shiny substance on Smith's arm. When Braves manager Fredi Gonzalez came out to speak to the home plate umpire, after Smith had hit a batter to load the bases, everyone assumed it was about the HBP. But after a few moments, the umpires got to the mound and inspected Smith's arm. One touch of the area, Smith was immediately ejected.
But as Smith was leaving the mound, he turned to the Brave dugout and loudly cursed profanities at Gonzalez. Why? If he knew he was supposed to clean off his arm and did not do so, he broke the rules. Gonzalez brought it to the attention of the umpires, who tossed Smith from the game. Why blame the opponent for your own rules violation? Sportsmanship should require accepting one's mistakes and not blaming someone else for getting caught.
