A non-story is a non-story
ByI hate posting this, I really do. An Angels blog — acting in the typical Angels fan manner of, “everyone else is cheating except the Angels, and the Angels always get screwed more than other teams” — claimed it was “pretty conclusive” that Mariano Rivera spit on a baseball. Never mind that it was right in front of the base umpires. Never mind that he spits a lot in general (as do almost all baseball players). No, the Angels blog just wanted to drum up some controversy, probably with the express intention of riling up Yankees fans, but certainly with some ignorance. In any case, MLB found no evidence that Mo spit on the ball.
The most hilarious part of this: the “pretty conclusive” evidence, as claimed by the Angels blog, turns out to be the logo on Mike Scioscia’s jacket, which appeared because the scene was fading. But boy, am I glad that their crack team of video analysts was able to find the video “pretty conclusive.” Apparently they can see a 3D image on a 2D screen.
In the Angels defense, having God pitch against you is kind of unfair.
But they play the right way, God is supposed to like that and hate teams that hit homeruns and spend money. He’s not supposed to play for the richest team.
Imagine God pitch against you with a spitter?
I might kill myself. Is that what you’re suggesting they should do? That’s pretty extreme Mike Pop!
Come on. Have you seen the Vatican? God is rich.
They’re only paying their team a paltry $118million. How can they complete with a god that hates the poor?!
IETC
Fuck ‘em! How about the Yanks beat ‘em 11-0 nothing tonight and then they can bitch and moan!
i was thinking 12-1
or worse
Just underlines their massive ignorance of the game. When loading up a baseball in order to throw a spitball, you don’t actually spit on the ball…nor from a distance either. Shows the baseball intelligence of a rally monkey.
Even if Rivera did spit on the ball (which he didn’t), it would only be so the Angels didn’t have to face the cutter, so they’d have a better shot of hitting him.
IETC
That Angels blog is a cesspool of ignorance and stupidity.
That was a shitload of spit…he would be seen wiping it all over after as well as spitting all over it in front of everybody as well. That much spit on a baseball cannot just be thrown immediately afterwards…with that much all over it…it would need to be carefully spread in whichever way necessary. It’s just all around lunacy.
I could have sworn that Mo threw a water filled balloon once in that inning. I could be wrong though.
They’re obviously extremely worried they don’t have the Yankees’ number anymore.
They’re just jealous because they’re stuck with Brian Fuentes for the next two years.
whether he actually threw a spitball or not or whether he “cheated” or not he DID spit on that ball. i like the dude but you cant deny that he spat on th bal….
“whether he actually threw a spitball or not”
“you cant deny that he spat on th bal….”
Huh?!?!
If he spit on the ball, that, in its simplest terms, would be considered a spitball.
see my post below as to why it appears that way.
No, he didn’t spit on the ball. I don’t know how you can conclude that by looking at a 2D image.
i just love that they would believe that throwing a spitball involves standing on the back of the mound and hocking a loogie onto the ball in front of everyone.
…they won, why are they bitching?
Because even after loading the bases, and having one of the best fielding pitchers of all time throw the ball into the outfield, they still couldn’t score off him. Cleary he spits on every one of the 25 balls he uses during an inning.
sure, lets say he throws a REAL spitball, not just hawks on one…what about the other 24 they (not to be racist, so not just them, but them and EVERYONE ELSE) seem to have a hard time handling?
Here’s an idea… maybe Mo was looking down trying to get the correct grip before he got to the mound so he wasn’t fidgeting around on the mound and spit at the same time! OMFG!
The plain fact of the matter is that on video you cannot tell the depth of the field of view very well. he could have spit 2 feet to the left of it and you wouldn’t know because of the depth of view. If it was an overhead shot you could tell more. its the same thing with watching the ball drop in front of an outfielder. You may scream why didn’t he dive or slide for it but in reality it dropped 12 feet in front of him but it appears to only be a few feet.
Oh stop it with your rationalizations. That has no place here.
Sorry mike! perhaps this would have been a better answer……”OMFG Yous guys’s who tinks dis is reals is idots!!11!11!!!!!1!1!”
haha
You, sir, are a buffoon.
This.
The only reason this is even an issue is because it looks as though (to the dumbest baseball fan on the planet) that he’s looking around waiting for people to not see him before he spits.
Mariano Rivera has been
pitchingdominating for over 14 years. I’m pretty sure he’s aware that (especially once he comes in) every camera will be on him. ‘Looking around’ to see if nobody sees him is absolutely ridiculous.Was he waiting for the cameras to be turned away too? Is there one random point of every late inning where the other team turns their back to Rivera in unison??
People are idiots…
not only the cameras but there is 50,000 people all watching him too!
You have to admit that it looked at least a little bit suspicious.
no it didn’t.
It’s also clear from the screen grabs that he’s moving the ball away when he spits, which would indicate he’s trying not to hit the ball.
Was the blog Halos Heaven?
yup the most reliable source for news! hahaha
Heh, this complaint and conspiracy theory from the team that got several calls at 1B against the Sox.
The fans are just mad because they have their Angels and we have GOD.
Was there even weird movement on the ball after this said incident?
Well no more than usual. Mo’s cutter moves weird to begin with.
no movement , it became straight, lol
to be honest, i couldn’t care less…Mo joined my facebook mafia. screw the angels.
You really can’t tell either way whether he spit on the ball or not with any true certainty. If I had to take a guess though, I would guess that, yes, he did spit on the ball.
You can see Mo looking at the ball for a little bit, then he picks his head up for a second, takes a quick, guilty looking glance around to see if anyone was looking (kinda like some people do when they are about the make a racist joke), and then proceeded to spit down with the ball in his hand at his waist.
I really can’t be sure. I don’t think anyone can really be sure either way, but if a gun was to my head, I say yes.
Yes, and it does look like this…which is why this is such an issue. But why the hell, after 14 years, do you take the risk of spitting on the ball in front of tens of thousands of people, cameras, the other team, umpires, etc. I just don’t get it.
Does it look as though he spit on it…with “context clues” to help that case as well? Sure. But it doesn’t make any sense.
And like I said above, that’s a shitload of spit…that ball would have been COVERED…and throwing an absolutely spit covered ball is pretty hard…if even possible.
You may very well be right. I don’t see why he would even try to do that, but after watching that video, he may have. And pitchers trying to gain an edge with spit, or dirt, or some black concoction, is not exactly foreign to the game.
Agreed. I’m not saying he 100% didn’t do it. I just don’t see why? Doesn’t really make a lot of sense. The pieces don’t fit properly. But he very well could have…who knows?
You can definitely be sure he did not spit on the ball. If you slow down the video considerably, you can see that Mo kind of tilts his head towards the right as he spits. Just as the spit appears to be hitting the area of the ball, the screen shot of Scoscia comes up. That “spit halo” that Halos Heaven so eloquently refers to is actually the Majestic logo on Scoscia’s jacket. It’s quite blatant once you replay the video enough.
Also, all I could think about when explaining this to people is the Keith Hernandez Magic Loogie episode of Seinfeld.
You may be right. I’m not sure. But I don’t think the video conclusively shows that he did not spit on the ball. That head tilt bit is very shaky.
Just to be clear, all in all, this is kinda funny to me. Like you said, like a Seinfeld or Curb episode. It is ridiculous that Angel fans are making a big deal about this
For someone who can’t tell either way and is taking a guess whether or not he did spit on the ball, you sure are arguing with great certainty that he did and getting quite defensive when other argue against your “guess”/opinion.
Sorry. Don’t mean to come off that way. I guess most people think there is no chance or very little chance that he spit on it, and I think it is closer to 50/50, if not more likely that he spit on it.
I think it’s more likely Mo made a racist joke.
What a hilariously dumb story advanced, like any awesomely bad conspiracy, by ignoring all possible explanations in favor of the most comically nefarious.
It’s the Anti-Yankees Propaganda Machine coming out just in time. Remember when the Red Sox Propaganda Machine mysteriously leaked out the news that Paul Byrd used steroids…the NIGHT he was going up to pitch against the Red Sox?? I always laugh at that. That was the turning point of that series right there…eerily similar to the way things have been going in this series. Yankees had a nice 2-0 lead…they let one slip by…anti-yankee propaganda gets blown out of proportion…and who knows if this has any effect on Mariano “The Ice Man” Rivera from here on out…you would hope it wouldn’t.
Curt Schilling got plenty of shit for the fake blood, so it is not only the Yanks.
Two, that video at least left the possibility that he did spit on the ball. Just that you think it is ridiculous that some people, including me, think he may have spit on the ball, I think it is ridiculous that you are so certain he did not.
Put it this way.
I will take years and years of Rivera’s reputation and work ethic as a reason why I think he did not do something…over your vague reasons why you think he did.
over my vague reasons for why I think there is a chance he did
Above you said if you had to take a guess…you would say that he DID spit on the ball.
That being said, I really hope that if I’m ever wrongfully accused of anything…you aren’t on the jury LOL
You would want me on the jury if something had to be proved beyond a reasonable doubt though. I find reasonable doubt in both directions here.
Mike,
I don’t see how this makes any sense. How can you have “reasonable doubt” for both sides? That’s the whole point of “reasonable doubt” isn’t it? You need to have it towards guilty or not guilty. You can’t have “reasonable doubt” for both…otherwise it would just be “doubt.” Right?
No. If I had to find beyond a reasonable doubt that Mo spit on that ball by looking at the video only, I would not be able to do that. I have a reasonable doubt that he did not in fact spit on the ball.
The other way, if I had to find beyond a reasonable doubt that Mo did NOT spit on the ball by looking at the video only, I would also not be able to do that. I have a reasonable doubt that Mo might have actually spit on the ball.
I think it is about 50/50 based on the video, and at most 75% in favor that he did spit on it. But I could not find beyond a reasonable doubt that he did, or did not spit on the ball.
+42×42
I dont know why people made such a big deal of that video lol
1. You cant tell accurately if he does or doesnt spit on the ball itself.
2. THAT IS NOTTTTTTTTTTT HOW YOU DOCTOR A BALL TO THROW A SPIT BALL
LMAO
Adding moisture to the ball can allow for more movement no matter what pitch you are throwing. It does not matter if the moisture gets there by spitting directly on the ball, or by spitting in your hand first.
I’m not saying Mo did it, I’m just saying that video at least leaves some doubt in both directions
As I said above. That’s a shitload of spit. He would have to sit there and awkwardly spread it all around before he would have been able to throw it with any effectiveness.
come on. It was not exactly niagra falls. He could have rubbed the ball a couple of times and it would have been just fine. If you thought my reasons were a vague stretch, then I think the reasoning that he could not wipe the ball, or that is not how you throw a spitball, or the spit would not help etc … are just as vague and stretch(y)
The difference is, this isn’t my main argument or evidence. This is in addition to a lot of logic and reasoning.
He looks around ignoring hundreds of cameras…only looking at umpires…hucks a giant loogie on the ball…then cordially smeres the spit all over the ball perfectly each and every time in order to get an edge.
I just don’t buy it.
Actually, I think that video is proof that you have not stopped kicking puppies.
I’m saying 100% that he didn’t do it. A spitballer could never have that much command of his pitches. It was why the pitch is outlawed in the first place.
The highlight of the blog post is the hypocrisy from Halos Heaven who also put out this post a few years ago about K-Rod cheating.
No link there.
Hmm… Must have done something wrong, though it let me go there in the preview section.
Anyways, here is the link http://tinyurl.com/ygsbuke (safe).
Whoops… guess he forgot about that one
You’re tellin’ me that his deliberate mannerisms on the mound that are relatively consistent through his six seasons in the majors are suddenly suspicious because a BLOGGER saw a reflective patch somewhere in the bill of his cap in a game THIS season?
too funny.
God I love Mo.
To be able to spit with such perfect mechanics that you vault from being some run-of-the-mill Panamanian failed starter to the greatest closer of all time, and not have anyone catch on at all until 14 years into your career, is just unbelievable.
I mean, his arms, his legs, his shoulder, his head, his torso….we’ve known about Mo’s clockwork delivery, but now he’s got pinpoint saliva?
Damn…when he hangs up the spikes I think he’s got a hip-hop career…MC Cuttah…cause this mofuggah can spit!
Reply fail.
Halos Heavens is full of irrationality. I read some comments there and they think that FOX hates the Angels and loves the Yanks. Could be any more wrong?
Also, I think that blog is extremely biased. I’m sure RAB is too (It IS a blog) but nowhere to that extent. They just provide some BS. How did that become the “world’s 12th Most Important Baseball Blog” I have no idea.
Well, they sure brought us the “Worlds 1st Most Important Baseball Glob”
Maybe you just misread it
A ha. The slick spit ball explains Mo’s wild throw to third yesterday and his wild throw in Game 7 of 2001. Also, when Mo came back from surgery years ago he went from throwing 91 to 95 (steroids anyone?). He apparently is the most successful multiple cheater in baseball history!
what are you smoking?
when you sober up:
1) Open mouth
2) Insert foot.
It was sarcasm I think. I hope.
Salty has read it correctly. “sam”, please advise how your foot is tasting now.
mlb studies tape based on the rantings of a fan blog?
in that case, i demand an investigation into my belief, supported by video evidence, that mike scoscia has a perpetually arrogant smirk
“mike scoscia has a perpetually arrogant smirk”
I always get the urge to punch babies everytime I see that smirk. I can just picture it now and my blood is boiling.
http://cdn2.sbnation.com/entry.....seball.jpg
Ugh…I hate his face.
The commissioner has ruled in your favor, going forward Scioscia will be forced to wear duct tape over his mouth.
I think they only bothered to look at it because the Boston Globe picked it up (citing the blog).
I can’t wait to hopefully win this series and get it over with. I’m tired of watching the Angels and whiny Scioscia with that little smug on his face. Perhaps it’s all the close games but I am just sick of the Angels. Get it done Yanks.
Re: Mo’s positioning:
- The home plate ump has a worse view of Mo when he faces center field.
- The first and third base umps have the same view of Mo whether Mo faces the plate or center field.
- The second base, left field and right field umps have a better view of Mo when he faces center field.
So… We’re supposed to believe Mo turned his back to the plate in order to hide his devious actions, meaning he hid is actions from one ump while giving three umps a better view of what he was doing, all in plain view of around 50,000 people in the stadium and millions watching on national television? Truly a master criminal, that Mariano Rivera. Scary.
There is absolutely no evidence that Mo spit on the baseball. Nobody can look at a 2D image like that and determine how much space (depth) is between the path of Mo’s spit and the baseball. The fact that Halos Heaven called the logo on Scioscia’s jacket a “spit halo” just hurts their credibility, calling into question how objectively they’re able to look at the available evidence. Absent any evidence, and considering the complete and utter lack of any other substantiation (i.e. no evidence and nobody on the face of the planet who has ever voiced these concerns about Mo before over the course of a 15 year career spent entirely in the spotlight), this is, as Joe said, a total non-issue. There is no reasonable ‘well he might have done it’ sentiment here, any moreso than there was yesterday before anyone aired these allegations.
But it’s awesome of Angels fans to make themselves look like complete asshats for everyone else’s enjoyment, so a hearty thanks to Halos Heaven for that.
+27 to all of this.
Rev Halofan of Halos Heaven on April 5, 2007, in response to allegations that Francisco Rodriguez doctored the baseball:
You’re tellin’ me that his deliberate mannerisms on the mound that are relatively consistent through his six seasons in the majors are suddenly suspicious because a BLOGGER saw a reflective patch somewhere in the bill of his cap in a game THIS season?
That was in response, mind you, to a much more well thought out and reasoned analysis than anything posted by Halos Heaven on this Rivera nonsense.
Kinda sucks how once you post words to your blog those words are part of the historical record, huh, Rev? Asshole.
And just for shits and giggles:
http://deadspin.com/5385945/sp...../gallery/4
Wow this is the best shot ive seen…Its blatantly obvious that the spit doesnt hit the ball its clearly falls in front of the ball and hand…End of story no?
Mo should sue those fuckers.
Slander/Negligence!
that story is bound to create a HUGE stir among angels fans in SOCAL today “Wait, they broadcast baseball games on TV?”
the ways lenses work, the longer the focal length, the more the depth of field is “compressed” (tom cruise is running towards the camera as a car blows up behind him. because of the high focal length, the car looks closer to him than it actually is)
because the camera operators are not allowed to stand on the mound with mo, they have to “zoom in” to get that shot. mo could have spit five feet to the right of the ball and the image would appear the same
I think it’s clear what’s really going on here, is Mo has swine flu and he was trying to give it to Erick Aybar. He spits on the ball. The ball hits Aybar’s bat. Mo throws wide of A-Rod, the ball is recovered by Damon who’s backing up the play. Aybar chucks his bat and runs to first.
Posada had to call a hittable pitch location because he hasn’t had the swine flu yet and couldn’t touch it. Thus we infer that Damon, who is the first Yankee to touch the quote unquote misthrown ball, has already had swine flu. Damon throws to A-Rod who eventually throws back to Mo. But A-Rod is a known steroid-user, catcher-shoulderer, Arroyo-slapper, and ha-sayer. We infer that he keeps a small dispenser of antibacterial handwash inside his glove.
Aybar picks up his bat and returns to the Angels dugout where he kisses the bat which as we know is one of the sacred rituals he observes as the Red Ninja. Aybar gets swine flu and passes it to the rest of the Angels in the dugout.
In summary, substitute the bird for Mo and the pig for Aybar.
If y’all are interested, I have further evidence that relates to…
-Mo’s diabolical plan to give Sandy Alomar mad cow disease in 1997
-Mo’s diabolical plan to give Luis Gonzalez anthrax in 2001
-Mo’s diabolical plan to give Bill Mueller and Jason Varitek the deadly “cowboy down” virus in 2004
This is my non-response.
for a non-story