The Mariano Rivera spitball controversy that wasn't.
Hey, I wanted to believe it too, but it just didn't make any sense.
It all started last night when "Quinlan's Goofy Swing" at Angels' fan site halosheaven.com posted a Zapruder-film like desconstruction of a piece of video footage from ALCS Game 3 in which Yankees Hall of Fame closer Mariano Rivera seemed to spit on the ball.
And then the theories ran rampant as to what was going on, from both sides.
- The Yankee lunatics were claiming this was doctored video by a fan and uploaded to YouTube, and it could be proven!!! Alas, this video was not doctored, and it was completely legitimate.
- The Angel lunatics were demanding Rivera be suspended by MLB for clearly spitting on the ball, and then throwing that ball to Erick Aybar in the bottom of the 10th.
But a rational observer would clearly surmise the following...
- Mariano Rivera has been pitching in the bigs for 15 years, and this is the first video that has ever surfaced of him even coming close to something resembling a spitball.
- If his back was to the home plate umpire, there are still other umpires on the field perfectly capable of witnessing him spitting on the ball, if that's what really happened. That, and the entire Angels dugout. And Angel fans in the stands. Curious how none of the above ever brought up the issue to anyone.
- Is Mariano Rivera really dumb enough to spit on a baseball in full view of countless FOX cameras, umpires, fans, etc. in order to cheat? Generally, if you're one of those players who cheats, you're a lot more sneaky about it. Just ask players like Mike Scott and Gaylord Perry. Hocking a loogey in full view of everyone? Not exactly credible.
Nonetheless, while the video didn't present Rivera's actions in a favorable light, there was still a lot of question to exactly what occurred.
The Commissioner's Office of MLB reviewed the evidence and determined that the spit did not touch the baseball, and furthermore, it simply didn't make any sense that he would do something like that in full view of everyone, which goes to my 2nd point above. Plus Rivera is known to spit often when on the mound, but never on the ball.
You can read the MLB Commissioner's findings here:
In summation, much ado about nothing.
