Kenny Rogers

I don't know about all of you, but I saw one of the best pitching performances of my life last night. The pitching throughout this season has been fantastic and has continued throughout the playoffs, but the schooling I saw given by Kenny Rogers last night was truly amazing. Unfortunately, this feet of excellence has been shadowed by many accusations of cheating. I am sickened by the idea that a television announcing crew could have such an impact on America's past time. In case anyone missed it, in the first inning of last night's game, Joe Buck and his crew made a big deal about a substance they noticed on Kenny Rogers' left hand. They then showed clips of him from the first innings in the Yankees and A's series in which he pitched showing similar markings on his hand. One happened next was crazy. Soon after the broadcast Tony larussa suddenly wanted to chat with the umpires and didn't want to comment on it at all after that. Jim Leland claimed Rogers was asked to wash his hands but Rogers said that nobody told him, "he noticed the dirt and washed it off". He said the only thing the umpire mentioned to him was that he had more time in between innings and he should relax and use that time to warm up. Larussa claimed that his players thought "the ball was doing funny things" and that is why he said something. But, in post game interviews the players who batted in the first inning claim they never said anything about the way the ball was being pitched. This is what I know. Whether Rogers had something on his hand in the first inning or not, it was gone by the second. And I also know this: he was amazing through EIGHT!! So for all you haters out there that think the Tigers don't deserve to be here, too bad. We are here and we are proud and we will win this thing fair and square.


ESPN Article

Sports Illustrated Online Article

Sporting News Article