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The RecordVol. I
Hall of ShameA catalog of baseball's lasting mistakes

No. 2023.04.19 · Modern Era

Scherzer's Hand

In the fourth inning at Dodger Stadium, the umpires checked Max Scherzer's hand and glove, ruled them too sticky, and threw him out. Major League Baseball suspended him ten games. He said it was rosin and sweat.

Max Scherzer with the Mets, April 7, 2023, 12 days before the ejection. Not the moment.

Max Scherzer with the Mets, April 7, 2023, 12 days before the ejection. Not the moment.

slgckgc / CC BY 2.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)

April 19, 2023, the Mets at Dodger Stadium. In the fourth inning the umpires, Phil Cuzzi and Dan Bellino among them, inspected Max Scherzer under the foreign-substance rules the league had been enforcing since 2021. They judged his hand and his glove too sticky and ejected him.

Scherzer said it was rosin and sweat. The league suspended him ten games. The rule was written because pitchers had been using substances that were not rosin, and the spin rates had shown it. A check in the middle of an inning is the enforcement. An ejection is the judgment that this hand had crossed the line.

The entry is that judgment, and Scherzer's answer to it. The ten games are what the league added after the night was over.

Film

Scherzer ejected in the fourth

Scherzer ejected in the fourth

Umpires inspect Max Scherzer's glove in the fourth inning and eject him.

Watch on MLB.com

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