Orel Hershiser
Just when you thought the New York Mets starting pitching situation couldn’t get any worse, Max Scherzer was thrown out of the game for having an illegal sticky substance. That triggers an automatic 10 game suspension. The Mets can ill afford that with Carlos Carrasco headed to the IL with elbow inflammation.
The situation leading up to Scherzer’s ejection was bizarre. It needs to be fully recapped, and with all the facts surrounding it, we will see the ejection as highly suspect.
It all began in the second inning when Scherzer was told to wash his hand due to “clumpiness”on his non-pitching hand created from the sweat and rosin. Per Scherzer, he washed his hand in front of an MLB official. That was insufficient for Cuzzi, who ordered Scherzer to switch gloves before the start of the third inning.
Coming out for the fourth, Scherzer was checked, and this time, he would be ejected. This would be the third time a pitcher has been suspended for sticky substances. The first two were Caleb Smith and Hector Santiago. Like Scherzer, both pitchers were ejected by Cuzzi.
Max Scherzer was ejected between innings after a heated conversation with the umpiring crew pic.twitter.com/mqMkOnzchb
— SNY (@SNYtv) April 19, 2023
Scherzer summoned home plate umpire Dan Bellino to interfere. After the game, Bellino would say through pool reporters, “As far as stickiness, this was the stickiest that it has been since I have been inspecting hands, which goes back three seasons. Compared to the first inning, the level of stickiness, it was so sticky that when we touched his hand, our fingers were sticking to his hand. Whatever was on there remained on our fingers for a few innings afterwards [so] that you could still feel the fingers were sticking together.” (Los Angeles Times).
The counter-point to Bellino was Scherzer again noting he washed his hands in front of an MLB official. We did not see him go to the clubhouse between innings to procure something illicit. Scherzer said he knew he was going to get checked in the fourth, and that he wasn’t an idiot. He swore on his children’s lives he did not cheat.
Full explanation from Max Scherzer on the incident this afternoon. He is adamant that he did nothing wrong. pic.twitter.com/JF5KF9D0qu
— Steve Gelbs (@SteveGelbs) April 19, 2023
Obviously, Scherzer, the Mets, and Mets fans are going to swear he wasn’t cheating. To a certain extent, Scherzer has built a solid reputation for himself. This isn’t Gerritt Cole. No one ever thought Scherzer was using foreign non-approved substances to pitch well. On that point, Los Angeles Dodgers commentator Orel Hershiser was on Scherzer’s side:
Orel Hershiser on Max Scherzer’s ejection due to rosin:
pic.twitter.com/n8AJT19QWp— Metsmerized Online (@Metsmerized) April 19, 2023
To be fair, Scherzer was a former Dodger. For what it’s worth, Hershiser was a member of the 1999 Mets. However, this seemed to be more akin to Hershiser defending a fellow great starter.
It should be noted New York Yankees starter Domingo Germán had an issue with rosin on his hand in his last start. Unlike Scherzer, he didn’t comply with the request to wash his hands. Also unlike Scherzer, he would not be ejected from the game. In fact, Minnesota Twins manager Rocco Baldelli would be when he complained about how Germán wasn’t being disciplined.
Where does this all lead us? Well, we have a pitcher in Scherzer who has a sterling reputation. There is no video evidence he cheated, and the Dodgers were not requesting Scherzer get checked. Of note there, Scherzer played for Dave Roberts in 2021.
On Cuzzi, he is still the only umpire to eject pitchers for illegal substances. However, its just three over two plus years. That’s not exactly an excessive gotcha indicator. That said, he escalated this situation.
In the end, Scherzer washed his hands in front of an MLB official and didn’t go to the clubhouse. Everything he did was recorded. He even switched gloves per the umpire’s request. Despite all of that, the umpires claim his hand got stickier, and was, in fact, the stickiest hand they ever felt.
Either Scherzer found a way to cheat, or an umpire had it out for a player who groused about the excessive checks and requests. Keep in mind, Cuzzi is a they’re here to see me umpire with a history of #umpshow moments.
Phil Cuzzi is an #umpshow Hall of Famer. https://t.co/36LKxTu9qx
— keithlaw (@keithlaw) April 22, 2022
Unless there was an official MLB inspection of Scherzer after the game, it is difficult to see how he could be suspended. He complied with every umpire demand, and there’s video of him in the dugout. On the other hand, Cuzzi has a history.
And yet, Scherzer faces an automatic suspension. Based on all the evidence, it appears he should avoid the suspension. If in fact he does, then a suspension should be coming Cuzzi’s way for improperly throwing out a player.
The New York Mets and Los Angeles Dodgers have an interesting history. For fans of the original Mets team, many of them were originally Dodgers fans.
That includes Fred Wilpon, who built a ballpark in testament to those Dodger teams. Of course, that was resented by younger more modern Mets fans who have zero recollection of those Brooklyn teams.
For Gen X fans and younger, the history of the Mets and Dodgers is quite different.
There was the Dodgers upsetting the 1988 Mets. That was a painful series highlighted by David Cone perhaps riling up the Dodgers, Davey Johnson leaving in Dwight Gooden too long with the ensuing Mike Scioscia homer, and Orel Hershiser‘s virtuoso performance.
The 2006 Mets got some measure of a payback in the NLDS sweep. That was a total beatdown with former Dodgers Shawn Green and Jose Valentin relaying to former Dodger Paul Lo Duca who tagged out Jeff Kent and J.D. Drew at home plate.
Things between these two teams really ratcheted up in the 2015 NLDS. That all began with Chase Utley living up to his reputation as one of the dirtiest players ever with his tackling Ruben Tejada at second thereby breaking Tejada’s leg.
Utley would go on to cowardly duck the Mets in New York. Ultimately, the Mets won that series behind the brilliance of Jacob deGrom and the postseason heroics of Daniel Murphy.
The bad feelings of that series carried forward into the next season when Noah Syndergaard was ejected during a nationally televised game after throwing a pitch behind Utley. Utley would get the last laugh with Terry Collins being revered years later when the ejection video was released.
After that, things calmed down. That was due in large part to the Wilpons ineptitude taking the Mets out of contention. During that time, the Dodgers became the model franchise finally breaking through and winning the 2020 World Series.
Now, with Steve Cohen at the helm, things promise to be different.
With Cohen comes real financial heft which arguably surpasses what the Dodgers have. We’ve seen early on what that means with the Mets already signing Trevor May and James McCann as well as being in the market for George Springer and Tomoyuki Sugano.
But, it’s not just the financial strength. It’s also the scouting and analytics. The Dodgers have used that to identify players like Max Muncy and Justin Turner who have become relative stars. They’ve also developed an enviable pipeline of talent with young players like Gavin Lux and Will Smith.
The Mets have started heading in that direction by bringing back Sandy Alderson. They’ve also hired Jared Porter as GM and Zack Scott as Assistant GM.
Of course, the Mets have retained perhaps the best draft scouting with Mark Tramuta, Tommy Tanous, Drew Toussaint, et al. That group is responsible for great talent like Pete Alonso, Michael Conforto, Seth Lugo, Brandon Nimmo, and Dominic Smith. That’s nothing to say of the talent still left in the system and traded away.
The Mets have the core, financial resources, burgeoning front office, and now the right ownership for the Mets to become a juggernaut like we haven’t seen from this franchise since the 1980s. They will very soon rival the Dodgers on and off the field.
That is going to lead to some more postseason run-ins. With that will be the heightening if tensions between these franchises which have already had their moments.
If the Mets make the right moves, we’ll see an epic postseason clash between these teams come October not just this year but in each of the ensuing seasons. The seeds are already there, and so, with more epic postseason series, we’ll see the makings of a bitter Mets/Dodgers rivalry.