What about pine tar for pitchers?
In every single sport, you’re likely to find athletes using certain methods to gain an edge on their opponent. It’s nothing new and it’s certainly not going to change. But what happens when your means of achieving an upper hand is in direct conflict with the laws of the game?
For pitchers, the use of pine tar falls under the umbrella of ball-tampering. Essentially, the ball can’t have anything attached to it, or removed from it that might affect its flight as this will give the pitcher an unfair advantage. Let’s see what the MLB rules say:
“No player shall intentionally discolor or damage the ball by rubbing it with soil, rosin, paraffin, licorice, sand-paper, emery-paper or other foreign substances (such as pine tar)”
Rule 3.01
So it’s pretty clear to see why the use of pine tar should be illegal for pitchers.