MINNEAPOLIS -- Having seen two pitchers suspended in the past week for using foreign substances, Red Sox manager John Farrell is calling for reform.
"I would like to see an approved substance that pitchers can use," Farrell said, speaking like a former pitcher. "Because, when we take a manufactured baseball and rub it with dirt, it's going to create a slippery feeling to it. The mud residue leaves a film on it that you don't necessarily feel a good, consistent grip."
OK, let's backtrack.
At a time when the country's sporting universe has obsessed over Tom Brady's preference for underinflated footballs, Major League recently handed down eight-game suspensions to Milwaukee's Will Smith and Baltimore's Brian Matusz, both lefty relievers, for being caught with a foreign substance of their arm.