All of the talk at the beginning of summer around Major League Baseball was surrounding pitchers using foreign substances to enhance their grip to increase spin-rates. With the league-wide batting average plummeting to a 52-year low, it was clear that MLB had to do something to level the playing field between pitchers and hitters.
First, the league sent a memo to all 30 clubs informing them of the drastic changes that were being implemented to police pitchers and prevent them from applying substances like pine tar, Pelican Grip, Spider Tack and a variety of other concoctions hurlers have been using to doctor baseballs.