Major League Baseball directed umpires to begin checking pitchers for foreign substances this week. And the league is in absolute shambles.
Tuesday was the second day of Major League Baseball policing the use of foreign substances by pitchers.
The second day.
Day one was rather uneventful with consummate professionals like Jacob deGrom and Yu Darvish on the mound. But Day Two descended into absolute chaos almost immediately.
It all started when Max Scherzer took exception to a routine post-inning check.
Haven’t seen anyone this annoyed being frisked since TSA took my almond butter. pic.twitter.com/cCNpyfuAEd
— Britt Ghiroli (@Britt_Ghiroli) June 22, 2021
Now we all know Scherzer is about as crazy as crazy gets. They don’t call him “Mad Max” for nothing. The odds of him taking exception to the league’s pre-announced routine checks were pretty high.
What nobody could have expected, however, was his reaction when Philadelphia Phillies manager Joe Girardi asked the umpires to check him for foreign substances mid-inning.
This is incredible.
Joe Girardi asked the umpires to check Max Scherzer for sticky stuff again.
Scherzer’s reaction:
— Baseball America (@BaseballAmerica) June 23, 2021
And Mad Max got more than a little mad about it. He was no more than three second from completely undressing on the mound for a TSA-level pat down. Which is funny because just a few hours later, Oakland Athletics’ reliever Sergio Romo actually did drop his pants during a routine sticky stuff check.
THE PANTS ARE OFF pic.twitter.com/kqcT64liBF
— James Kelly (@jkellyESNY) June 23, 2021
I mean Sergio, my man, you can’t be out here dropping your pants on television. I’m not saying it wasn’t the most hysterical thing to happen all day, but think of all the young, impressionable fans that are watching.
Scherzer wasn’t done being Mad Max after this incident. After finishing the fourth inning, he stared down Girardi in the Phillies dugout. And that prompted Girardi to exit the dugout and invite Max Scherzer, the most menacing pitching presence in baseball, to meet him halfway on the field.
Max Scherzer stares down Joe Girardi, Joe comes out of the dugout and challenges him then gets ejected, Max shows off his glove and hat pic.twitter.com/cjwNfLBHuO
— CJ Fogler AKA Perc70 #BlackLivesMatter (@cjzero) June 23, 2021
These dramatics surely won’t continue beyond this round of rotations. But Tuesday was the most chaotic day in Major League Baseball since the Houston Astros’ sign stealing scandal broke.
And I’m not saying that pitchers should continue to meltdown and take their pants off on television. But I will note that all eyes are on Major League Baseball right now and everybody is having fun with it.
