Umpires check pitcher's ears for a foreign substance, a breakdown
What Happened
In the National League Wild Card Series finale on October 9, 2022, Padres starter Joe Musgrove was cruising through the Mets when New York manager Buck Showalter walked out in the sixth inning and asked umpires to check Musgrove for a foreign substance. Showalter's case rested on a suspiciously shiny ear and elevated spin rates. The umpiring crew patted Musgrove down, dug fingers into his ears, and cleared him on the spot. Far from rattling him, Musgrove kept mowing the Mets down, and San Diego won 6-0 to advance to the NLDS.
Why This Matters
MLB's crackdown on sticky stuff started in June 2021, and pitchers had been subject to in-game checks ever since. What made this one notable was the timing: a manager calling for a check during a win-or-go-home playoff game, on a guy throwing a gem. Showalter leaned on the spin-rate argument, but as the breakdown points out, higher velocity naturally bumps spin, and an umpire who handled the ear found nothing sticky. The bigger story was how badly it backfired. Musgrove never flinched, struck out the side feel right after, and finished with a one-run, seven-strikeout outing. The Mets, who'd won 101 games, were sent home. For San Diego the night became part of an underdog run that reached the NLCS, and for Showalter the gambit aged like milk.
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Key Moments
Who / What Is Involved
Players: Joe Musgrove. Teams: Padres.
Key Terms Mentioned
Full Transcript
Click timestamps to jump to that momentit's Padres Mets in an elimination game
the first inning Musgrove throws that
pitch catcher discards the ball because
it hit the dirt and buck shareholder
says let me see that ball I'm gonna feel
that ball up I'm gonna do a little
science experiment I'm watching you I
got your balls in my hand I'm touching
these now in the sixth inning after
shutting down the Mets for five innings
and looking great Musgrove is getting
ready to pitch let me keep going doing
my thing but wait what's the what's
going oh Buck sure Walter's running on
the field he's going to tell the UMP hey
you got to check this guy I think he's
cheating and here's why without getting
into a lot of things you know the spin
rates and different things that I'm sure
you're all aware of
you know when you see something that
jumps out I get a lot of information
that dug out some pretty obvious reasons
why it was uh well it was necessary one
of those obvious reasons being that
shiny ear that ear is too shiny there's
something on that ear something foreign
it looks weird also the spin rate like
he said every pitch ticked up his
curveball and his slider were at 2900
and and over this of course the season
they're at 2700 every pitchers up look
every pitch up based on his average spin
rate is what makes it pitches really
efficient but he was throwing faster and
with miles per hour comes more spin but
I was like what are you guys talking
about these guys laughing at him
you know yeah they're going to make him
check on me oh man and this is a little
suspicious
after saying that he rubs his ear with
his arm that's a little suspicious Joe
and then he bounces the ball around
makes himself look good looks catch you
guys we're good we're good don't worry
about it bone mellow his manager's gonna
walk out like what are you guys doing
they're like well they want us to check
on him because his ear is super shiny
and he says some spin rage stuff he's
like yeah check on me sure yeah how
about it take my glove and then his
glove gets cheered and look at this
little smirk you fools you idiots my
gloves fine and then this um says I'm
gonna have to touch you too is that all
right he's like yeah how about it grabs
his ear puts his fingers in and goes all
in on this ear man oh man all in on here
and a little nice little love tap on the
side man he's looking I'm like what are
you doing dude this is the same hump
that had to touch shirts or sweaty hair
these bye goodbye oh my God they're
gonna kick him out no they cleared him
your fools and Beaumont says you had to
check his guys too you better check his
guys too and Manny looks at his old
manager Bucky you fooling bucks like
uh really really back and Bucks like
well no no no no they told me up top to
do it now much Grove in the sixth inning
he goes strike one strike two ground out
I'll cover it no problem next batter
strike one strike two strike three
you're [ __ ] out Buck's like ooh good
game we got a good game hope we come
back nothing else going on next batter
he's out fan yells at Soto soda looks at
him like what I got the ball looks at
The Dugout [ __ ] [ __ ] walks off the
mound feeling good got checked on freed
ears are shining they look beautiful
he's like you like them you like my ears
they can hear you too it's like yeah
keep that [ __ ] up let's go now there's
two reasons why I don't think he was
cheating one that ump touched his ear
all over came came out of it said this
ain't sticky two I watched every second
he was on screen the whole game up until
that sixth inning and he never once
touched his ear and that there that he a
foul ball he gets the new ball that's
when you would touch it when you get
after a foul ball you get the new ball
you got muddied up no ear that would be
when he would touch it and yeah he's
just never touching his ear now maybe
zero was really cold and you put some
Vaseline on it that's not going to help
you that would help if you're throwing a
spitball ESPN wanted you to think about
it McCutchen said
you know maybe he's got red hot on his
ears given that burning sensation wake
him up a little bit some pitchers do
that I mean I get to do there on their
last leg they're desperate they're going
everything they can to get me out of the
game at that point
um I mean it is what it is so