Pitcher accused of cheating via his hair, a breakdown
What Happened
James Karinchak, a pitcher for the Cleveland Guardians, takes the mound against the Minnesota Twins in a crucial divisional matchup. Karinchak has a history of using sticky substances, and his spin rates dropped dramatically in 2021 when those substances were banned. Now, in 2022, he appears to have found a new way to get grip on the ball - by using his hair. Throughout the outing, Karinchak is seen repeatedly going to the back of his hair, grabbing it, and then touching the rosin bag before delivering his pitches. The Twins' manager, Rocco Baldelli, notices this and approaches the umpire, Ted Barrett, asking him to check Karinchak for any illegal substances. Barrett comes over and, rather than conducting a thorough inspection, simply pets Karinchak's hair like "a nice head of hair" before declaring that he doesn't see anything wrong. Emboldened, Karinchak continues to use his hair and the rosin to gain an advantage, much to Baldelli's frustration. The Twins' star shortstop, Carlos Correa, even calls out the pitcher, saying, "I think you're probably gonna throw that curveball now" after Karinchak has touched his hair. Correa's prediction proves accurate, as Karinchak throws a curveball that Correa crushes for a two-run homer, bringing the Twins within one run at 7-6. The momentum shift is palpable, and Karinchak appears rattled, as he then throws a fastball up and in to Correa, which the umpire rules was unintentional. The Twins continue to put pressure on Karinchak, rocking a 3-1 fastball for a double. However, Karinchak manages to escape the inning, and the Guardians hold on to win the game. Baldelli is left shaking his head, wondering if the umpire's decision to simply pet Karinchak's hair instead of conducting a thorough inspection has given the Guardians pitcher a mental edge. Throughout the sequence, the transcript provides vivid details and direct quotes from the players and coaches, painting a clear picture of the unfolding drama on the field. The stakes are high, as the two teams are locked in a divisional race, adding to the intensity of the moment.
Full Transcript
Click timestamps to jump to that momentan umpire pet a man's hair like he was
his pet cat this breakdown is brought to
you by draftkings this is james karen
shack he's on the mound for the
guardians looking in for the signs and a
little backstory on him he was a big
sticky stuff user back in 2021 and 2020
when he first came up there's a lot of
videos he didn't really hide it didn't
really care a lot of pitchers were big
sticky stuff users so i'm not trying to
single him out this video is just about
him but his spin rate also dropped like
crazy in 2021 you can see the graph
there in june when it got outlaw just
plummeted then he worked its way back up
had to find a new way to get grip on the
ball and in 2022
he's worked his way back up to almost
where he was when he was using sticky
stuff this isn't a lone case a lot of
pitchers have this same sequence a lot
of the known sticky stuff users and what
they've done
maybe is go to their hair and that's
what's happening here so he drops in
that curve ball goes to the hair grabs
it goes to the rosin then goes fastball
up top that's the two pitch combination
karen check has and it's very effective
here it is side by side they're both the
same they're both the same one is wildly
different the curve ball and the high
fastball so after every pitch in this
outing against the twins and these two
teams are in a division race
and it's you know getting close and the
twins are dying a little bit and they
want to not die he's throwing the
pitches he's getting the ball he's going
to the back of his hair grabbing that
then grabbing the rosin and then
throwing the pitch
throws the curveball it gets hit and
scooped but not caught by the left
fielder so now there's a runner on base
and the twins have some momentum and
maybe they're going to put a rally
together and the curveball is in there
wipe the hand clean get the new ball
grab the hair a little bit really yank
it next pitch fastball up top but a ball
gets the ball
touches it grabs the hair really yanks
it gets a new ball grabs the hair grabs
the rosin gets a new ball grabs the hair
grabs the ros and gets a new ball grabs
the hair grabs the rosin then on this
particular pitch because it's a new ball
the old one got fouled off grabs the
hair again grabs the rosin grabs the
hair again
grabs the rosin grabs the ball okay he's
got it he's good to go he's ready
flipping the ball he's very intensely
intense guy
and ready to pitch what am i going to
throw two strikes here we go no weight i
need more of my hair and at this point
the manager of the twins is like what
the hell you're forcing my hands here i
got to do something we catch the tail
end of his conversation with the ump
asking you to go check him
thank you this is awful it's [ __ ]
awful i believe rocco's saying like it's
awful that it's come to this not awful
that he's cheating he's like i don't
want to go make you touch guys and
accuse them of cheating and then the um
comes down and says hey i gotta check
you and he says all right cool check me
what you got going on he says well
here's my hair you want to touch it and
he's like well let me see your hat first
i'll just touch the inside of your hat
he starts taking his belt off bows his
head down now and then he just pets him
like a cat like good good good girl good
girl i don't understand why they're
checking in this manner i don't
understand why karen check had to bow
his head
and he couldn't just stand up straight
and then and then you know ted barrett
here is manly man he's really
gentle you know it's a really gentle
touch he's like i don't see anything i
don't see anything and i don't think
he's using anything well i have no idea
there could be some new stuff but the
old sticky stuff
you wouldn't grab the rosin afterwards
now all the pitchers can really do is
they can use their sweat and the rosin
and the mixture of that
gets it stickier gets more grip
sometimes they they use the sweat and
you'll see them go on their forearm like
this but a lot of pitchers have grown
out longer hair now to kind of like you
know pull that hair so maybe he's not
chin tito he's like okay that's what
we're doing we're checking and rock was
like hey ted uh nothing you got nothing
he's like no man i was just uh kind of
felt like a nice nice head of hair in
him and he was like all right well [ __ ]
now i feel awful
fastball outside
and now karen shaq's got free range he's
going to go straight to the hair he's
going to pull pull he's going to go to
the rosin and morocco's like are you
sure dude are you there's no hair gel or
hairspray or there's nothing in there
and he's gonna go hair hair rosin
rocco's just staring at him and karen
checks like i'm gonna rub in their faces
now hair
ball rosin hair ball rosin rocco like
really
and there's nothing on there ball ball
hair
ball
rosin rosin
and ready to pitch rocco can't really
believe it high fastball into left field
for the out second out of the inning the
runner stays on first base and let's
grab some more of that hair
let's get it going it's working and we
like it
double it up
rocco
pretty annoyed there's nothing in his
hair but sweat
fastball to correa correa says probably
gonna throw that curveball now off of
that fastball karen trick says let me
step out and pull my hair grab the ball
a bunch more and career says i think
you're probably gonna throw that
curve ball now after throwing a fastball
strike
i don't know correa's stats on if he's a
good breaking ball hitter but he seems
to me like such a good breaking ball
hitter gets the curveball
rocks it into left field two run homer
makes it a seven to six game bam
the twins have life didn't last long
but they had it oh let's go
oh
yeah yes
i love that double take by geo scared
scared oh scared or scared or scared or
oh and excited
excited i don't know why you're so
scared for so long excited excited come
calm calm's down calms down calms down
chris archer's fired up
correa crosses home now it's a close
game
did they get into their head did he get
in their head who got in whose head oh
[ __ ] karen shack goes up and in after
the fastball after the sticky stuff
check says i might slipped i'm sorry but
you know the timing on that now rocco i
wonder if he feels bad if he's like i
caused that by checking
i don't want to cause that i have no
idea curveball in there and carrying
check again is like uh that was a bad
pitch it was like we felt it back
curveball again
fastball up top
fastball up top rocked and a double holy
[ __ ] did they rattle him a 3-1 fastball
he threw it at the guy's head after the
home run hits it into the corner for a
double the twins got something going did
the hair check work out did they get in
his head
even though the um said it's legal
who's winning the mental battle fastball
outside but called a strike fastball
down the middle
popped up
guardians get out of the inning karen
check escapes hair drama
gets pet
correa has a good time
and this one's brought to you by
draftkings thanks to draftkings for
sponsoring the video always appreciate
you guys
sorry twins this is how so i would have
done it if i was the said that it just
went like this
all good but instead they had james
karen check undo his belt and then like
really submissively put his and then
[Music]
which feels really nice