Umpire tells pitcher he has to wash his hands, a breakdown
What Happened
Domingo Germán, the starting pitcher for the New York Yankees, is in the midst of a dominant performance, having retired all nine batters he has faced through the first three innings. However, as Germán takes the mound for the fourth inning, the home plate umpire decides to check his hands. The umpire feels Germán's glove and then requests to see his hands. He examines Germán's left hand first, finding nothing of concern. But when he checks the right hand, the umpire detects the presence of rosin, a legal substance pitchers use to improve their grip. The umpire informs Germán that he needs to wipe the rosin off his hand, wanting to start fresh. Yankees manager Aaron Boone explains to the umpire that Germán uses rosin in the dugout, not on the mound, which is why the umpire may have noticed an excessive amount on his hand. The umpire understands this and allows Germán to continue pitching, but warns him to ensure his hands are completely clean before returning to the mound. As Germán takes the field for the next inning, the umpire stops him again, still detecting some tackiness on his right pinky finger. Boone reiterates that Germán uses the rosin in the dugout, not on the mound, and the umpire, along with the second base umpire, determine that this does not constitute a major infraction. They simply remind Germán to thoroughly wash his hands going forward. Opposing manager Rocco Baldelli, however, expresses his displeasure with the situation, stating that he believes Germán should have been ejected for not fully complying with the umpire's initial request to clean his hands. Baldelli argues that the rules should be applied more strictly in these cases. Despite the mid-game hand checks, Germán continues to pitch effectively, with the rosin bag on the mound being used more frequently after the incident than before. The game continues without further incident, and Germán goes on to have a strong outing for the Yankees.
Full Transcript
Click timestamps to jump to that momentDomingo Armand was pitching for the
Yankees and he was perfect through three
Innings nine up nine down this breakdown
is brought to you by DraftKings
everything he was throwing was pretty
nice it was in the zone and then he got
his hands checked after the third inning
and the Umpire felt the glove he liked
what he was feeling then he said let me
get them hands please and he said okay
and that's cute and looks romantic he
feels the left hand first nothing feels
the right hand and kind of gets
inquisitive he's like hmm what is that
he goes using rosin and he's confused
that he's feeling rosin on his hand
because they got to be on the lookout
for this stuff now but he hasn't seen
him go to the rosin bag on the mound
that much he doesn't go to the rosin a
lot on the mound which was something
that got their attention so I went and
looked and this is the first inning and
look the rosin bag just doesn't move at
all the second inning doesn't really
move at all and the third thing it moves
one time right there that's the only
time he used the rosin bag on the mound
in the first three Innings so the
umpires noticing that and feeling his
hand and saying well you got a lot of
rosin on your hand where'd that come
from and he says you gotta wipe that
hand now let's start fresh now rosin is
completely legal he goes and tells
boonie hey I felt some rise and I told
him to wipe it off and Boone's like all
right rosin's completely legal but there
can become a point where the Umpire says
that's too much let's start over I guess
we all just kind of learned this and
that's what happened here now when
Domingo tries to take the field for the
next inning the Umpire stopped him did a
check on his hands and was like what the
hell there's still some sticky stuff on
here what are you doing and Boone has to
explain to him yeah he he's got rosin on
his hand he uses rosin he doesn't hit
the rosin out there but he hits the
rosin before he comes out so he he
washed his hands off but before he goes
out he hits the rising you can see how
that's confusing right Boone uh yeah
definitely yeah he uses the rosin in The
Dugout not the rosin on the mount that's
what I've been trying to say glaber's
like this is interesting what's going on
this um goes tap tap tap was it you and
glamor's like ew dude please no leave me
alone I'm just trying to listen in here
Domingo's had to feel my hands anyone
touch him Boone's the guy let me touch
him okay cool Rizzo's like uh okay I'll
just leave now I don't touch her hands
the umpires get together to take in the
new information that he uses rosin in
The Dugout not on the mound and Hoy said
there was still some tack on her mom's
right pinky so the part that was really
tack that he told him to wash off her
mom did a bad job washing his hand he
consulted second base umpire DJ Rayburn
and the two determined because it was
not a foreign substance and because they
did not think it was having a material
impact on Herman's pitches that this did
not rise to an ejectable offense so they
didn't eject him they just remind him
like a kindergartner like hey man
listen up
when I tell you to wipe off your hands
you wipe them off really good all right
we can't let you come back out and have
anything on your hand all right now if
you use the rosin out there we're okay
with that but if I tell you to go wash
your hands you gotta come back out with
Clean Hands you have to wash your hands
I can't have you come out here with
something on you hear me
it's okay and he tells The Interpreter
like you make sure you heard it pitching
coach you got it okay good use the rosin
out there wash your hands in there
here's your glove let's go play some
baseball all good but it's not all good
because the opposing manager Rocco
baldelli he's pretty pissed I'm gonna
let him tell you his side of the story
their picture was warned or asked to
clean his hand off of of the uh rosin
that was on his hand because sometimes
if you do use rosin it will get
especially uh tacky he didn't fully
comply I would say with the warning from
what I was told
and uh was still allowed to keep
pitching
so that's it that's it I just don't
agree with that in principle I just I
was upset at it and that's it I was
surprised for you that you were asked to
leave the game and not him I wasn't
gonna go out on the field and return to
the dugout
well all right he's got a decent point
you told him to clean his hand he didn't
clean his hand well enough and you let
him stay in the game the rule says it's
up to the umpire's discretion and Rocco
says it should be black and white and he
didn't comply he's out and you can't
really fault him for that logic like he
he has a pretty Salient point the rest
of the game I found the footage and you
can see that the rosin bag is moving
around meaning Domingo is using the one
on the mound much more after the
incident than he was before the incident
pitched a great game got on his way and
everyone had fun like later on they did
another hand check later on in the game
everyone was happy about it they held
hands another chapter in The Love Story
perfect thank you hearts in his eyes as
he walked away I humped the hell out of
this situation I sure did this video was
brought to you by DraftKings thank you
to DraftKings for sponsoring the
breakdown again Aaron Boone is a guest
on our podcast talking Yanks every
Tuesday and this will be another thing
we will be asking him about on that
episode so tune into that if you want
thanks to DraftKings thank you guys for
tuning in appreciate you subscribe to
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thank you very much goodbye