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Yankees pitcher remains in game despite prolonged checks
New York Yankees starting pitcher Domingo German is checked by the umpire for illegal substances on his hand. Wendell Cruz-USA TODAY Sports

Umpires allow Yankees pitcher to remain in game despite prolonged suspicious substance checks

Originally posted on Larry Brown Sports  |  By Grey Papke  |  Last updated 4/15/23

New York Yankees pitcher Domingo German found himself in a bizarre situation on Saturday as umpires seemed convinced that he had some sort of problematic substance on his hand, but let him keep pitching anyway.

German was stopped for a routine substance check at the end of the third inning, having retired the first nine Minnesota Twins in order. The check lasted longer than usual, and it seemed that umpires had some suspicions about what was on German’s hands.

Crew chief James Hoye again stopped German heading to the mound for the fourth, and another extended check led to manager Aaron Boone coming out. TV cameras caught Hoye apparently telling German that he had to wash his hands.

In spite of this, German was not ejected. That did not sit well with Twins manager Rocco Baldelli, who was tossed while arguing why German was allowed to continue pitching if umpires were suspicious about what might have been on the pitcher’s hands.

Boone said after the game that umpires felt German had too much rosin on his hands, prompting them to ask him to wash some off. Baldelli did not dispute that the substance was rosin, but felt that German should have been ejected for failing to heed the umpires’ initial request to wash it off.

This does seem like a strange way for umpires to handle this. Rosin is a legal substance, but players are supposed to keep it off their glove. Perhaps that was the issue, but if so, German would not have needed to wash his hands. It’s hard to blame Baldelli for getting ejected given how oddly handled the whole affair was.

German wound up taking a perfect game into the sixth and ultimately struck out 11 in 6.1 innings while allowing three hits.

Ironically, it was Boone who was upset at what seemed like selective rules enforcement just a few days ago.

This article first appeared on Larry Brown Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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