I found this video about Bauer's history with foreign substances really compelling. Sure seems like Bauer is using a foreign substance specifically manufactured to help his pitching, which he only decided to use full time in the 2020 shortened season, coincidentally his free agent platform year.
You can see dramatic increases in spin rate from one inning to the next in a game that he warned people he could do exactly that if using a foreign substance. It also seems like many many pitchers are consistently using substances when looking through the evidence.
Also, I had never seen the clip of Phil Niekro tossing the sandpaper, but its clear these things have gone on a long time. Just seems more widespread than I thought it was.
You can see dramatic increases in spin rate from one inning to the next in a game that he warned people he could do exactly that if using a foreign substance. It also seems like many many pitchers are consistently using substances when looking through the evidence.
Also, I had never seen the clip of Phil Niekro tossing the sandpaper, but its clear these things have gone on a long time. Just seems more widespread than I thought it was.
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