New York Yankees pitcher Domingo German was not ejected for using rosin on his fingers, and the umpires explained their controversial decision.
The New York Yankees ended any chance of getting swept by the Minnesota Twins on Saturday after picking up the 6-1 victory. In the game, starting pitcher Domingo German struck out 11 batters, a career-high for him. But there was controversy surrounding it, as umpires determined that he had rosin on his hands.
Umpires asked German to remove it during the third inning, but he still had some remaining when he entered the fourth inning. The umpiring crew decided not to eject him and allowed him to return to the mound. Twins manager Rocco Baldelli argued the decision and was ejected himself.
This was a much-talked-about moment in the game, and discussion arose as to whether German was cheating.
Everything the umpires said after not ejecting Domingo German for rosin controversy
Here is what crew chief James Hoye said about their decision to allow German to continue to pitch.
“In that situation, it was like, ‘This is not an ejectable offense,’ because we didn’t feel it rose to foreign substance standard of affecting the flight, affecting his pitching. That’s why we didn’t eject him,” Hoye said, h/t Puckett’s Pond.
Hoye further elaborated about the situation, saying that they asked German to remove the rosin off of his hand. But in the fourth, German still had some rosin left on his pinky injury. But, Hoye said that since rosin isn’t an illegal substance, he allowed German to continue pitching.
Baldelli said he didn’t think German cheated, but said his issue was with the fact that the pitcher didn’t comply with what the umpires told him, yet was still allowed to pitch.
German said he feared that he was going to be ejected from the game, and said that he uses a rosin bag in the dugout before he takes the mound.
“It felt like that coming out of the inning and coming back out, but when I use the rosin bag, it’s the same consistency,” German said, h/t Audacy.
“When I went back out, the discussion was intense. There was a moment there I thought things might get out of hand, but I was able to tell them there was a rosin bag I used in the dugout…he was able to understand and reason. He discussed that with the other umpires, and they said ‘OK, go back out there and pitch.’”
Long story short, the umpires determined that the rosin wasn’t affecting German’s pitching and allowed him to pitch despite their second warning. Hence why he wasn’t ejected.