So a few days ago, a number of writers, officials, and so forth got their knickers in a twist over whether or not Jake Peavy's 4-1 victory over the Dodgers was aided by any foreign substance, such as pine tar. At least one writer from the blogosphere jumped on the pile, but was quickly shouted down by his readers who used some less than polite phrases in their disagreement. Your faithful writer takes no particular position on this issue, except to further inflame the conversation by providing information on what, exactly, pine tar is.
Pine tar, as a starting point, is a product that is produced by rapidly heating pine wood until it decomposes. The resulting product has been used for centuries for such things as soap making, preserving wood, and, yes, in baseball. Pretty much all batters use pine tar on their bat handles to make them sticky and improve their grip. Of course, it's quite illegal to use it on the ball. Such use automatically earns the offending pitcher a 10-game suspension.
By the way, the National League makes its pitchers bat, so he's picked up a baseball bat before.
For those with further interest in pine tar, Wikipedia has an article on this topic. If that doesn't cover it for you, Theodore P. Kaye has written an academic paper, complete with footnotes, describing the traditional production of pine tar for the maritime restoration industry. It's educated me. If pine tar seems like a pretty cool thing and you'd like to acquire some for yourself, I recommend Auson AB of Gottesburg, Sweden.
Pine tar, as a starting point, is a product that is produced by rapidly heating pine wood until it decomposes. The resulting product has been used for centuries for such things as soap making, preserving wood, and, yes, in baseball. Pretty much all batters use pine tar on their bat handles to make them sticky and improve their grip. Of course, it's quite illegal to use it on the ball. Such use automatically earns the offending pitcher a 10-game suspension.
By the way, the National League makes its pitchers bat, so he's picked up a baseball bat before.
For those with further interest in pine tar, Wikipedia has an article on this topic. If that doesn't cover it for you, Theodore P. Kaye has written an academic paper, complete with footnotes, describing the traditional production of pine tar for the maritime restoration industry. It's educated me. If pine tar seems like a pretty cool thing and you'd like to acquire some for yourself, I recommend Auson AB of Gottesburg, Sweden.
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