Most controversial scandals in MLB history: #30. Michael Pineda pine tar incident
Former New York Yankee Michael Pineda has never been confused with an ace. Throughout the course of his career, Pineda essentially hovered around a 4.00 ERA. In short, he was below average.
Something strange happened in 2014 though. Pineda became one of the best pitchers in the game. For the year, his ERA plummeted to a sub 2.00. Although his massive improvement could be viewed as a man who simply worked hard on his craft, then Boston Red Sox manager John Farrell simply wasn’t buying. With no hesitation, Farrell pointed out an odd-looking shiny substance on the neck of Pineda to the umpires. It was a well known rule that Major League Baseball did not allow pitchers to use pine tar. Their reasoning was simple, it gave them too much control over the ball and left hitters at a major disadvantage. Although most players on this list attempt to lie and con their way out of their situation, Pineda was completely honest.
Somewhat.
Pineda admitted that it was pine tar on his neck, claiming he needed help gripping the ball on a particularly cold night. This wasn’t the first time Pineda was caught using pine tar but on previous occasions, he simply said it was dirt. With his own admission used against him, Pineda received a ten game suspension.
Since then, Pineda has been awful on the mound, never coming close to his previous production. Now, with no pine tar at his disposal, Pineda became very much ordinary.