Tigers' Valverde Guilty Of Spit-balling?
Have you seen it? There's a lot of talk this week about a YouTube video that shows Detroit Tigers Jose Valverde apparently spitting on a baseball during a game against the Cincinnati Reds.
The YouTube member who posed the video said the incident occurred right before Valverde struck out the Reds catcher to lead off the ninth inning of Sunday's 7-6 win by the Tigers.
Spit-balls are not allowed in Major League Baseball.
Talking live on WWJ Newsradio 950, 97.1 The Ticket's Jeff Riger said he's watched the video over a dozen times.
"It definitely looks like he spit in his glove," Riger said. "However, I will say this: I think people need to be leery about what they accuse pitchers of doing because guys do some pretty bizarre stuff when it comes to pitching, and whether it's routine or nervous ticks, I have no idea."
"I don't know if he used that pitch as a so-called 'spit-ball' to get the strikeout," Riger said. "I can tell you that usually when you throw a spit-ball it's designed to go down, and have a little juice on it. The pitch that struck him out though was up high and tight. So, it didn't seem like he actually used it if that was his intention."
What do you think?
