Let The Complaining Begin

It didn't take long, and I knew it wouldn't. I know Yankee fans all too well. After the controversy erputed over the substance in Kenny Rogers' hand, the Yankee fans are complaning. "It's not fair, Rogers was cheating when he beat us, we would've won the series otherwise."

First off, why is Rogers' win any less legit than Jason Giambi's homers? But anyway. We don't know if it was dirt or pine tar. And we don't know if it was steroids, HGH, or something else.

Also, many pitchers use the stuff. That's one of the reasons that LaRussa didn't make a big deal over the issue; he didn't want any of his guys doing it. And, a little speculation here: maybe a substance like this has something to do with the break on Mussina's knuckle-curve? If Rogers was guilty, he did a lousy job hiding his evidence. I'm sure many other players have done the same thing as Rogers, just less conspicuously. Even Todd Jones admitted to using pine tar.

And surprisingly, Joe Snorre didn't cry foul over Rogers' possible cheating. I've got to give Snorre credit here; one of the few times he's said something sensible (see the NY Post article here):

Asked if his hitters commented about Rogers doing something funky, Joe Torre said they didn't. "He would need something more than something on his hand to pitch the way he is pitching," Torre told The Post. "He is pitching his tail off. I don't know what he is doing. I certainly think his ability to get people out far surpasses anything else. But nobody came back and said anything to me about the ball cutting. To me, the difference in Kenny is that he is throwing strikes."

So at the end of the day, Snorre is right. The Yanks lost fair and square. And Johnson's performance certainly didn't help the cause, by the way.