Tony La Russa Defends Davey Johnson's Actions In Joel Peralta Incident

The back-and-forth between Rays manager Joe Maddon and Nationals manager Davey Johnson over last week's Joel Peralta pine tar incident has caught the attention of former skipper Tony La Russa.

La Russa, speaking to reporters before Sunday's NASCAR race at Sonoma (where he will serve as grand marshal), said Johnson didn't do anything wrong in alerting umpires to the pine tar on Peralta's glove.

"I don't think he's out of line," La Russa said. "I think any time you act within the rules, how can you be out of line? Is there unwritten this, unwritten that? Sometimes. I think some of the players have spouted off a little bit and gotten on each other about it, but, I think Davey was in his (rights)."

La Russa, who now works for the Commissioner's Office and will manage the National League team in the All-Star Game, said that as outsiders, it's tough to tell what's going on between the teams that led up to the incident.

"You've got to be in the competition," he said. "You don't know what's happening between the Rays and the (Nationals). Sometimes, there's a lot of reasons why you do something or don't do something.

"I also have great respect for Joe. And he stuck up for his guy, but he was in the wrong."

A reporter connected the Peralta controversy to the 2006 World Series incident in which Detroit Tigers pitcher Kenny Rogers had a substance on his hand. In that situation, La Russa chose not to make a public spectacle over Rogers' hand, but instead quietly informed umpires about it.

"The toughest decision by far in 30-plus years was in the World Series was when it was apparent Kenny had stuff on his hand, and (I) decided not to undress him," La Russa said. "I (didn't) want this World Series being known as the 'Pine Tar World Series.' Tough decision."

In the Peralta case, he said, "I don't think they had that choice the other day."

"He had gobs of it," La Russa said. "I work for the Commissioner's Office, I know. He had gobs of it. He got dinged, and he didn't appeal."

Joel Peralta Drops Suspension Appeal

It happens all the time. A major-league player is suspended for some sort of bad behavior. He appeals said suspension and continues to play for a time. Sometimes this lasts until the player’s team goes to New York, so he can meet with MLB officials. (Someone please tell these officials about teleconferencing, though those are probably blacked out in MLB offices. But that’s another story.)

Anyway, this all has to do with Joel Peralta, who did steps one (bad behavior), two (got suspended) and three (appealed).

Friday, Peralta did what major-league players occasionally do, step four:

#Rays confirm Peralta has dropped appeal, starts serving suspension tonight

— Marc Topkin (@TBTimes_Rays) June 22, 2012

He’s out for eight games and will miss the Rays’ upcoming series against the Phillies and Royals and the first two games of a series next week against the Tigers.

Peralta’s appeal lasted one day until he dropped it. Truth be told, he’d probably have been better off starting it on Thursday, since he wound up giving up a pair of runs to the Nationals when the game was tied 2-2 and was the losing pitcher.

For more on the Rays, please visit DRays Bay and SB Nation Tampa Bay.

Joel Peralta Slapped With 8-Game Suspension

Joel Peralta was booted from a game the other day when Davey Johnson asked umpires to inspect his glove, and they found a foreign substance. Pitchers aren't allowed to mess around with anything other than their own blood, sweat, and tears, and even those aren't allowed to get on the baseball. Peralta's glove was confiscated, Peralta himself was ejected, and Johnson and Joe Maddon became involved in a delightfully old-person war of words.

But while the highlight so far has probably been Johnson referring to Maddon as "a weird wuss," Peralta hasn't been laughing. He's been facing discipline from the league, and now we have a ruling:

#Rays Peralta gets 8-game suspension and will appeal so he stays active until appeal is heard

— Marc Topkin (@TBTimes_Rays) June 21, 2012

Eight games makes for a pretty hefty suspension, especially considering that Cole Hamels got five games for admitting that he threw at Bryce Harper. Major League Baseball takes cheating seriously, when it gets caught, and the Rays will have to be without one of their best relievers for somewhere around a week, depending on Peralta's appeal.

Davey Johnson and the Nationals intended to use prior knowledge to burn Peralta in one game. They've burned him in several games. Is there a word for bonus rewards that you don't really care about? That's what the Nationals got.

'Most Men Have A Tweeter'

Brendan Donnelly: Pine Tar Should Be Legal

Brendan Donnelly used to be one of the very best relievers in baseball. He didn't make the majors until he was 30, and in his second season he made the All-Star team as a setup man. That's hard to do. Easier when your manager is picking the reserves, but still hard to do. And based on when Donnelly came up (2002), you'd think that a sudden success like that might have something to do with illegal substances. You'd be right.

But Donnelly's success didn't just have to do with the substances listed in the Mitchell Report. He was also a known pine-tar user, getting suspended 10 games for an incident against the Nationals in 2005. And in light of Joel Peralta's ejection and likely suspension, Donnelly doesn't see what the big deal is about the sticky stuff:

"The way I look at it is Peralta didn't do anything wrong, and I didn't do anything wrong," Donnelly told the Times. "It's not cheating, not about having the ball do funky things. It's about getting a grip.

...

I've asked dozens of hitters about this: 'Do you want me to throw 90-plus knowing what the ball is going to do, or do you want me to risk letting it slip?' They all want the pitcher to have control. So pine tar should be legal."

Compelling argument, actually. Not likely a successful one, but it makes sense. Alas, Joe Torre and Bud Selig aren't likely to be swayed, and if Donnelly's suspension is any guide, Peralta could miss up to ten games.

Davey Johnson Responds To Joe Maddon Regarding Joel Peralta

Tuesday night, Joe Maddon handed the ball to Joel Peralta to try to protect a late lead. Immediately, Davey Johnson came out of the Nationals' dugout and asked for the umpires to inspect Peralta's glove. Peralta's glove was confiscated, and Peralta was ejected. Peralta pitched for the Nationals in 2010.

Joe Maddon didn't take too kindly to Johnson's maneuver, referring to it as "cowardly", among other things. "Cowardly" is a pretty powerful word to sling around in matters of sport, and now Johnson has responded with his piece.

Davey on Maddon: " I don't know him that well, but I thought he was a weird wuss anyways."

— Mark Zuckerman (@MarkZuckerman) June 20, 2012

I ... Davey Johnson is 69 years old, and Joe Maddon is 58 years old. The 69-year-old manager just referred to the 58-year-old manager as being "a weird wuss". I don't know if Johnson was smiling as he said that or if he was dead serious, but it doesn't matter, because either way this is one of the quotes of the season.

A Google query for "a weird wuss" yields 159 results. All of which I think are capturing Davey Johnson, talking about Joe Maddon, this very Wednesday.

Suspension Possible For Joel Peralta After Glove Exam

Joel Peralta of the Rays got in trouble Tuesday night for having a foreign substance on his glove. He was ejected from the game against the Nationals.

But that’s not all — now MLB’s honchos are getting involved:

The umpiring crew last night confiscated Peralta’s glove in order to use it as evidence for a review by Major League Baseball. The glove was shipped, via FedEx, from Washington to New York for league officials to examine. MLB’s determination will decide Peralta’s fate.

The typical suspension for pitchers found guilty of using a foreign substance is 10 days, but because the league is still awaiting the glove, no ruling has been made.

Insert FedEx joke here.

Anyway, it could take a day or two for a ruling to come down, so Peralta will be eligible to play in Wednesday’s game — presumably, with a new, pristine glove.

For more on the Rays, please visit DRays Bay and SB Nation Tampa Bay.

VIDEO: Joe Maddon Talks About Joel Peralta

I would vote for Joe Maddon if he were running for anything. Mayor. President. And when you watch him talk to reporters about Joel Peralta's ejection for using a foreign substance, you can see why he might have a future in the political field. This is from Sun Sports, by way of Rays Index.

Those are some delightful non-admission admissions, appeals to majority, and refreshing honesty. The anger is restrained, but the words are still forceful. And according to Rays Index, an earlier version of the video had Maddon calling the incident a "p**** move", in which the asterisks replace a euphemism for a cute lil' kitty cat, so I'm not sure why we had to put the asterisks in at all.

The crux of Maddon's argument is that the Nationals were aware of Peralta's pine-tar predilection when he was on their team, and their decision to question his methods was more of a strategic maneuver than an honest worry that the rules were being broken.

Joe Maddon Calls Nats 'Cowardly' For Having Joel Peralta Ejected

Tuesday night, Rays reliever Joel Peralta was ejected for having a foreign substance on his glove; this was later identified as pine tar.

Rays manager Joe Maddon wasn’t happy. How unhappy was he?

As he did when he called out Boston manager Bobby Valentine for ordering Franklin Morales to hit Luke Scott with a pitch during the ninth inning of a game May 25 in Boston, Maddon took aim at Johnson.

“It’s kind of a common practice that people have done this for years,” Maddon said. "To point one guy out because he had pitched here a couple of years it’s probably common knowledge based on that.

“So I thought it was a real cowardly – and I’ve used that word twice this year – it was kind of a (wimpy) move to go out there and do that under those circumstances. I like the word (wimpy) right there.”

Maddon implied that most teams do the same thing:

“I promise you one thing – you’re going to see brand new gloves throughout the major leagues starting (Wednesday) with pitchers on every particular major league ball club, and furthermore, if you want a reaction to the entire event, I would go talk to the National players and see what they think,” Maddon said, indicating Washington players, particularly pitchers, would be upset that their possible secret to success was uncovered thanks to their boss.

We likely haven’t heard the end of this.

For more on the Rays, please visit DRays Bay; for more on the Nationals, please visit Federal Baseball.

Joel Peralta Ejected Due To Foreign Substance

Tampa Bay Rays reliever Joel Peralta was ejected from a game against the Washington Nationals for having a foreign substance on or in his glove.