Does Rivera Throw a Spitter? Updated

Mariano Rivera is one of the most respected players in all of baseball and a no-doubt first ballot hall of famer who has mastered MLB over 15-plus seasons with nearly one pitch, a cutter.

The supposed evidence in the final frame is actually the Majestic logo on Scioscia's jacket in the next frame.

Well, there is an Angels fan blog out there, Halos Heaven, that is trying to convince us that his one pitch is actually a spitter.

Here is what they had to say:

Personally, the video you are about to watch is pretty amazing: I would say this is pretty conclusive evidence of why Yankees pitcher Mariano Rivera is able to throw only one pitch that has unpredictable, yet precise movement.

He has mastered the Angels so far in the ALCS but has Major League Baseball gotten a look at how he “warms up” for his appearance on the mound? You be the judge…

* With a tie game in the bottom of the 10th, the Yankees bring in Rivera.
* After warming up, he has his back to home plate so the home plate ump can’t see.
* He looks down at the ball, then up to see if the 2nd base ump is watching.
* He then looks back at the ball and appears to spit on it.
* And when he tests clean for steroids they say he is not a cheater.

The spitball was banned by baseball in the early 1920s. It gave the pitcher an unfair advantage with the “funny” movement that the pitch seemed to make, and was deemed unsafe to batters as the ball was not as visible when marred with foreign substances.

Before I get into why this is total BS, take a look at the video and decide for yourself:

So here we are supposed to believe that not only has Rivera been doing this for 15 years and not only has nobody caught him, but nobody has even suspected him as well.

Also, the real reason the spitball was outlawed was not because it was hard for hitters to see, it was because it was hard for pitchers to control. It became dangerous because the batter never knew where the ball was going to go, over the plate, in his groin, or in the middle of his face.

So this website is trying to say that Rivera, who has as near perfect control as anybody I’ve ever seen throw a baseball, Greg Maddux included, is throwing a pitch that was outlawed because of its unpredictability. Absurd.

Update: Apparently MLB looked into this farce of a story, or at least they released a statement that they, “found no evidence that Rivera spit on the ball,” a spokesman for the commissioner told the Post.