(a) The pitcher’s glove may not, exclusive of piping, be white, gray, nor, in the judgment of an umpire, distracting in any manner.
(b) No pitcher shall attach to his glove any foreign material of a color different from the glove.
(c) The umpire-in-chief shall cause a glove that violates Rules 1.15(a) or 1.15(b) to be removed from the game, either on his own initiative, at the recommendation of another umpire or upon complaint of the opposing manager that the umpire-in-chief agrees has merit.
Sunday a rep from the commissioner's office showed up to take a picture of Barry Zito's glove. Apparently they saw a photo in Sports Illustrated that showed his glove with the laces looking a tad ‘distracting’. The funny thing is that the photo in the magazine is actually of his old leather, the one he’s used for at least the last 2 years with the A’s without a single complaint.
While searching for photos to make up my own mind, I found some through the AP that show his new super pretty one. It’s fairly fancy, & much, much more distracting with it’s tan ties & burgundy smoothness.
Either way, & with either glove, I seriously can imagine how a little issue like laces could ruin a guy’s swing. Then again, I’ve never been at the plate facing a 77 MPH slurve. I’ll let you judge for yourself:
UPDATE: The commish did come down on him about the laces after all & this week they were replaced with new BLACK laces... How the F is that any different I wonder?
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