The Los Angeles Angels were forced to part ways with their longtime clubhouse manager following an internal investigation that revealed he was actually supplying opposing pitchers with illegal substances to better grip the ball.
Major League Baseball is said to have informed the team about allegations that Brian Harkins was providing illegal sticky substances in the visiting clubhouse that aided pitchers’ abilities to grip the baseball, according to ESPN.
Doctoring the baseball has been a thing in MLB for years, but the league has placed an emphasis this season on getting it out of the game for the upcoming season, via ESPN’s Jeff Passan.
“The league could start handing out 10-game suspensions for foreign-substance usage on the daily, and that would be the law-abiding thing to do, since Rule 6.02 clearly states pitchers cannot use foreign substances on the mound. The problem there is twofold. First is the practical: That would require opposing managers to ask umpires to check pitchers, and managers are loath to do that because they know their pitchers are using tacky stuff too. Beyond that, the possible narrative — that a rash of players are getting suspended for 10 games as a consequence of the Astros, who got suspended for zero games, cheating — would be a rough look for the league.”
Harkins was hired as a clubhouse manager by the Angels in 1986 and has been the visiting clubhouse manager since 1990. He was named the visiting clubhouse manager of the year in 2005. The Angels believe that he was acting alone in this situation.
