European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - June 8, 1990, Darmstadt, Hesse                                ,n,.vs slaving with corked bats a Summers said you an extra 15 feet on the Ball Why not All sudden the warning track Fly Ball ends up in the second Row. Ann then there is the grounds Crew the Home Best Friend Williams said it Wasny to unusual for a Etaamer to ask the grounds Crew to tailor a Field for a team s strengths and weaknesses. Have an accomplished bunter build up the infield Les so they funnel everything into fair territory. Uricial turf surfaces Are easy too. Just pull up a seam and put a couple of pads in the proper places. When Summers played in Detroit the grass was purposely left High to help the slow Tiger outfielders. A manager can instruct a grounds Crew to water Down the base paths making base stealing harder. The candlestick Park Crew was famous for turning the base paths into swampland whenever Maury wills and the dodgers arrived in town. A manager can also ask his Crew to dig up the dirt in front of Home plate replace it with soft Sand cover it up again and then watch As hard swings become soft ground balls. Or the helpful workmen can try something extra sneaky like extending the batters Box an additional foot Forward. Wills when he managed the mariners reportedly requested that change when his team faced an especially Tough curve Ball Pitcher. The thinking was the closer the Batter to the Pitcher the better Chance he would have of hitting the Ball before it began to curve. The theory was untested. Opposing manager Billy Martin noticed the doctored batters Box before the game and promptly alerted the  proof by Gene Wojciechowski los Angeles times kids know to Call it. Quot Cheater s proof Quot they yell when someone who plays fast and Loose with the rules ultimately fails. In one memorable Case though the cheaters proof worked in reverse. It was the notorious Quot Pine tar Home run Quot incident of 1983, involving George Brett and the Kansas City royals and Billy Martin and the new York Yankees. You remember sunday july 24, two out in the top of the ninth at Yankee stadium. . Washington on base for the royals. Brett up. Goose Gossage on the Mound. Brett homers giving the royals a 5-4 Lead but Martin protests. He cites an obscure Rule prohibiting a foreign substance a in this Case Pine tar a extending More than 18 inches up from the Bat Knob. The umpires agree and declare Brett out and the game Over. Brett who uses Pine tar to get a better grip on the Bat is wild. The Bat is confiscated by the american league. The royals Appeal citing conflicting rules on the use of Pine tar on bats and pointing out that in a similar Case in 1975, league president Lee Mcphail had ruled that Pine tar on the Bat had had no bearing on two homers hit by John Mayberry. It is also pointed out that the Rule against running Pine tar up the Bat is to prevent hitters from driving nails into their bats and covering the Nail Heads with the tar. Obviously not the Case Here the royals say. Four Days later Mcphail overrules the umpires decision and on aug. 24, the game is resumed. The royals Breeze through the Bottom of the ninth to win. Cheater s proof. George Brett of Kansas City confronts the umpires who disallowed his ninth inning Home run. One Umpire holds Brett spine tar coated Bat. A by Gene Wojciechowski los Angeles times As you might expect cheating Isnit a subject the baseball Hall of Fame actively pursues. But if it did it might find that the pitching Mound is where some of the most creative cheating has taken place. No one was better at it than Gaylord Perry whose motto must have been Quot a Little dab la do  Randy Galloway of the Dallas morning news was covering the Texas rangers one night. On the Mound was Perry forever accused a and forever denying a that he threw a vaseline special. Midway through the game one of Perry a pitches was fouled toward the press Box. The Ball hit the window leaving a Greasy Blotch on the Glass. Galloway examined the smudge and smiled at last indisputable evidence of an illegal pitch. At games end Galloway hurried Down to the clubhouse to confront Perry about the foul Ball. Quot Well Quot drawled Perry Quot it must have hit a Mosquito on the Way  Marty Springstead the american leagues supervisor of umpires said it was never easy to catch Perry at his devious work. Quot when Perry was traded to the Seattle mariners his old teammates said he cheated Quot he said. Quot great he s cheating. But they never Tell you How. Why done to they Ever Tell you How the Guy s been with about 12 different teams and nobody Ever caught him. Actually he was with eight teams and Umpire Dave Phillips ejected him for doctoring the Ball in a game at Seattle on aug. 25,1982. Quot some clubs put cameras just on him. Someone said he put the stuff on the tongues of his shoes. Hey he  Bend Down and touch the tongues of his shoes. I mean where does he do it in the closet nobody Ever told  former major league manager Dick Williams said Gaylord could do it so Many different ways. He could get vaseline off the seam on the pants. Or there s just the moisture off your wrist. The specialists they knew How to do it. And there were a lot of times Gaylord would get you to believe that he threw it when he was t throwing  eks to i the master you wont find Gaylord Perry in the Hall of Fame. Phil roof now the bullpen coach of the Chicago cubs remembers when he and Perry were with the 1978 san Diego padres. Roof was the first base coach Perry who won the National league by Young award that year was the Star of the rotation. One Day Perry asked roof a former Catcher to catch his warm up throws before a game in san Diego. As Perry and roof were walking toward the padre bullpen Herman Franks then the cubs manager stopped to say hello. Perry put his Arm around Franks and Franks put his Arm around Perry. Then in one Quick thrust Franks reached into the pocket of Perry s jacket and pulled out a tube of vaseline. Holding it up for All to see the crowd included Franks unscrewed the Cap and squeezed the contents onto the Field. Perry watched with amusement then calmly called to one of the clubhouse boys sitting in the dugout Quot hey son go get me another  minutes later Perry had it. Another time roof said Perry was scheduled to oppose Power Pitcher . Richard and the Houston astros. The word on Richard was that if you scored on him Early he would lose interest in the game. Sure enough the padres scored two runs in the first inning then watched As Perry promptly loaded the bases in the Bottom half of the inning. Perry summoned padre Catcher Dave Roberts to the Mound. About 10 Greasy pitches later Perry was out of the inning unscathed. The padres won 3-1. Said roof Quot when the game ended i went up to him and i said a Gaylord what did you Tell Roberts in the first inning a he said a Phil it s like this some pitchers done to understand that you can lose the game in the first inning just As easily As you can lose it in the ninth inning. I was t going to lose that game so i had to get into my bag of tricks right away Quot there is reverence in roof s voice As he tells the Story. Quot you know in a impressed with people who can cheat and get away with it Quot he said. Quot he was the master of it. And if he does no to get elected to the Hall of Fame it s a  Perry eligible for selection since 1989, recently missed becoming an inductee by 13 votes. Keith Taylor of Beckett monthly a Magazine for baseball card collectors notes that Perry a Slippery pitch helped him strike out More batters than Walter Johnson pitch More innings than Christy Mathewson win More games than Jim Palmer and collect the same number of by Young awards a two a As Bob Gibson. Johnson Mathewson Palmer and Gibson Are in the Hall of Fame. Perry in t. In fact Perry and his 314 victories Arentt found on the Hall s storied time line an exhibit that traces the game s history from Start to present. Friday june 8, 1990 the stars and stripes a a a Page 17