Spitballs, nail files, and other ways pitchers cheat

Steroids aren't the only banned substance in baseball

Insiders accuse Red Sox pitcher Clay Buchholz wiping rosin on his baseball before pitching.
(Image credit: Elsa/Getty Images)

Red Sox pitcher Clay Buchholz came under fire this week for allegedly applying a foreign substance to baseballs to give them extra movement on their way to the plate.

Blue Jays announcers Dirk Hayhurst and Jack Morris, both of them former pitchers, first made that accusation Wednesday, after Buchholz stymied the Jays en route to a Boston win. Buchholz only pitched so well, they claimed, because he appeared to wipe an unidentified substance from his forearm onto baseballs throughout the night.

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Jon Terbush

Jon Terbush is an associate editor at TheWeek.com covering politics, sports, and other things he finds interesting. He has previously written for Talking Points Memo, Raw Story, and Business Insider.