Tom Verducci on pine tar, no-hitters, PEDs and Hall of Fame
Sports Illustrated’s Tom Verducci joined the show to talk about the latest pine tar incident and much more.
Dan asked Verducci if the Nationals’ Davey Johnson was in the right to alert umpires that Rays pitcher Joel Peralta had extra pine tar in his glove. It upset Rays manager Joe Maddon. Verducci said probably not, because a lot of players use it and Johnson may have opened up future problems with his own players.
Verducci also talked about no-hitters. He said the trend toward better defense is part of it. Teams use technology to place the defenders in better spots and in the post-steroid era non-hitting outfielders can get on the field again.
Verducci said that he thinks Ichiro is a Hall of Famer, but he pointed out the way Ichiro plays, he has a lot of baseball left ahead of him.
Verducci discusses PEDs and his Hall of Fame vote. He said there’s no line — once you take something, it doesn’t matter what you did, you need integrity.
Verducci weighed in on the Mets’ R.A. Dickey. He said Dickey has more control of the knuckle ball than most knuckle-ballers. He knows where it’s going.