SI

Sticky Situation: Pitch-doctoring in MLB

As fans return to ballparks in droves, they can take in the traditional sounds of America’s pastime: the crack of the bat, the pop of the glove, the roar of the crowd. Over the past two years, though, the people in dugouts have begun to report a different noise: that of baseballs tearing off the hands of the pitchers throwing them. As the league reckons with existential questions about its future, perhaps the most important topic is this sticky situation.

Stephanie Apstein

As fans return to ballparks in droves, they can take in the traditional sounds of America’s pastime: the crack of the bat, the pop of the glove, the roar of the crowd. Over the past two years, though, the people in dugouts have begun to report a different noise: that of baseballs tearing off the hands of the pitchers throwing them. As the league reckons with existential questions about its future, perhaps the most important topic is this sticky situation.

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Erick W. Rasco/Sports Illustrated

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Stephanie Apstein
STEPHANIE APSTEIN

Stephanie Apstein is a senior writer covering baseball and Olympic sports for Sports Illustrated, where she started as an intern in 2011. She has covered 10 World Series and three Olympics, and is a frequent contributor to SportsNet New York's Baseball Night in New York. Apstein has twice won top honors from the Associated Press Sports Editors, and her work has been included in the Best American Sports Writing book series. A member of the Baseball Writers Association of America who serves as its New York chapter vice chair, she graduated from Trinity College with a bachelor's in French and Italian, and has a master's in journalism from Columbia University.

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