Ted Lilly grabs some pine tar on the sly

By Craig CalcaterraApr 30, 2013, 8:23 AM EDT
30 Comments

Maybe it was purely by accident, and maybe it didn’t help a bit — judging by his pitching line it didn’t anyway — but reader Big Leagues sends along a couple of screen captures from last night’s Dodgers-Rockies game which seems to show Ted Lilly opportunistically applying pine tar to his pitching hand after picking up a broken bat:

source:

source:

source:

I mean, he’s not totally brazen about it, but he had that whole bat barrel to grab and still grabbed the part with the pine tar.

Hmm.

UPDATE: Yes, as many have pointed out, Lilly is a left-hander, so he’s not grabbing the pine tar with his pitching hand. Which means the only possible explanation is that, in addition to being really sly here, he’s a MASTER OF DECEPTION.

It sounds like Adrián Beltré is mulling retirement

Ronald Martinez/Getty Images
By Bill BaerAug 16, 2018, 8:14 PM EDT
5 Comments

Rangers third baseman Adrián Beltré is dealing with a Grade 2 strain of his left hamstring, marking the third time this season the 39-year-old has dealt with a hamstring issue. The injuries are weighing on Beltré, who sounds like he is mulling retirement.

Gerry Fraley of the Dallas Morning News reports that Beltré said, “It brings the question of is this going to keep happening more often? Is it worth it to fight back? Is it a sign that it’s getting closer to time to say good-bye to you guys?”

In 358 plate appearances this season, Beltré has hit .278/.335/.394 with seven home runs and 41 RBI. His .729 OPS would be his lowest since 2009, when he put up a .683 OPS with the Mariners. Beltré is a free agent after the season and turns 40 years old in April. It wouldn’t be surprising if he decided to call it quits after this season. If he does hang ’em up, Beltré will be — in this writer’s humble opinion — a first-ballot Hall of Famer when he is eligible five years from retirement.