The New York Mets were playing for their season on Sunday night with the Padres trying to pull a Game 3 NL Wild Card upset at Citi Field. And amid all that nervous tension, Mets fans could not stop staring at Padres pitcher Joe Musgrove’s ears.
Baseball teams and fans are inherently paranoid. They know that everyone goes to creative lengths to gain a competitive edge. It’s the “if we can get away with this, then just imagine what they’re doing” point of view. It’s partly why umpires check the hands of pitchers between innings. Teams don’t want foreign substances being used to give the pitcher an edge.
So, with all that in mind, Buck Showalter was incredibly paranoid with Musgrove as the Padres pitcher was dealing in Game 3.
Buck Showalter checked one of the baseballs Joe Musgrove threw in the first… pic.twitter.com/mqYbfjzR67
— Talking Friars (@TalkingFriars) October 9, 2022
In the first inning, Showalter was spotted checking the baseballs that Musgrove used. That only led to more speculation about why Showalter was suspicious. Then, we saw the close-up camera shots of Musgrove. Mets fans were convinced that Musgrove had something on his ears. They were glossy, his spin rate was up in the game and he appeared to go to his ears between pitches.
Not that I pay a lot of attention ppls’ ear sweat, but this doesn’t look like Joe Musgrove’s sweat to me. pic.twitter.com/taZ5JUjjCK
— Ryan (@downsr30) October 9, 2022
Here’s Joe Musgrove touching his right ear in between pitches, as one does. #MLB #Mets ##LGM pic.twitter.com/zABnQr4eYy
— Corey K (@CoreyNYC) October 10, 2022
Of course, Musgrove could just be a heavy sweater, and stadium lights don’t do sweaty ears any favors. But in the sixth inning with the Mets down 4-0, Showalter couldn’t take it anymore. He asked the umpiring crew to do a foreign-substance check that actually led to the umps physically touching Musgrove’s ears.
Mets manager Buck Showalter asked the umpires to check Padres pitcher Joe Musgrove for foreign substances after it appeared Musgrove's ears were shiny. pic.twitter.com/U6alihJnfD
— Jomboy Media (@JomboyMedia) October 10, 2022
The check ultimately concluded that Musgrove was just a sweaty dude with sweaty ears. At the very least, it gave us one of the stranger and more dramatic moments we’ll see in a playoff game. Still, Mets fans were certain that something was suspicious with the Padres pitcher.
This was how Twitter reacted
So, it looks like Musgrove is still cheating, @MLBUA. Has vaseline ALL over his ear. You guys blind? #Mets #NLWildCard pic.twitter.com/wPEMpehsxX
— Kyle Becker (@kylenabecker) October 10, 2022
The Umps can't see that Musgrove has 1/2 tub of Vaseline schmeared all over his right ear?? 👂🛢️#cheatingexposed #vaseline #mets #Padres #lgm pic.twitter.com/ABTxx0y632
— Paul Drewry (@pauldrewry) October 9, 2022
Mets fans chanting cheater despite having zero evidence of Musgrove doing so pic.twitter.com/LcDUuv0aZp
— Talking Friars (@TalkingFriars) October 10, 2022
The Mets are so desperate that they have resorted to checking Joe Musgrove’s ears for foreign substances.
— Barrett Sallee 🇺🇸 (@BarrettSallee) October 10, 2022
The Mets think Musgrove is cheating pic.twitter.com/1WmghLGRn8
— Borna Nazari (@thehogwatch) October 10, 2022
Joe Musgrove's spin rates are all up significantly tonight. pic.twitter.com/joDOEag8hN
— MLB Metrics (@MLBMetrics) October 10, 2022
“We can’t hit him, he must be cheating!” 😂😂😂 https://t.co/V7gjfWUDMN
— Marc Malkoskie (@marcmalkoskie) October 10, 2022
Here we go. I guarantee Musgrove has Red Hot on his ears. Pitchers use it as mechanism to stay locked in during games. It burns like crazy and IDK why some guys thinks it helps them but in no way is it “sticky.” Buck is smart tho. Could be trying to just throw him off.
— Andrew McCutchen (@TheCUTCH22) October 10, 2022
“I don’t know what to tell ya, Buck. Kid’s got shiny ears.” https://t.co/VxbunLbGQr
— Justin Jarrett (he/him) (@justinjarrett) October 10, 2022
The gamesmanship knows no bounds.
