First, let's make one thing clear. I'm not defending New York Yankees pitcher Michael Pineda's recent illegal use of pine tar during a game against the Boston Red Sox, where the substance sat on his ...

HOUSTON -- Major League Baseball, we know, is governed by both a comprehensive set of official rules and a vague code of unwritten ones. The latter have been so frequently, thoroughly and convincingly ...

Yvonne Abraham is right that pine tar creates a sticky situation in baseball (“Why stick to the rules?” Metro, April 27), especially when a parent is trying to explain why blatant use of the substance ...

NEW YORK -- Rob Cucuzza lifts the can of gunk off the clubhouse floor and turns it upside down. "They call it liquid pine tar, but it's more of a pasty-type of stuff," he said. "We could open this can ...

The length of home plate on a baseball diamond is exactly 17 inches wide on the front end. Players can lay their bats alongside it and gauge how much room they have to work with in regard to applying ...

Pitchers have used pine tar for decades, though most players are smart enough to be discreet about the well-known practice. Several questions arise from Wednesday night’s embarrassment at Fenway Park, ...

Plate umpire Gerry Davis touches the neck of New York Yankees starting pitcher Michael Pineda in the second inning of the Yankees' game against the Boston Red Sox at Fenway Park in Boston. Pineda was ...

Yankees righty Michael Pineda was brilliant against the Red Sox Thursday night, not allowing a hit until the fifth inning or a run until the seventh in a 4-1 New York win. He also appeared to be in ...

TAMPA — It has taken longer than anybody expected, but Michael Pineda is on the cusp of being the ace of the Yankees’ rotation. With CC Sabathia battling a balky right knee and Masahiro Tanaka working ...