Should We Care About His Hand?

The short answer, obviously, is "No," because after Kenny Rogers washed his hands clean of that mysterious substance he still spun more innings of shutout baseball than he had in his entire career prior to the start of this October.

The long answer, we all know, is "Yes." We should care for several reasons: first, because it really tarnishes what Rogers has done thus far on the hill, which is be nothing short of remarkable. For all the students of mine who have approached with cries of "Kenny Rogers is garbage!", I can't help but continue to point out his success this season. And we have to admit, it's uncanny. We'd all like to point to Rogers as a mid-life baseball success story, a man overcoming the odds to really go to the line for his city and his team. But as Jayson Stark of ESPN writes, this whole "Dirtgate" thing is, *ahem*, muddying the waters.

This is nowhere near as important as the steroids controversy or the lack of parity generated by a team fielding a $200 million dollar payroll, but it is significant in what it does to the perception of baseball in this, the spotlight of spotlights. The Tigers are everybody's Cinderella, the urchin-turned-belle-of-the-ball riding blue-collar grit and old-fashioned baseball know-how to a World Series spot. Everybody is cheering for them, including yours truly, who, though a closet Cardinals fan, would be very happy to see the Tigers bring one home. Rogers has personified the entire season, turning postseason failure into jaw-dropping success. If he can't clarify just what exactly was on his hand during last night's game, then suffice to say it will, at the very least, tarnish what should be a gem of a game, and maybe even taint the entire Tigers run.

I don't think we should flip out over it, but it sure would be nice to know for sure, wouldn't it?