It seems to me that Major League Baseball is facing just as many issues as the NFL, the National Hockey League and other major sports combined. In the case of baseball and the sport’s signature franchise, the Yankees, the problems range from steroid ingesting and poor attendance to an increasingly low number of black players and fans and cheating players.

Long-time Peppercomm freelance specialist par excellence, Greg Schmalz winds up and throws a perfect game in today’s guest Repman blog.  And, please feel free to provide your answers to some of Greg’s questions….

Guest blog by Greg Schmalz, president, Schmalz Communications

The Major League Baseball season is only a few weeks old and already there’s controversy- to wit, last night as the New York Yankees lost to arch-rival Boston.

When the teams met earlier this season in New York, pitcher Michael Pineda was found to have a questionable substance on his glove. Boston claimed it was pine tar, but the Yankees insisted it was dirt, and no formal complaint was made.

However, last night was cold and windy, and Pineda apparently found it difficult to get a good grip on the ball and find the strike zone.  When he took the mound in the second inning, a brownish substance – believed to be pine tar – was visible on his neck.

Boston manager John Farrell brought it to the attention of home plate umpire and crew chief Gerry Davis. He approached the mound, checked Pineda (not unlike an airport TSA agent pat down), saw the sticky substance and ejected him from the game.

Some players say they know that pitchers use something but because this time it was out in the open, something had to be done. But, this raises a number of questions. Stick’em in the National Football League was outlawed years ago when both receivers and defensive backs used the substance to get a better grip on the ball.

It seems to me that the game has serious problems not need to be addressed. Not only at the league level, but also at the team level. Do you mean to tell me that manager Joe Girardi or pitching coach Larry Rothschild didn’t know that Pineda applied or had the illegal substance applied to his neck? These people need to be held accountable. We’ll see what type of punishment is handed out.

So, what’s the answer? Maybe gloves. Football players wear gloves. Not just the receivers or defensive backs, also quarterbacks to get a better grip on the ball.

Golfers wear gloves as do bowlers. In baseball, hitters wear batting gloves. So why not a pitching glove that can be worn on the throwing hand? It might take a while to get used to, but why not use it during winter baseball and spring training to see if it works.

Is the game of baseball hopelessly tainted? Should the MLB shorten the season? How many years have we seen snow in April and October?  Would MLB dare shorten the season for a later start or earlier finish to the playoffs.

So, what are your thoughts? Who has ideas about how the MLB could solve even one of their problems and keep its reputation from striking out?