Reports are starting to surface that show, quite clearly, some sort of foreign substance on the inside of Jon Lester’s glove during game one of the World Series against the St. Louis Cardinals.
For example, you can see Lester rubbing his fingers into the substance here:
But, it gets worse. BustedCoverage has gathered even further evidence from the world of Twitter.
Twitter user @Jimmy_Manno has provided the following image for evidence:
As well, other images have started to surface showing further clarity of the green substance and Jon Lester rubbing his fingers in it.
And one more showing Jon Lester coating his fingers in the substance.
One question immediately arises: What is the green substance?
@JeffPassan provided this gem of an image that may explain what the green substance is:
The image clearly shows BullFrog sunscreen in the Red Sox dugout. Perhaps that is the green substance in Jon Lester’s glove? The image is from an ALDS against the Rays. Why would anybody need sunscreen, in October, in a dome? According to Jeff Passan, the BullFrog sunscreen could be the green substance in Lester’s glove:
The typical procedure for a starting pitcher is simple: In between innings, take a fresh hit of BullFrog, grab the rosin bag when on the mound and covertly swipe at least one finger from the right hand across the sunscreen, creating the substance that can be spread to other fingers inside the safety of the glove. Pitchers consider the BullFrog-rosin combination safer than using plain pine tar, particularly after Tampa Bay Rays reliever Joel Peralta was suspended eight games last season when umpires found a dollop on his glove.
MLB has issued a statement regarding Lester:
In full, the statement provided by MLB vice president of public relations Pat Courtney read: “We cannot draw any conclusions from this video. There were no complaints from the Cardinals, and the umpires never detected anything indicating a foreign substance throughout the game.”
Jon Lester said this during a press conference regarding the “green stuff”:
“I saw the picture and I don’t know what that is,” he said. “It looks like a giant booger, almost. I don’t know how that came about, with the lighting, I don’t know. Like I said, I saw the picture, I don’t know how that is. It’s rosin, I guess with sweat and licking your fingers and rubbing your fingers in there, it may turn a different color, I don’t know. I don’t pay attention to that stuff when I’m pitching.”