Joel Peralta, a pitcher for the Tampa Bay Rays, made headlines yesterday when he was caught having pine tar on his glove. This has led to the question, how much cheating still goes on in baseball?

Let me preface, by saying that I’m defining cheating as something that is disallowed according to the rules. I’m not talking about things that are frowned upon, but things that are going to get you ejected, suspended and/or fined.

I’m not naive enough to think that cheating doesn’t go on in baseball. Perhaps it’s from my years of playing and coaching baseball (obviously nowhere near the professional levels), but I’ve got a pretty good understand of what happens during the course of the game. If you don’t think players are willing to do whatever they can to give themselves an edge, you better think again.

There’s been countless tales of players in history who were known to cork their bats. During the 1961 season, Norm Cash of the Detroit Tigers hit an astounding .361 with 41 home runs. Many years after the fact, Cash openly admitted that his bat was corked for the duration of the season.

Pitchers have been famous for scuffing, spitting and putting other foreign substances on the ball. The effect of doing so has been scrutinized, examined and discussed for decades. Whenever a pitcher could find a way to help himself and their team out, you better believe it happened.

In my opinion, the most memorable moment for a pitcher being accused of using pine tar to, was during the 2006 World Series. In a moment of great infamy, Kenny Rogers was accused of having pine tar not on his glove, but on his pitching hand! You know how the opposing manager (Tony La Russa) handled the situation? He simply left it alone.

This just ties into one of the many unwritten rules about baseball. This is nothing new, so I don’t understand what all of the fuss is about. I do wonder what incentive Washington’s manager, Davey Johnson, had in having Peralta ejected from the game. To me, I think it’s opening a can of worms that’s better served being left closed.