Kenny Rogers, pitcher for the Detroit Tigers, had brought into this year’s major league playoffs the highest ever career playoff ERA. He was, for all intents and purposes, a playoff loser of the highest level. A choker. Which seemed kind of odd, since through the season, he was normally pretty tough to hit.

Well now it all makes sense.

Rogers, while pitching against the St Louis Cardinals in last night’s World Series game, was asked by umpires in the second inning what the dark stuff on his hands was. "Dirt" replied Rogers, before scurrying off to wash his hands. He then proceeded to pitch the final six innings of 23 consecutive shut-out frames in these playoffs.

But hang on a second… "Dirt?" Where do you find dirt on a ballpark diamond? The infield is all grassed up, the diamond is made of clay, so where would dirt come from? And hang on a second, if you look at the pictures above, courtesy of ESPN, of Rogers pitching against Oakland in the ALCS (left), and Rogers pitching last night in the Series (right), you’ll see that he ALWAYS had that ‘dirt’ on his hand, and always on the base of his thumb – the part of the hand where you’d rub your fingertips if you needed to coat them in something that would help you put spin on a breaking ball.

Kenny Rogers has been pitching with pine tar on his hands. But if that doesn’t convince you, there’s a ton of more circumstantial evidence that will help build the anti-Rogers case.

For example, why was he wearing a black Detroit Tigers ‘World Series 2006′ ballcap last night with a black underbill, and not the usual gray-underbilled Tigers cap that his teammates were wearing? And why do, according to Jim Rome this morning, Rogers’ former teammates say that The Gambler always used to choose to wear the ‘darker’ road uniform when he was pitching, even if the weather was hot? Anyone who has played a sport knows that dark uniforms get mighty warm in hot sunny weather…

I’ll tell you why. Because Kenny Rogers pitches with pine tar, and black clothing gives him more places to put it.

Last night, after being asked to wash his hands (something Rogers now denies happened, even though his manager confirms it did), Rogers continued to throw like fury, giving up only two hits. In cold weather. Cold weather that, usually, make it tough to snap off a breaking ball properly.

Check the video footage of the game (you can download it from MLB.com, though it’ll cost you) and you’ll see what Rogers did before each pitch – he’d bring his pitching hand to his face, blow on his fingers, and wipe those fingers along the base of his thumb – exactly where the ‘gob of dirt’ was. Then he’d rub the underside of his (strangely black under-billed) cap. Then he’d touch the back of his (black) cap. Then he’d fire in a pitch that would break off wickedly and strike out a Cardinal.

Why did he always suck in the post-season previously? Maybe because the post-season brings more cameras, more TV, and a lot more attention. Presumably, Rogers didn’t want to subject his cheating ways to the extra attention such games bring about. One could also pontificate that, now that he’s older than Milton Berle, he wanted to finally win a post-season, and decided it was worth the risk of being caught cheating to make that happen.

And the worst part is, it seems he was right, since the umpires didn’t do their duty and actually search him for tar, as the rules dictate they should.

The awesome Seattle Mariners fan blog, Lookout Landing, has an alternate take on the subject:

I think it was sh*t. Seriously, bear me with me here.

When they asked him about it, he seemed very embarrassed and pussy footed around the question. When both managers were asked, they refused to comment. And also, during the game after the announcers commented about it, Pudge wispered in his ear and Kenny ran into the dugout and came back out with clean hands a new pair of pants.

[...] Kenny Rogers literally sh*t himself during game 2 of the World Series. 

CHEATER! Let it be known across the sporting world, Kenny Rogers is a damned cheat! He’s been cheating for years, he’s defrauded ball fans and opposition players and game officials for most of his career, and rather than pull him up for it and search him for evidence – like maybe test the balls he was throwing last night – he has been all but let off for doing it, repeatedly. Major League Baseball says nothing, does nothing, and once again allows a play-off series to be dictated by rulebreakers and frauds.

Shame on Major League Baseball. Shame on Kenny Rogers. Any fan of the Oakland A’s or the New York Yankees should be screaming from the rooftops – we got defrauded by The Gambler, a man who epitomizes everything bad about professional sports, and we demand retribution.

Anything less than a suspension would be letting him off. What should REALLY happen is last night’s game is called a no-result.

Hat-tips to Athletics Nation, Lookout Landing, ESPN, Fox Sports and Jim Rome for the info and images in this piece. Credit where it’s due, and all..