Hector Santiago of the Seattle Mariners makes history

Hector Santiago joined the Seattle Mariners on May 27th, and he just made history in a Mariners uniform yesterday. The 33-year-old started yesterday’s game (Saturday’s suspended game) and was ejected in the middle of the fifth inning after umpires checked his glove.

Hector Santiago could now face a 10-game suspension and the Seattle Mariners would not be able to replace him on the roster during the suspension.

Hector Santiago of the Seattle Mariners is the first to be ejected for violating the new foreign substance policy

It’s probably not the way Hector Santiago wanted to end up in the MLB record books, but he’s there now as the first to be ejected for violating the MLB’s foreign substance policy. Umpires have the power to eject players but the suspension is not made official until the league rules it as a violation.

Santiago’s glove was confiscated and put into a bag for the league officials in New York to analyze. From what we have heard from the veteran pitcher and Seattle Mariners manager, they are confident that there will be no suspension.

Hector spoke to the media and said he only used rosin, which is not illegal. Apparently, the mix of sweat and rosin created a sticky substance but technically, that is not illegal. From the umpire’s perspective, crew chief Tom Hallion said Santiago had a “foreign substance that was sticky on the inside palm of his glove.”

Some people have been quick to judge Hector Santiago for cheating but we should remain patient. Nothing is final until Major League Baseball checks the substance in his glove.

Hector Santiago has also been around the game for a long time so he is one of the last people I would expect to break the new substance rules. I also think his reaction to the situation and his statements to the media were very honest, which makes me think he was just using rosin and nothing more.