Max Scherzer Explains Why His Hands Were Sticky Prior to Ejection

Max Scherzer was ejected from the New York Mets‘ game against the Los Angeles Dodgers on Wednesday. The former Cy Young Award winner was run after a foreign substance check on his hands and glove. As you’d guess, Scherzer wasn’t happy about it. After the game he tried to explain just why his hands were so sticky.

Here’s what he had to say for himself:

Maybe his explanation is 100 percent honest, maybe it isn’t. It seems odd that if he’d cleaned his hands with alcohol multiple times that they would still be sticky enough for Phil Cuzzi to throw him out. Yes, sweat and rosin are sticky, but MLB umpires see that level of stickiness every game and don’t throw guys out.

Again, maybe this was an innocent mistake. Or maybe this is just a great cover story. We’ll likely never know.