Slippery slope

Brendan Donnelly is apparently the rare pitcher who cares deeply for the safety of opposing batters.

Donnelly admitted he has used pine tar "off and on as needed, not to doctor the ball, but to get a better grip," he said. Did he consider it cheating? "No," Donnelly said. "I thought it was a safety issue. I'd rather get a grip on the ball than have it slip out of my hand and hit someone in the head."

Baseball. I love this game. Even a mid-June interleague game can take on operatic proportions.