Aces Gerrit Cole, Justin Verlander and Max Scherzer are among the numerous known pitchers who have been accused of using a substance to improve grip by former Angels club assistant Bubba Harkins in a lawsuit against the team and the Major League who accuses them of making him a scapegoat.
Harkins, who was fired last March when the league started cracking down on the use of foreign substances, sent a text message from Cole as evidence in “opposition to a request to dismiss the original lawsuit filed by Harkins’ lawyers in August,” according to for Alden Gonzalez of ESPN.
Cole’s message to Harkins is from January 2019 and says, “Hey, Bubba, it’s Gerrit Cole. I wonder if you could help me with this complicated situation [winky face emoji]. We won’t see you until May, but we have some road games in April that are in cold weather locations. What I had last year crashes when it gets cold … “
Harkins was known in the league for providing pitchers with a tackiness (“as a courtesy”) that was made from a mixture of pine tar and rosin, a recipe he learned from ancient Angels near Troy Percival.
Although substance use (including, but not limited to, pine tar and suntan lotion) has long been accepted, if not technically legal, of the pitch, the MLB issued a memo in February 2020 disallowing the practice. Harkins’ lawsuit alleges that he did not receive the memo and therefore did not receive adequate notice prior to his resignation. Pitchers have long argued that the use of substances that increase the footprint is partly a safety measure, as their improved control restricts the potential for batting or other erratic pitches.
Harkins’ lawsuit says his dismissal has left him unemployed and notes that no other individual has been punished for similar reasons.