Clay Buchholz Accused Of Throwing Spitter By Jack Morris: Was The Red Sox Pitcher Cheating?

Two Toronto Blue Jays broadcasters, Jack Morris and Dirk Hayhurst, are accusing Boston Red Sox pitcher Clay Buchholz of doctoring his pitches during his Wednesday start against the Blue Jays, which the Red Sox won 10-1. Morris and Hayhurst saw video footage after the game ended which convinced them Buchholz was throwing spitballs.

"I found out because the guys on the video camera showed it to me right after the game," Jack Morris told ESPN. "I didn't see it during the game. They showed it to me and said, 'What do you think of this?' and I said, 'Well, he's throwing a spitter.' Cause that's what it is." Morris, a former major league pitcher himself, is a potential Hall of Famer. He won 254 games over the course of his 18-year career and delivered one of the greatest performances in World Series history as a Minnesota Twin, going 10 innings against the Atlanta Braves to beat them 1-0 in Game 7 of the 1991 World Series.

Morris was joined in his accusation by his analyst partner Dirk Hayhurst, also a former major league pitcher, who told a Toronto radio station on Thursday that Buchholz was "absolutely" cheating during his outing on Wednesday. Hayhurst wrote a Twitter post after the game which read, "Forget the hair, I just saw video of Buchholz loading the ball with some Eddie Harris worthy slick'em painted up his left forearm. Wow."

Clay Buchholz and Boston Red Sox manager John Farrell denied the charges vehemently. "Loading up with what, rosin?" Buchholz said, according to ESPN. "I get wet from my hair. Are they talking about the stains on my shirt? There probably are stains on my shirt, because I've been wearing the same shirt for the last three years."

"He's got rosin on his arm," said Farrell. "He's not loading up; he's got rosin on his arm. As soon as someone pitches well or does well, they're cheating."

Morris said he saw Buchholz take a substance on his left forearm and smear it onto the ball. "It was all over his forearm, all over the lower part of his T-shirt, it's all in his hair," said Morris. The former star admitted that he couldn't prove his claims but pointed to the dramatic movement of Buchholz' pitches.

Buchholz is having the best season of his career. He has won all of his six starts this year, on a 1.01 ERA, and on Thursday he was named American League Pitcher of the Month.