Page 4 May 1, 2014 Bocce from front page Players in the middle of a bocce match during the South Bay Bocce Courts project’s Charity Tournament held in April. Photo by Dylan Little. Move Up to CONTINENTAL PARK, the South Bay’s PROMINENT Business, Retail and Entertainment COMPLEX WORK & DINE ALONG THE ROSECRANS CORRIDOR IN EL SEGUNDO/MANHATTAN BEACH 310.640.1520 • Now Leasing Office Space In All Sizes • Professional Property Management On Site • It’s Not Just a Location; It’s a Lifestyle! CONTINENTAL PARK A project of CONTINENTAL DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION www.continentaldevelopment.com difficult to master nature of the sport has made it popular with the FTEAs and older athletes who are no longer able to participate in strenuous contact sports. While not quite the workout that a game of basketball is, Bocce is still a good way of staying active and healthy, and allows its players a setting for being social and building self-esteem. Chiota says the game can be played by anyone, regardless of disability, including the wheelchair- bound and the blind. Currently there are over 50 athletes participating in FTEA’s bocce program. To help make these handicap and elderly accessible courts a reality, Chiota says it will take more than just donations, it will require community outreach. “Keep sounding the alarm,” said Chiota. “It’s important that the Mayor and city officials know that we want to make this project part of our community.” • Cheating in Baseball By Adam Serrao Last Wednesday night at Fenway Park, the baseball world was put on notice when Yankees pitcher Michael Pineda was ejected from the game in the second inning of New York’s 5-1 loss to the Red Sox. Boston manager John Farrell complained that pine tar was blobbed on the side of Pineda’s neck. The embarrassing part was, for Pineda, that this wasn’t the first time that he had been seen with the obvious print of pine tar on one part of his body or another. Despite Major League Baseball’s clear stance “Drugs like steroids and HGH are so heavily frowned upon, substances like pine tar have recently seemed to have been given a pass by both players and fans alike.” on the use of illegal substances in the game, however, most players and coaches didn’t seem to mind. Many instances of cheating have arisen throughout the years in the game of baseball, but while drugs like steroids and HGH are so heavily frowned upon, substances like pine tar have recently seemed to have been given a pass by both players and fans alike. Once officially caught, Pineda was suspended 10 games by Major League Baseball “for possessing a foreign substance on his person.” 10 games may, at first, seem to be a little excessive, but as Executive Vice President of Baseball Operations Joe Torre stated, “We just felt that, with the ten games, it was necessary for him to miss two starts instead of just one.” On top of the suspension, however, Pineda should have been more embarrassed than anything. Just a week and half prior, in an April 10th game against the Red Sox, Pineda had attracted the opposing team’s attention by using a substance that looked eerily similar to pine tar on his mitt and later on the palm of his hand. Since the opposing manager never came out and said anything to the umpires, he was never caught and got away with the infraction. In the very next series against one another, almost like a robber breaking into the same house two nights in a row, Pineda was seen using pine tar again, except this time, more obviously. While most players and coaches choose to just let it go, Red Sox manager John Farrell was forced, this time, to bring it to the attention of the umpires. “I think we are all embarrassed,” Yankees General Manager hat I feel stupid,” Pineda told ESPNDeportes.com. “It was a last minute decision when I went out in the second inning, and since I was unable to see myself, I did not know how much I put on until I saw the video.” Those watching Pineda on the mound probably couldn’t help but feel embarrassed for the guy. Most people who cheat do so indiscreetly: Pineda, however, chose not only to put a huge portion of the stuff on his neck for everyone to see, but he did it in his very next start against the team that he should have been caught for using it against not even two weeks previously. “Guys look to create a grip,” opposing manager John Farrell said, “but typically you’re not looking to be as blatant.” Despite the idiocy of it all on Pineda’s part, other players, including those on the opposing team, don’t seem to have much of a problem with what he did. Red Sox catcher A.J. Pierzynski thinks that it could help with the safety of the players coming up to the plate. “I don’t have a problem with guys that do it,” he said. “I know as a hitter, I want to get in there and know that the guy has a grip. Put it on your hat, put it on your pants, your belt, put it on your glove, whatever you have to do. You just can’t do it that blatantly. That was what the biggest issue was. No one has an issue with him doing it. It’s just more of the fact that it’s so blatant.” Sure, it’s not steroids, stealing signs, a corked bat or, heaven forbid, betting on a game (see Pete Rose), but it is plainly written in the rules of the game that the use of illegal substances is just that: illegal. If Pineda wanted to get away with it, he perhaps shouldn’t have put it on his neck. Maybe a little on his forehead to keep his cap on straight would have been a better idea. Pineda’s recent gaffe has brought to light some of the other biggest cheaters in baseball and has given us the opportunity to take a look back. For instance, the 1919 Chicago White Sox. Who could forget about the Black Sox World Series scandal and the involvement of the mob to fix what was, at the time, the biggest sporting event on the planet? Certainly ‘Shoeless’ Joe Jackson wouldn’t. There was Albert Belle and his corked bat and distinct predisposition to running into second baseman with the clear intent to injure them. Of course, the aforementioned Pete Rose makes the list with his gambling tendencies. John McGraw hid balls in the outfield, spiked opposing players with his cleats, watered down base paths, grew out the infield grass and even started a riot. After getting into a fight with the opposing third baseman, a riot begun that eventually destroyed 170 neighboring buildings in 1894. Ty Cobb sharpened his spikes, George Brett has a pine tar incident named after him and who could possibly forget about Mark McGwire, Sammy Sosa, Roger Clemens, Barry Bonds and the many, many other that have made baseball the game it is today. Now Pineda’s pine tar incident doesn’t sound like such a terrible offense after all. • The Family Value Combo 2 (5 oz.) Filet Mignons 2 (5 oz.) Top Sirloins 4 Boneless Chicken Breasts (1 lb. pkg.) 4 (4 oz.) Omaha Steaks Burgers 4 (3 oz.) 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