In recent weeks, Major League Baseball has made it clear that the league is going to crack down on pitchers using foreign substances. One of the pitchers that finds himself entrenched in the foreign substance debate is New York Yankees star Gerrit Cole. Cole has been accused of using them by a former Los Angeles Angels employee.
On Tuesday, Cole was asked about using foreign substances in the past and had a questionable answer.
"I don't quite know how to answer that, to be honest," Cole said. "There are customs and practices that have been passed down from older players to younger players, from past generation players to this generation of players. I think there are some things that are certainly out of bounds in that regard, and I've stood pretty firm in terms of that, in terms of the communication between our peers and whatnot. Again, like I mentioned earlier, this is important to a lot of people that love the game, including the players in this room, the fans, including teams. If MLB wants to legislate some more stuff, that's a conversation we can have because ultimately we should all be pulling in the same direction."
During Wednesday's installment of "Nothing Personal with David Samson," David Samson revealed how Cole could've better addressed the situation.
"You can never say 'I don't know how to answer that question.' You can never say that 'I don't know how to answer that question,'" Samson said. "You know how to answer it. You're going to answer it with a confirmation, a denial, or a bridge to another subject. Confirmation: 'Yes, I have used foreign substances in the past and I've used them not just for a competitive advantage, but for the safety of the hitters. Denial: 'I have never used a foreign substance. I hate to never say never, but as far as I know, I've never used a foreign substance.' Bridge to another subject: 'That's an inappropriate question for you to ask because I'm in no way going to tell my competitors anything that I do in order to get them out.'"
Samson also added that if he was the president of the Yankees, he'd be "despondent" after the way Cole answered the question.
