Ooooh, that smudge!

Kind of a shame for the post-game chatter to focus on that "big clump of dirt" on Kenny Rogers' pitching hand during the first inning, eh?

Considering Rogers' pitched seven amazing innings after that with clean hands, the mysterious "discoloration" on his left hand would seem to be a moot point. I had kind of a sick feeling in my stomach, however, when ESPN showed clips from Rogers' other post-season starts, in which he also appeared to have something on his left hand.

But hey, if the umpires didn't think the smudge was suspicious enough to examine Rogers' hand, glove, hat, or anything else on his uniform, and if the Cardinals weren't demanding that kind of examination - or his immediate ejection from the game - then I guess it's not an issue, and Rogers isn't the real-life version of Major League's Eddie Harris.

If La Russa says "it's not important to talk about," Aaron Miles doesn't think Rogers was cheating, and Albert Pujols didn't notice anything, then that's it. No accusations. No excuses.

Or, as the St. Louis Post-Dispatch's Bryan Burwell (welcome back to Detroit, Bryan) speculates, Tony La Russa just didn't want to pursue that route. He wants his team to win because of their play on the field, not from pointing at the rule book.

As you might imagine, however, Cardinal Nation doesn't agree with that and is more than a bit upset about the smudge. Viva El Birdos cites the exact rule and calls Rogers a "cheat." Go Crazy, Folks! thinks Rogers was busted, should've been tossed, and may have still been cheating later in the game. (I'm eager to see what Mr. Leitch might have to say on the matter later today.)

Who can blame them? If Jeff Weaver had something on his hand last night, and the Tigers lost, I'd probably be writing about it right now, too. I'd like to think I'd let it go if Weaver pitched even better after washing his hands, but who knows?

But if Rogers ends up pitching Game 6 of this series back at Comerica Park, I'll bet he receives some much closer scrutiny, whether it's from the umpires, the FOX television cameras, or the Cardinals' dugout. Hey, if the series is on the line, that rule book could suddenly become quite a handy weapon.