Baseball’s disease is unchecked power, and sticky stuff is just another symptom

This is a lot to take in. But it’s also not some nefarious, widespread cheating scandal. Rather, the enforcement of a rule that had gone, for decades, unenforced is one of many corrections the game needs, and badly. Gaylord Perry spitballed his way into the Hall of Fame, and an entire sport essentially said, “Wink, wink, nudge, nudge.” It was part of the color of the game.