I noticed something when I was watching the Rockies play the Phillies yesterday. Looks like I wasn’t the only one.

Before he came into the game, Rockies closer Manny Corpas dumped a cup of water on his shirt.

From Philly.com:

TBS cameras on Corpas warming up before coming into yesterday’s 4-2 Colorado win in Game 1 of the National League Division Series at Citizens Bank Park clearly showed the righthander pour a cup of water or soda on the front of his shirt before leaving the bullpen and then rubbing dirt on the area.

Then, when he went into the game, he appeared to go to that spot before several of his pitches in order to get a better grip on the baseball. Since the Rockies’ road jerseys are black, any discoloration on the shirt would have been difficult to detect.

I have to admit I’m not up to date on what qualifies as a foreign substance. Water and dirt don’t seem nearly as “foreign” as pine tar or sandpaper. But if spit balls are illegal, I imagine rubbing the ball with water probably is, too.

Is this a big deal? Should we care?

More to the point, does the MLB care? I guess we’ll find out.

From Deadspin, via the Atlanta Journal Constitution, comes this tidbit about Turner’s strategy for broadcasting three playoff baseball games in one day:

Note: If a game lasts longer than its scheduled 3 1/2-hour window, the next game will begin on TNT, then shift to TBS.

I don’t have a lot to add to this except to say that I lived in Atlanta for three years. I was a Comcast customer with basic cable and, as part of that deal, I got TBS, but not TNT.

And if I was living without TNT today, and was forced to miss part of my favorite team’s playoff game, I would be irate.

Fortunately, I now live in Tucson and have PREMIUM cable, including TBS, TNT, MTV, ESPN and Comedy Central. No HBO, but one step at a time, you know what I mean?

And if you’re one of those poor schmoes who is living with TBS but without TNT, just pray that none of the games run long.