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Apparently, there is an awkward understanding between batters and pitchers: when it's cold, if the pitcher uses a little pine tar to keep from losing his grip on the ball, then the hitters will look the other way.
Baseball is 90% appearances, 10% substance ... case in point: when a manager goes out to argue with the umpires this April, "Everybody in the park knows that he is waiting for a signal from his dugout." Does the replay show the manager to be correct? Then he calls for the appeal.
Nothing in this picture looks wrong to anybody, EXCEPT that you and I, in the 3rd deck, KNOW what the silliness is. Therefore you hear the TV announcers, actually saying, "The problem is that everybody in the park knows why he's out there. It's embarrassing."