Via Hardball Talk comes this SiriusXM radio transcript of Leo Mazzone calling out John Smoltz for putting pine tar on baseballs:
Leo Mazzone: "Well, I don’t see anything wrong with it myself. I watch football a lot, too, and I know that’s been going on for a while to slow a team down, it stops their momentum. In baseball, as you well know, it’s been going on a long time. I know that in my little ball bag I had firm grip and all kinds of goodies to take care of a baseball to get a little more movement on it. (laughs)"
Evan Cohen: "So that’s why the Braves kicked the Mets ass for all these years?"
Steve Phillips: "Wait a minute! How come our pitchers were pitching with nice bright white shiny baseballs and your guys had pine tar and scuffs all over them?"
Mazzone: "Well, you had pine tar, that’s for sure, because when you were in the postseason and it got called, one time Smoltzy had it on his shoes and I said, ‘John, you can’t keep bending over and touching your shoes all the time. Let’s put it someplace else!’ (laughs)"
Yes, "laughs." This seems like a completely voluntary statement by Mazzone, not something that he had a hard time exposing or anything, and he certainly seems pretty eager to throw Smoltz under the bus. This is going to blow up big time! This isn't any small statement by Mazzone.