The Slanch Report

I am no expert, but watching the Red Sox-A’s game tonight, I noticed something extremely odd about Joe Blanton’s hat. He kept going to it, often multiple times during an at-bat, and then, at one point, the camera zoomed in on his face and I noticed something very peculiar about the brim of his hat. I have not doctored or edited these photos in any way. Is it me, or is there a distinctly brown section on his hat. Not only that, but isn’t that the section that he keeps going to? Again, I’m not saying that this is definitely pine tar, but that’s what it looks like to me. If anyone has any information, or outlandish theories, please send them in. To me, it looks like there is definitely something not allowed on his hat. It is too localized to be merely a sweat stain from his head. I suppose it is possible that the mark is sweat from his fingers, but I don’t think it is. Check it out and make your own decisions…

Note: these pictures are not immediately following one another but are taken at several points in the game, particularly the 5th inning following Jacoby Ellsbury’s RBI single.