Once Again, M.L.B. Faces a Crisis of Its Own Making

As it did with steroids, baseball spent decades fostering a breeding ground for blatant ball doctoring. A handful of 10-game suspensions can’t change that.

Here is what the Yankees’ Gerrit Cole should have said last week when asked if he had ever used Spider Tack while pitching: “I follow all the rules that baseball is willing to enforce.” That would have put the emphasis where it belongs. On Tuesday, Major League Baseball formally announced “enhanced enforcement” of its longstanding rules prohibiting the application of foreign substances to baseballs. This continues the sport’s tradition of winking at scofflaws until the situation gets out of control.