A-Rod got back into the Yankee lineup tonight (Friday, May 8), hit a 3-run HR in the first inning of a 4-0 win at Baltimore.

Why hasn't there been more flak from the report in Salena Roberts' book that he was tipping pitches to opposing batters in blowout games?

Telling a batter what pitch is coming ranks right up there with point shaving, throwing games and gambling. I think it's much worse than the steroid scandal that is grabbing all the headlines.

The source who told Roberts about the tipping of pitches was unnamed. Maybe it didn't happen. But if I'm the commissioner, I'd surely be aggressively looking into it.

Say you tip a pitch and the batter homers, or gets a hit that starts a big inning. That could devastate that pitcher's ERA and could lead to a demotion to the minor leagues. And A-Rod supposedly did this so he would benefit from tipping pitches himself, sort of a reciprocal type of deal.

You can't help the opponent, under any circumstances in professional sports.

If it happen and it's proven, I'd ban A-Rod permanently from the game. It's right up there with Pete Rose gambling on his own team when he was manager of the Reds (you don't think that could have had an impact on who he played and how he used his pitching staff?) and the "Eight Men Out" from the Chicago White Sox (known as the Black Sox) who threw the 1919 World Series.