WATCH: Reds pitchcher asked for permission to take the wedding rings out of his gloved hands during Substance check

God’s sacred union of man and woman took a backseat to MLB’s substance check rules on Saturday after an umpire instructed Reds pitcher Graham Ashcroft to remove his wedding ring from his gloved hand.

Ashcroft was on his way off the field when an ump performed a routine substance check on Ashcroft’s hand and glove, as per MLB rules. The umpire ordered Ashcroft to take his wedding ring out of his gloved hand, but it was an unusual act.

“The first-base umpire comes up, checks my right hand as normal. Then he asks me to take my glove off and saw my ring,”Ashcraft spoke to reporters. “He goes, ‘You have to take your ring off,’ “I was like, ‘No, why do I have to take my ring off? I shouldn’t have to.’ Then apparently it’s some new rule they came up with yesterday.”

The ridiculous rule that pitchers cannot wear rings on one hand is not new, as it turned out. The rule was not new. People used to know better than to apply it.

Here is the rule governing the wearing of rings on a pitcher’s hand that we have confirmed existed before Saturday: “The pitcher may not attach anything to either hand, any finger or either wrist (e.g., Band-Aid, tape, Super Glue, bracelet, etc.). The umpire shall determine if such attachment is indeed a foreign substance for the purpose of Rule 6.02(c)(7), but in no case may the pitcher be allowed to pitch with such attachment to his hand, finger or wrist.”

What did happen on Friday, one day before Ashcroft’s outing, was that the league issued a memo to all clubs announcing that they would start enforcing their ridiculous rule.

Ashcroft continued the game wearing his ring on his necklace. However, without the symbol of his marriage securely fastened in its proper place on his hand, he allowed six earned runs on eight hits, two walks, and four strikeouts as he and the Reds lost to the Brewers, 7-3.

MLB, Way to Go!