Slightly off-topic, but I once read what a sports official said about "cheating" and he had a very unpopular, but interesting, opinion. He basically said that anything that is covered in the official rule book and has a prescribed penalty is - by his definition -not cheating. So according to this, from the above list, the pinetar / foreign substance stuff wouldn't be cheating, but everything else would be.
His argument was something like this: Rule books say things like if you balk, the runners get to advance a base. Or if you hold a defensive lineman you get moved back 10 yards. Or if you trip a skater you spend 2 minute in the penalty box. Or if you bump a shooter he gets to take some free throws. Nobody thinks that balking or being offside is "cheating". They're something you "shouldn't" do, and there are defined consequences for doing it.
Now, the baseball rulebook also says you're not supposed to use pinetar or corked bats and defines the penalty for doing so (automatic out or ejection or whatever). Why do people feel that these type of infractions are cheating but the other ones aren't? One could make an argument that a batter who uses a corked bat is trying to gain an unfair advantage without getting caught. One could also argue the exact same thing for a pitcher who uses a balk-like move and hopes to get away with it without getting caught (I'm looking at you
Andy Pettitte!). What about a batter who pretends to be hit by a pitch and starts walking to 1st base? (
Jeter). Or who drops a foul ball in the stands but
pretends to catch it?
Just some food for thought.....