On this day in New York · July 24, 1983
The Pine Tar Game at Yankee Stadium
George Brett hit a go-ahead homer in the ninth, then watched an umpire call him out for too much pine tar, and lost his mind on national television.
The facts
- Date
- July 24, 1983
- Location
- Yankee Stadium, the Bronx
- The play
- A George Brett home run nullified for excess pine tar on the bat
- Reversal
- AL president Lee MacPhail overturned the call and the game resumed weeks later
On Sunday, July 24, 1983, the Kansas City Royals trailed the Yankees by a run at Yankee Stadium when George Brett homered off Goose Gossage in the top of the ninth to put his team ahead. Yankees manager Billy Martin, who had been saving the detail, asked the umpires to check Brett's bat for pine tar. Home-plate umpire Tim McClelland measured the sticky residue against the seventeen-inch plate, ruled it exceeded the eighteen-inch limit, and called Brett out to end the game. Brett erupted from the dugout in one of the most replayed tantrums in baseball history. American League president Lee MacPhail later overruled the call, and the game was finished weeks afterward.
In their words
The day in the words of the people who were there. Every quote is verbatim, and every source links out so you can check it.
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George Brett hit a two-run home run off future Hall of Fame Yankee closer Rich "Goose" Gossage to give his team the lead
Pine Tar Incident, Wikipedia
Source: Pine Tar Incident, Wikipedia
Why it still matters
The Pine Tar Game is New York baseball at its most theatrical, a rulebook technicality that grew into legend and forced the sport to spell out the line between breaking a rule and cheating. Brett went into the Hall of Fame, and the bat went to Cooperstown too.
Sources
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