The Pine Tar Incident

Today is the birthday of George Brett, born in Glen Dale, West Virginia, 1953.

On July 24th, 1983, the Royals were trailing the Yankees until George Brett, with two on and two out, hit a high flying home run in the top of the ninth.

Earlier in the game, Yankees manager Billy Martin had noticed a large amount of pine tar on Brett’s bat, but had decided to wait for the most opportune moment to notify the umpires. This was it.

The umpires measured the bat, and found that, in violation of the rule, pine tar was too far up the barrel. They called Brett out and he lost it.

The original spirit of the rule was to keep foreign substances off of a ball when batted. Given that the hit was a home run, the Royals argued, he shouldn’t have been called out. Lee MacPhail, head of the American League, agreed.

The final four outs of the game were replayed that August. Brett, having been ejected in the original game, watched from an Italian restaurant near the airport. The Yankees sold tickets for $2.50, just 1,200 people showed up to watch, and the Royals clinched the win.

George Brett’s bat is on display in the Baseball hall of fame, and the incident is memorialized in the rulebook, with a new comment on Rule 1.10(c); if no objections are raised prior to a bat’s use, then the rule does not nullify any action of play on the field.

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