Pine Tar Incident
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In Major League Baseball lore, the Pine Tar Incident (or Pine Tar Game) refers to a controversial incident that took place in an American League game played between the Kansas City Royals and New York Yankees on July 24, 1983.
Playing at New York's Yankee Stadium, the Royals were trailing 4-3 with two outs in the top of the ninth when George Brett came to bat. Brett connected off Yankee reliever Goose Gossage for a two-run home run and a 5-4 lead. As Brett crossed the plate, New York manager Billy Martin accosted home plate umpire Tim McClelland and requested that Brett's bat be examined.
With Brett watching from the dugout, McClelland and the rest of the umpiring crew looked the bat over; it was determined that the amount of pine tar on the bat's handle exceeded that allowed by MLB rules, and McClelland signaled that Brett's home run was nullified and the game over.
An enraged Brett stormed out of the dugout to confront McClelland, and had to be physically restrained by his teammates. Despite the furious protests of Brett and Kansas City manager Dick Howser, McClelland's ruling stood. The Royals subsequently filed a protest with American League president Lee MacPhail, who overturned McClelland's decision, reinstated Brett's home run and the Royals' lead, and ordered that the remainder of the game be played later in the season — a decision that was protested by Yankee manager Martin.
On August 18 (a scheduled off day for both teams), the game was resumed from the point of Brett's home run. Martin symbolically protested the continuation of the game by putting first baseman Don Mattingly at second base and pitcher Ron Guidry in center field. Before the first pitch to Hal McRae - who followed Brett in the lineup - Martin challenged Brett's home run on the grounds that Brett had not touched all the bases on his way home, and maintained that there was no way for the umpires (who were a different crew from those who worked on July 24) to dispute this. In response, umpire Davey Phillips produced an affidavit signed by the July 24 umpires and stating that Brett had indeed touched all bases. An irate Martin continued to argue with the umpires and was ejected from the game. The game finally continued with no further runs scored by either team and the Royals preserving their 5-4 win.
The bat which had caused the controversy was broken by Brett in another game later that season. He donated it to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1987.
[edit] External links
- Baseball Hall of Fame - "Twenty Years Ago: The Pine Tar Game"
- Box score from the Pine Tar Game
- MLB.com: Baseball's Best - streaming video of the complete game
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