#60.4 – The Story of George Brett and the Pine Tar Incident

It’s a video you’ve probably seen before. A man wildly sprints out of the dugout […]

It’s a video you’ve probably seen before. A man wildly sprints out of the dugout and has to be restrained by 4 referees and coaches, wanting to strangle head umpire Tim McClelland. We go in depth onto what happened that day and what would happen in the future.

At the end of July 1983, the Royals were in a hard fought battle with the New York Yankees leading 4-3. Royals 3rd baseman George Brett comes up (now a Hall-of-Famer), and smacks a 2-run homer. Royals lead. At the time, the Yankees were coached by known trickster and strategist Billy Martin. Martin came trotting out of the dugout and appealed the homerun, claiming Brett’s pine tar was too high on the bat, an act that had been deemed uncool by the MLB.

You may think meh, no biggie, but a rule had just been put into place to prevent pine tar from being further up the bat than 18 inches from the handle. The rule prevented balls from getting gunked up and if the balls were gunked up it was a disadvantage for the batter, so overall the rule kept the game fair.

Going back to the bat, the 18 inches of pine tar are about half the bat. The average bat size is around 34 inches, so 16 inches of untarnished bat are required on a bat to make it legit. Of the 160 pages of MLB rules, pine tar is mentioned twice, so in general it’s not a huge deal.

While we’re on the subject of sizes, home plate is 17 inches across, something we noted in part 1, when discussing umpires getting swapped out with robots. This allowed Tim McClelland to lay the bat over home plate and note that it well-surpassed the 18 inches of pine tar allowed. He walked over to the dugout, pointed at Brett, and signaled him out.

Why was Brett Called Out

At the time, under the rules in 1983, any batter using a bat that had over 18 inches of pine tar coverage was said to be illegally batting the ball. In general, an illegally batted ball was an immediate call of “out” for the batter and McClelland made that call. He was a rookie ump at the time and everyone makes mistakes, but he was using his understanding of the rule and made a decision.

Signalling Brett “out” meant that the homerun was rescinded, the runs were washed away and the third out of the game had been made, therefore game over, Royals lose 4-3. Brett exploded. He couldn’t contain his rage and frustration. He charge the field, ready to kill McClelland. It took three or four coaches and other umpires to keep him away as he rampaged across the field. It’s a classic sports moment and one that still gives me chills. No doubt Billy Martin chuckled to himself as the chaos on the field cooled and the Yankees walked away with the win.

The Appeal

Royals manager Rocky Colavito felt the ruling was made unjustly, with the rule being misconstrued and Martin being an overall tool by not saying anything about the bat (in use all game) until Brett had undermined the possible Yankees victory. The Royals appealed the ruling and it went to the league president, Lee MacPhail.

It’s important to note that baseball is one of the few sports that allows for protests. Overall the protests don’t affect the outcome of the game, but in rare cases when they are overturned the game must be continued. MacPhail determined that this was one of those cases. He was not pleased with the “trickiness” or timing of the appeal from Martin and said the call by McClelland was not in the spirit of the rule, which was to protect the ball, not give an advantage to the batter. Pine tar had never been a bat substance used to add power to the bat, so who really cared if it sat high on the bat. With the ruling, the Royals were now leading in the top of the 9th 5-4 with 2 outs. The game would continue, but not until 25 days after the incident occurred.

The Continuation of Play

On August 18th, play resumed with the Royals still at bat. Before the first pitch was even thrown, the Yankees threw the ball to first, claiming that Brett never touched first. The umpire at the time ruled him safe, so no biggie. The Yankees then threw to second, claiming neither runner had touched the base. Again Dave Phillips called safe. Billy Martin trotted out onto the field calling “shenanigans” and saying the runners never touched. That’s when the home plate umpire pulled out an affidavit signed by the umpires calling the original game saying “all bases were touched by both players” shutting Martin up and allowing the game to continue.

Another bizarre little twist, Billy Martin moved some of his players around for the last out in the top of the ninth, including sending a pitcher to center field, as the center-fielder had been traded in the 25 days, and Don Mattingly (left-handed first-basemen) to second base, due to the normal second-baseman being injured. Mattingly became the last lefty to play second-base.

In front of roughly 1,000 fans, there were 4 outs in a row to round out the game and the Yankees had to swallow the loss.

Why Was Brett Using Pine Tar Anyway?

Brett used the tar because he was one of what seems like only a few batters that did not wear batting gloves. He still wanted to have a good grip on the bat itself and pine tar was one of the best ways to do so. Did it need to be that high on the bat? Probably not, but Brett was a bit overzealous and liked a grungy, seven-grain ash bat for premium batting power.

Pine Tar As a Blessing in Disguise

Previous to this blow-up, George Brett was known as “The Hemorrhoids Guy” so needless to say he was quite happy to have be known for a different reason. In 1980, Brett removed himself from game two of the World Series due to extreme pain from hemorrhoids. After the game he had minor surgery and came back to help the Royals to wins in game 3 and 4. In February the following year, Brett had surgery to alleviate his hemorrhoid troubles.

How did this all happen?

None of this would have been possible without Merritt Riley, the bat boy at the time. The one job as a bat boy is to run out, grab the bat, and take it back to the dugout. Riley was generally good at his job but in an interview with the Wall Street Journal claimed some cosmic force kept him out there to high-five Brett and return his bat. Had Riley taken it directly back to the dugout, Martin may have never had the chance to cry foul. To this day Riley blames himself, but Brett chuckles back to how he was known before and is thankful the whole incident occurred.

Where is the bat today? After trading hands several times, the bat is now on display in the Hall of Fame. The bat and the story are amazing historical pieces of the great sport of baseball.

For the actual updated rule, we have it right here:

Rule 3.02(c) Comment (Rule 1.10(c) Comment): If pine tar extends past the 18-inch limitation, then the umpire, on his own initiative or if alerted by the opposing team, shall order the batter to use a different bat. The batter may use the bat later in the game only if the excess substance is removed. If no objections are raised prior to a bat’s use, then a violation of Rule 3.02(c) (Rule 1.10(c)) on that play does not nullify any action or play on the field and no protests of such play shall be allowed.