The Pine Tar Incident

Here's a shocker: it was 25 years ago today that George Brett was ejected from the Royals-Yankees game for supposedly putting too much pine tar on his bat.  Well, technically, he was ejected from the game for threatening the umpire to within an inch of his life - he was merely erroneously called out for using too much pine tar. 

It's hard to believe that this all took place a quarter of a century ago. 

If you remember, on July 24, 1983, the Yankees were hosting the Royals and it came to the ninth inning. The Royals were down 4-3 and George came to bat against Goose Gossage. He hit a two-run homer, seeming to put the the Royals up 5-4. As Brett rounded the bases, Yankees manager Billy Martin walked out and complained to the umpire that George's bat had too much pine tar on it.  (Pine tar is a legal substance that helps a batter's grip, but it is not supposed to extend more than 18 inches up the bat - George had 24 inches on his). The bat was produced for inspection, and the Umpire Tim McClelland called George out.  

That's when the fireworks started. Brett charged the field. I still remember the look of his body: as he streaked toward the umpire, every possible square inch was smashed up against the leading plane of his motion. It was like he was a massive, two-dimensional object about to flatten the ump. There was a huge row and George was thrown out of the game. The Yankees appeared to win the game 4-3.  

It turns out that Billy Martin and the Yankees had been noticing George's pine tar usage for some time and were waiting for the opportune moment to protest it. The problem is that the rule does not allow for the batter to be called out, merely that the offensive bat be removed from the game. 

The Royals protested the game and American League President Lee McPhail (a former Yankee executive, by the way) allowed the protest. The teams came back together later in the season to finish the game.  Sly old Billy Martin had one last shot: he now appealed the play and said that the umpires had no way of knowing if the runners had touched all the bases.  

Now, you all know I'm a huge Yankees fan, but here's where I think justice was still done, even with a comic touch. The umpires then produced affidavits stating that the runners had indeed touched all the bases on their way to home. The score stood at 5-4, the Yankees failed to produce any runs in the bottom of the ninth, and the Royals won the game. 

So, 25 years ago today, baseball gained another bit of folklore for the ages.  The bat in question even resides in Cooperstown (thanks to "mattingly23" on Wikipedia for the picture):

This is all a great diversion for the Dog Days of Summer, and it also got me thinking about a couple of current things. Seeings as how I can still love the Yankees even when they were dead wrong about the bat, I think that's how I feel about both Senator McCain and the Presbyterian Church (USA). I already know that I'm going to disagree with a President McCain about 35-40% of the time, but on the fundamental issues, I trust him. 

And the PC(USA)? Boy, are they making some bone-headed calls lately. But I don't think this is the time to jump ship.  For the present, I'm planning on staying within the denomination - at least until they kick me out. But, like Umpire Tim McClelland, they sure are misreading the "Rule Book".