Pine Tar Incident

Pine Tar Incident
The baseball bat used by Kansas City Royals third baseman George Brett in the Pine Tar Incident on July 24, 1983
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Kansas City Royals 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 0 2 5 13 0
New York Yankees 0 1 0 0 0 3 0 0 0 4 8 0
DateJuly 24 – August 18, 1983
VenueYankee Stadium
CityBronx, New York
Umpires
Attendance33,944
TelevisionWDAF-TV (Royals' broadcast)
WPIX (Yankees’ broadcast)[1]
TV announcersWDAF-TV: Denny Matthews, Fred White and Denny Trease
WPIX: Phil Rizzuto, Frank Messer, Bill White and Bobby Murcer
RadioWIBW (Royals' broadcast)
WABC (Yankees’ broadcast)
[2]
Radio announcersWIBW: Matthews and White
WABC: Rizzuto, Messer, White, and John Gordon

The Pine Tar Incident (also known as the Pine Tar Game) was a controversial incident in 1983 during an American League baseball game played between the Kansas City Royals and New York Yankees at Yankee Stadium in New York City on Sunday, July 24, 1983.

With his team trailing 4–3 in the top half of the ninth inning and two out, the Royals' future Hall of Fame third baseman George Brett hit a two-run home run off future Hall of Fame Yankee closer Rich "Goose" Gossage to give his team the lead; however, Yankee manager Billy Martin, who had noticed a large amount of pine tar[3] on Brett's bat, requested that the umpires inspect his bat. The umpires ruled that the amount on the bat exceeded that allowed by rule, nullified Brett's home run, and called him out. As Brett was the third out in the ninth inning with the home team in the lead, the game ended with a Yankees win.[4][5]

The Royals protested the game, upheld by American League president Lee MacPhail, who ordered that the game be continued from the point of Brett's home run.[6][7][8] The game was resumed 25 days later on August 18, and officially ended with the Royals winning 5–4.[9][10]

  1. ^ "Kansas City Royals vs. New York Yankees". New York Yankees. New York, NY. July 24, 1983. 00:00 minutes in. WPIX. Retrieved March 7, 2022.
  2. ^ "Kansas City Royals vs. New York Yankees". New York Yankees Baseball. New York, NY. July 24, 1983. 00:00 minutes in. WABC (AM). Retrieved March 7, 2022.
  3. ^ Petri, Josh (April 24, 2014). "What Is Pine Tar And Why Is It Illegal In Baseball?". Digg. Retrieved April 27, 2018.
  4. ^ Chass, Murray (July 25, 1983). "KC stuck with loss after pine tar homer". Lawrence Journal-World. Kansas. The New York Times. p. 11 – via Google News.
  5. ^ Jackson, Derrick (July 25, 1983). "Yankees stick it to Brett Royally on using an illegal bat". The Pittsburgh Press. The Washington Post. p. C6 – via Google News.
  6. ^ "Ruling by MacPhail yanks win from N.Y." Reading Eagle. Pennsylvania. Associated Press. July 29, 1983. p. 12 – via Google News.
  7. ^ "Brett says ruling courageous, but Yankees can't figure it out". Lawrence Journal-World. Kansas. Associated Press. July 29, 1983. p. 15 – via Google News.
  8. ^ "Brett happy, umps angry". The Pittsburgh Press. July 29, 1983. p. C2 – via Google News.
  9. ^ Cite error: The named reference Pittsburgh was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  10. ^ "Quisenberry saves tar victory; Yankees file one more protest". Lawrence Journal-World. Kansas. Associated Press. August 19, 1983. p. 11 – via Google News.