Oh yeah, I remember sitting on the floor in our living room watching that game. I was 23, deep in GB love.
From Reddit:
Quote:
It was the final out of the top of the 9th and then the bottom of the 9th.
The whole thing was crazy. So many strange things happened.
In a game in 1975, Thurman Munson was called out for too much pine tar on his bat.
Eight years later Graig Nettles sees George Brett’s bat is slathered in pine tar. He tells manager Billy Martin who decides to save that information.
A few months later, Brett hits a two-run home run with two outs in the top of the 9th. The Royals were losing 4-3 but now they’re up 5-4.
But not for long, because now Martin walks out and starts talking to the umpires.
Royals pitcher Gaylord Perry knows immediately they’re going to look at Brett’s bat. He tells on-deck batter Hal McRae to grab it.
McRae gives the bat to a ball boy and tells him to put it in the clubhouse. But Stadium security stop him, grab the bat, and give it to the umpire.
The umpire measures the amount of pine tar on the bat (the rule is no more than 18” from the handle) against the width of home plate (17”). It’s obviously more than an inch more so he calls Brett out and Brett goes crazy.
The home run doesn’t count, there were two outs in the top of the 9th, so the game is over. Yankees win, 4-3.
Brett gets ejected even though the game is over.
The Royals protest and the A.L. President — Lee MacPhail, who used to work in the front office for the Yankees — says Brett didn’t violate the “spirit” of the rule. The rule says no more than 18” of pine tar, I’m not sure what the spirit could be, but… ok.
Steinbrenner is so pissed he ridicules MacPhail and is fined $250,000 by the Commissioner’s Office.
So Brett isn’t out, the home run counts. Now the game is 5-4 Royals with two outs in the top of the 9th so they have to finish the game.
A month later, they play the final four outs. Brett is watching on TV while having dinner in a restaurant as he’s still ejected.
It’s an entirely new umpire crew. Billy Martin claims Brett missed first base and since these are all new umpires, how would they know? But MacPhail anticipated Martin would do this and had notarized statements from the original crew attesting Brett touched every base.
McRae makes the final out in the top of the 9th and the Yankees go down 1-2-3 in the bottom of the 9th.
There’s still a rule about pine tar on the bat, but now the penalty is the bat can’t be used, and the batter isn’t out.
clm
Nashville, TN
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