RLakin
All Star
Brett recalls ``Pine Tar'' homer on incident's 20th anniversary
By JEFFREY FLANAGAN
The Kansas City Star
http://www.kansascity.com/mld/kansascity/sports/6368788.htm
A little secret about George Brett's other famous bat, the one he used 10 years ago to deliver his 3,000th hit:
That bat would have been illegal, too.
As Brett reflected on today's 20th anniversary of the infamous "Pine Tar Incident," he offered this first-time confession.
"I have that bat I used for the 3,000th hit on a wall in my basement," he said, "and I guarantee you it has far more pine tar on it than the one I got called out for. The 3,000th-hit bat is ugly. It's a mess. Pine tar all the way up it."
The "Pine Tar" bat has been resting comfortably in Cooperstown at the Baseball Hall of Fame for almost a decade.
"I used to keep it at this restaurant in California during the winter and then give it to Cooperstown for the summer tourist season," Brett said. "Then after a while, I just told them to keep it. That's where it belongs."
After all, Brett doesn't need any visual reminders of that bizarre afternoon at Yankee Stadium. Every five years denotes another anniversary, and Brett is again asked to reflect on the sequence of events that forever linked his name to the words "pine tar."
Not that he minds. Through the years, he has been asked just about every conceivable question about that afternoon.
And only one time has he ever become annoyed.
"Some guy asked me once if I put the pine tar on the bat on purpose," Brett said, shaking his head. "Now, how stupid is that? Of course I put it there on purpose. It's what I used."
Brett never wore batting gloves during his career. Not once. The pine tar was there, in globs around the trademark, to aid his grip.
Brett knew the rule, too. No pine tar more than 18 inches above the bat handle. He just never thought it would be enforced. And it never has been since.
"I understood that there was a time when you didn't want pine tar on the balls because you'd have to throw the balls out all the time," he said. "It was kind of a financial thing for baseball in the old days. But when the incident happened, it's not like the game couldn't afford new balls."
Brett never stopped using the substance altogether.
"Once in a while an umpire would say, `Hey, George, can you ease it down a bit?' " Brett said. "So I'd change bats. But the next day I'd go right back to the one I'd been using."
The infamous day itself -- July 24, 1983 -- provided plenty of subplots. The Royals were playing their hated rival, the Yankees, and Brett was facing his fierce rival, Rich "Goose" Gossage.
With the Royals trailing 4-3 in the ninth, Brett smashed a two-run homer off Gossage, and the Royals appeared headed for a 5-4 win. Fiery Yankees manager Billy Martin almost immediately argued to home-plate umpire Tim McClelland that there was pine tar on Brett's bat above the limit.
Using home plate -- which is 17 inches wide -- as a guide, McClelland determined that Martin was right and signaled Brett out. Every baseball fan knows the rest.
Brett charged from the dugout toward McClelland, his arms flailing and tobacco chew spewing from his mouth in one of the most alarming pictures of rage ever seen in the game.
Another umpire, Joe Brinkman, intercepted Brett before he reached McClelland and had the principal duty of restraining Brett.
But like Brett, McClelland has learned to laugh about the incident. He recalls, "I always wondered what George was thinking. I'm 6 feet 5, 260 pounds. What exactly was George going to do once he got to me?"
Hal McRae, who was on deck at the time, has one lasting regret from the day.
"I could have prevented the whole thing if I'd just grabbed the bat and got rid of it," he said. "I could sense something was up, but I didn't react. If I had reacted, nothing ever would have happened. No case."
Instead, Brett's fury will go down in baseball lore.
Even to this day, Brett's sons, Jackson, Dylan and Robin, still seem curious about the mad man charging from the dugout.
"It's something like, `Daddy, can we watch the crazy-man video?' " Brett said.
Truth be told, though, Brett says he has had angrier moments during his career than that day in New York.
"Probably the most mad I've ever been was a time Neal Heaton was pitching for the Yankees and he threw one right at my head," Brett said. "I got up and didn't say a thing, but in the bottom half of the inning our pitcher, Rusty Meacham, didn't do a thing to them to retaliate.
"I couldn't believe it. Maybe Meacham was worried about his stats or his career or whatever, but he didn't do a thing. I was really (miffed).
"I remember I didn't say another word to him the rest of that season. Not a word for a whole season."
The "Pine Tar" incident actually had a happy resolution, as far as Royals fans were concerned.
American League president Lee MacPhail overturned the umpire's decision and ordered the game resumed with the Royals leading 5-4 with two outs in the top of the ninth. The Royals showed up in New York on Aug. 18, 1983, and it took 12 minutes for the final four outs to be recorded.
Martin completely mocked MacPhail's decision and used pitcher Ron Guidry in center field and left-handed first baseman Don Mattingly at second.
Gossage remained amused about the whole "Pine Tar" game, much more so than his other association with Brett -- the monster home run he gave up to Brett in the 1980 playoffs at Yankee Stadium.
That home run haunts Gossage to this day.
"The `Pine Tar' became kind of a funny incident," Gossage said. "The home run in 1980 was devastating to me. I've never felt that down in my life."
As for Brett, he's had to endure endless ribbing any time the subject of "pine tar" is broached.
"I remember walking into Office Depot one time and the guy waiting on me said, `Oh, sorry, I think we're out of pine tar,' " Brett said. "Or if I go golfing at some charity event, someone will always say, `Hey, don't be loading up on the pine tar on that driver.' There's usually about nine guys who say that and think they're the first ones who've ever thought about it."
But Brett can always find humor in the incident, too, as well as some comfort.
As he always likes to say, "What would you rather be known for, pine tar or the guy who had hemorrhoids in the World Series?"
By JEFFREY FLANAGAN
The Kansas City Star
http://www.kansascity.com/mld/kansascity/sports/6368788.htm
A little secret about George Brett's other famous bat, the one he used 10 years ago to deliver his 3,000th hit:
That bat would have been illegal, too.
As Brett reflected on today's 20th anniversary of the infamous "Pine Tar Incident," he offered this first-time confession.
"I have that bat I used for the 3,000th hit on a wall in my basement," he said, "and I guarantee you it has far more pine tar on it than the one I got called out for. The 3,000th-hit bat is ugly. It's a mess. Pine tar all the way up it."
The "Pine Tar" bat has been resting comfortably in Cooperstown at the Baseball Hall of Fame for almost a decade.
"I used to keep it at this restaurant in California during the winter and then give it to Cooperstown for the summer tourist season," Brett said. "Then after a while, I just told them to keep it. That's where it belongs."
After all, Brett doesn't need any visual reminders of that bizarre afternoon at Yankee Stadium. Every five years denotes another anniversary, and Brett is again asked to reflect on the sequence of events that forever linked his name to the words "pine tar."
Not that he minds. Through the years, he has been asked just about every conceivable question about that afternoon.
And only one time has he ever become annoyed.
"Some guy asked me once if I put the pine tar on the bat on purpose," Brett said, shaking his head. "Now, how stupid is that? Of course I put it there on purpose. It's what I used."
Brett never wore batting gloves during his career. Not once. The pine tar was there, in globs around the trademark, to aid his grip.
Brett knew the rule, too. No pine tar more than 18 inches above the bat handle. He just never thought it would be enforced. And it never has been since.
"I understood that there was a time when you didn't want pine tar on the balls because you'd have to throw the balls out all the time," he said. "It was kind of a financial thing for baseball in the old days. But when the incident happened, it's not like the game couldn't afford new balls."
Brett never stopped using the substance altogether.
"Once in a while an umpire would say, `Hey, George, can you ease it down a bit?' " Brett said. "So I'd change bats. But the next day I'd go right back to the one I'd been using."
The infamous day itself -- July 24, 1983 -- provided plenty of subplots. The Royals were playing their hated rival, the Yankees, and Brett was facing his fierce rival, Rich "Goose" Gossage.
With the Royals trailing 4-3 in the ninth, Brett smashed a two-run homer off Gossage, and the Royals appeared headed for a 5-4 win. Fiery Yankees manager Billy Martin almost immediately argued to home-plate umpire Tim McClelland that there was pine tar on Brett's bat above the limit.
Using home plate -- which is 17 inches wide -- as a guide, McClelland determined that Martin was right and signaled Brett out. Every baseball fan knows the rest.
Brett charged from the dugout toward McClelland, his arms flailing and tobacco chew spewing from his mouth in one of the most alarming pictures of rage ever seen in the game.
Another umpire, Joe Brinkman, intercepted Brett before he reached McClelland and had the principal duty of restraining Brett.
But like Brett, McClelland has learned to laugh about the incident. He recalls, "I always wondered what George was thinking. I'm 6 feet 5, 260 pounds. What exactly was George going to do once he got to me?"
Hal McRae, who was on deck at the time, has one lasting regret from the day.
"I could have prevented the whole thing if I'd just grabbed the bat and got rid of it," he said. "I could sense something was up, but I didn't react. If I had reacted, nothing ever would have happened. No case."
Instead, Brett's fury will go down in baseball lore.
Even to this day, Brett's sons, Jackson, Dylan and Robin, still seem curious about the mad man charging from the dugout.
"It's something like, `Daddy, can we watch the crazy-man video?' " Brett said.
Truth be told, though, Brett says he has had angrier moments during his career than that day in New York.
"Probably the most mad I've ever been was a time Neal Heaton was pitching for the Yankees and he threw one right at my head," Brett said. "I got up and didn't say a thing, but in the bottom half of the inning our pitcher, Rusty Meacham, didn't do a thing to them to retaliate.
"I couldn't believe it. Maybe Meacham was worried about his stats or his career or whatever, but he didn't do a thing. I was really (miffed).
"I remember I didn't say another word to him the rest of that season. Not a word for a whole season."
The "Pine Tar" incident actually had a happy resolution, as far as Royals fans were concerned.
American League president Lee MacPhail overturned the umpire's decision and ordered the game resumed with the Royals leading 5-4 with two outs in the top of the ninth. The Royals showed up in New York on Aug. 18, 1983, and it took 12 minutes for the final four outs to be recorded.
Martin completely mocked MacPhail's decision and used pitcher Ron Guidry in center field and left-handed first baseman Don Mattingly at second.
Gossage remained amused about the whole "Pine Tar" game, much more so than his other association with Brett -- the monster home run he gave up to Brett in the 1980 playoffs at Yankee Stadium.
That home run haunts Gossage to this day.
"The `Pine Tar' became kind of a funny incident," Gossage said. "The home run in 1980 was devastating to me. I've never felt that down in my life."
As for Brett, he's had to endure endless ribbing any time the subject of "pine tar" is broached.
"I remember walking into Office Depot one time and the guy waiting on me said, `Oh, sorry, I think we're out of pine tar,' " Brett said. "Or if I go golfing at some charity event, someone will always say, `Hey, don't be loading up on the pine tar on that driver.' There's usually about nine guys who say that and think they're the first ones who've ever thought about it."
But Brett can always find humor in the incident, too, as well as some comfort.
As he always likes to say, "What would you rather be known for, pine tar or the guy who had hemorrhoids in the World Series?"
