The Infamous “Pine Tar Game”
|
|
|
|
|
Nearly 2 years ago, I blogged about Detroit Tigers veteran 43 year lefthander Kenny Rogers and the discoloration on his left hand exhibited in the first inning the Tigers’ 3-1 win over the St. Louis Cardinals in game 2 of the 2006 World Series.
The Cards went on to win the series by 4 games to 1, Rogers never got a 2nd start and it was never really established whether or not Rogers had a foreign substance on his left hand in the game, i.e. pine tar.
But two Hall of Famers were involved in one of the most infamous episodes in Major League Baseball history — The ‘Pine Tar Incident.’
That incident was recalled by both Hall of Famers; Kansas City Royals 3rd baseman George Brett and Goose Gossage, then closer for the New York Yankees, on Thursday, July 24, the event’s 25th anniversary.
Baseball Library describes the scene in the ninth inning at Yankee stadium;
George Brett hits an apparent 2-run home run off Rich Gossage to give the Royals a 5-4 lead with 2 outs in the 9th inning‚ only to have it taken away when Yankees manager Billy Martin‚ at the urging of coach Don Zimmer‚ points out that the pine tar on Brett’s bat handle exceeds the 17 inches allowed in the rules. As a result‚ Brett is called out for illegally batting the ball‚ giving New York a 4-3 victory. Brett goes ballistic a the Royals immediately protest‚ and AL President Lee MacPhail overrules his umpires for the first time saying that‚ while the rules should certainly be rewritten and clarified‚ the home run will stand…
The game resumed from the point of Brett’s homer on August 18th as also described by Baseball Library;
In the continuation of the “Pine Tar Game‚” Hal McRae strikes out for the last KC out and Dan Quisenberry retires the Yankees in order in the bottom of the 9th to preserve the Royals’ 5-4 victory. The conclusion takes just 12 minutes (and 16 pitches)…
MLB.com’s Mychael Urban recounts a more personal side of the event;
It happened 25 years ago, but the Hall of Fame principals involved remember it like it was yesterday.
With his Royals down a run with two outs in the ninth inning, with the most feared closer in the game on the mound, Brett hit a two-run homer off Goose Gossage.
But that’s not what Brett’s boys want to watch over and over … and over again. They want to see their old man in the most passionate display of on-field snappage ever seen.
this … this was truly epic.
“He was the maddest human being I think I’ve ever seen,” Gossage says now. “Maddest baseball player I’ve ever seen, for sure. I don’t think I’ve ever seen anyone madder than George Brett at that moment in time.”
You’ve seen it on ballpark blooper reels and countless television shows counting down the biggest sports meltdowns of all-time. If it’s not atop the list, it’s at least in the top three.
“In the top three?” Gossage asks incredulously. “I’d say it’s number one, two and three combined!”
After Brett returned to the Royals dugout, Yankees manager Billy Martin asked home-plate umpire Tim McClelland to inspect the bat with which Brett had goosed the Goose. McClelland obliged, found the pine tar to be excessively illegal under baseball’s rules, turned to the Royals dugout, pointed the bat at Brett and raised his fist.
That dramatic home run? Just another out. The game was over.
But the show had just begun. Brett bounced off the dugout bench as if shot from a cannon, a ball of bug-eyed fury aimed directly at McClelland.
Never mind that McClelland was 6-foot-6, 250 pounds, protected by all sorts of ump armor and holding a large wooden stick. Brett wanted a piece of the big man, and it took the spirited efforts of several players to keep their enraged teammate from trying to get at him.
“I have no idea what I’d have done if nobody stopped me, but it wouldn’t have been pretty,” Brett concedes.
So indelible are the images of the incident, it even has its own Wikipedia page, and rarely does a day go by that Brett or Gossage or both aren’t asked about it.
“If I’ve heard the words ‘pine tar’ once, I’ve heard them nine million times,” says Brett, a 1999 Hall of Fame inductee.
Gossage, who formally joins the game’s immortals in Cooperstown this Sunday, rolls his eyes and says, “I’d like to forget it, to be honest with you, but people won’t let me.”
Truth be told, many people have long forgotten why Gossage would prefer to put it to rest. The Royals appealed McClelland’s call, and it was eventually overturned. The game was resumed on Aug. 18, with the home run back on the board, and the 5-4 lead it gave the Royals held up as the winner.
While Brett was going ballistic, Gossage says, “I was out there laughing my head off. I thought it was hilarious.”
Alas, he adds, “George got the last laugh. He hit a game-winning homer and I got a blown save and a loss.”
True, Brett says, but the homer isn’t what most people remember. It’s the sight of the maniac in powder blue bolting onto the field.
Were it not for Hal McRae, Brett notes, the enduring memory of him might be the posterior problems he suffered during the 1980 playoffs.
McRae was on-deck when the Pine Tar Incident started to unfold and heard Martin yelling for the bat. If McRae had reacted quickly enough and tossed the bat into the Royals dugout, the whole thing might never have happened.
“I’m actually thankful to Hal for that,” Brett says with a chuckle. “Otherwise I’d be known as the guy with hemorrhoids.”
Brett retired 10 years after the Pine Tar Incident, Gossage a year after Brett. But they never spoke to each other about it during their playing days. In fact, they didn’t speak at all.
“I didn’t like Brett,” Gossage admits. “I didn’t like any hitters. I had tremendous respect for him, but I couldn’t stand George Brett back then.”
“I never said a word to Goose when we were playing,” Brett confirms. “I played with him in All-Star Games, played against him in All-Star Games, played against him in Yankee Stadium, and played against him when he was with other American League teams, but I never said a word to him.”
And now?
“I love him. Love him to death,” Gossage gushed. “Greatest hitter I ever faced in his prime when I was in my prime.”
And, apparently, an awfully good sport.
del.icio.us |
digg |
Furl |
Reddit |
YahooMyWeb |