I was living in the KC area at the time. I was 15 and a huge George Brett fan. This is the game that confirmed my hatred of the Yankees. I'll never forget the look on his face when they ruled his bat had too much pinetar on it.
I still remember the day it happened as it was all over the news. This is when Baseball still resonated with the masses and players like George Brett were known in pop culture. When was the last time a story like this in Baseball happened that got the masses talking about?
when they restarted the game after the protest, Billy Martin appealed that Brett missed every base. However, it was a different crew, so Billy argued they couldn’t verify because it was a different umpire crew, so how could they see him touch each base? However, the new umpire crew had sworn affidavits from original umpire crew certifying each base was touched. Joe Brinkman used to tell that story when he was running an umpire school.
Which was stupid on Martin's part since the umpires don't have to definitively see him touch every base to call them out.They have to definitively see that the runner DIDN'T touch a base to call them out.
I watched that game Brett did go crazy and while at the time I was happy he was called out it was a B.S. rule The problem I had when they reversed it was what they just talked about Nettles was called out for that very reason But they reversed the call on Brett That’s not right Why didn’t MLB change the rule earlier ? Why was Brett allowed but Nettles called out ? Also Nettles wasn’t the only one called out for that. It was because Brett was a poster boy for Baseball and Nettles and the others weren’t.
And it was Nettles play that CHANGED THE RULE! Again..the ruling was 100% correct. After the Nettles call, the rule WAS DEFINITIVELY CHANGED to say "Take the bat out of play." But NOTHING was reversed. All at bats with the bat stood. Billy Martin (and the umpires) simply didn't know the rule. This is just like any article of "Weird laws that are sill in effect." The pine tar rule was never about gaining an unfair advantage. IT was solely about saving money by not having to use as many baseballs due to them getting dirty with pine tar. Once baseball had more money and didn't mind bringing in new balls, they just didn't care enough to take the rule out. IT wasn't until someone was called on it that they realized the rule even existed, and they changed it.
@@FUGP72 the rule was bogus But the bogus rule was enforced And it was not changed after Nettles Because if it was Every team and every umpire would have been informed of a rule change Also they tend to change any rule during the off-season.
@@FUGP72 I just looked it up The article is from the NYT December 10th 1983 The rule was changed in the off season Look it up So again for Nettles - you’re out ! For Brett - Homerun Like I said Brett as the darling of Baseball and Nettles wasn’t. It’s not the first or last time MLB pampers to its stars.
Clearly he can laugh about it today. He wasn't laughing then. I will say, the Umpire were thrown under the bus because it was the rule and they applied it correctly... AL pres overrulled them and upheld the protest.. and even George recognizes that.. The rule was changed shortly after it and I understand why it was there (hey, guy like to put that stuff on the ball.. oh wait, they still do).. so getting that far to the barrel can put the tar on the ball essentially defacing the ball
Again...NO THEY DIDN'T! Look..you are ON the internet. So you know it exists. So research before making a fool of yourself. The rule had ALREADY BEEN CHANGED years earlier. A simple Google search and NOT just blindly accepting the first result will tell you that when George Brett came up to bat that day, the rulebook was VERY clear. If you had too much pine tar on your bat and were called out on it, the bat was temporarily taken out of play. NOTHING ELSE! You could have hit 4 grand slams in the game, and the rule didn't call for ANY of those home runs to be called back. In fact the bat wasn't even taken away from the player! They could take it, clean up it between at bats, and keep on using it. The umpires were WRONG in that they didn't know about the rule change even though it was changed YEARS earlier. Not "shortly after"
A question for George, if I may... Does this mean that game jersey I bought from Gaylord is a scam? I mean, it's got tobacco juice and vaseline on it...has to be real? Right? 😂😂😂
Wrong. Unless the Yankees challenged that bat on Brett’s first time at the plate, they forfeit their right to complain about it later. MLB ultimately made the right call.
That pine tar rule was created because in the late 1800's the owners were cheap skates that said the players were using too much pine tar on their bats and it was costing them money to supply pine tar. The rule was a after thought and never removed from the books.
@jimmyfaherty8588 yes it's true. Which is why it was virtually unheard of up to that point. Billy Martin knew the rule book by heart an waited for the PERFECT moment to remind umpires to enforce it.
I was living in the KC area at the time. I was 15 and a huge George Brett fan. This is the game that confirmed my hatred of the Yankees. I'll never forget the look on his face when they ruled his bat had too much pinetar on it.
George has been my hero since 1982. Seeing that bat and his plaque at the Hall of Fame in Cooperstown was a real treat.
I still remember the day it happened as it was all over the news. This is when Baseball still resonated with the masses and players like George Brett were known in pop culture. When was the last time a story like this in Baseball happened that got the masses talking about?
George has always had the best sense of humor and humility.
Yep
when they restarted the game after the protest, Billy Martin appealed that Brett missed every base. However, it was a different crew, so Billy argued they couldn’t verify because it was a different umpire crew, so how could they see him touch each base? However, the new umpire crew had sworn affidavits from original umpire crew certifying each base was touched. Joe Brinkman used to tell that story when he was running an umpire school.
Which was stupid on Martin's part since the umpires don't have to definitively see him touch every base to call them out.They have to definitively see that the runner DIDN'T touch a base to call them out.
One of the best hitters ever.
Complete class act!
Greatest clutch hitter I ever saw.
All you have to say is "George Brett" and the mental image of him hilariously charging out of the dugout comes to the fore.
Brett is hilarious.
Just a great player, I miss the old days.
Almost hit .400
George looks great! He looks like he could play right now!
I watched that game
Brett did go crazy and while at the time I was happy he was called out it was a B.S. rule
The problem I had when they reversed it was what they just talked about
Nettles was called out for that very reason
But they reversed the call on Brett
That’s not right
Why didn’t MLB change the rule earlier ?
Why was Brett allowed but Nettles called out ?
Also Nettles wasn’t the only one called out for that.
It was because Brett was a poster boy for Baseball and Nettles and the others weren’t.
And it was Nettles play that CHANGED THE RULE! Again..the ruling was 100% correct. After the Nettles call, the rule WAS DEFINITIVELY CHANGED to say "Take the bat out of play." But NOTHING was reversed. All at bats with the bat stood. Billy Martin (and the umpires) simply didn't know the rule.
This is just like any article of "Weird laws that are sill in effect." The pine tar rule was never about gaining an unfair advantage. IT was solely about saving money by not having to use as many baseballs due to them getting dirty with pine tar. Once baseball had more money and didn't mind bringing in new balls, they just didn't care enough to take the rule out. IT wasn't until someone was called on it that they realized the rule even existed, and they changed it.
@@FUGP72 the rule was bogus
But the bogus rule was enforced
And it was not changed after Nettles
Because if it was
Every team and every umpire would have been informed of a rule change
Also they tend to change any rule during the off-season.
@@FUGP72 I just looked it up
The article is from the NYT December 10th 1983
The rule was changed in the off season
Look it up
So again for Nettles - you’re out !
For Brett - Homerun
Like I said Brett as the darling of Baseball and Nettles wasn’t.
It’s not the first or last time MLB pampers to its stars.
I will forever remember George Brett as: 'The Hemorrhoid Guy' based on this interview...LOL
Clearly he can laugh about it today. He wasn't laughing then. I will say, the Umpire were thrown under the bus because it was the rule and they applied it correctly... AL pres overrulled them and upheld the protest.. and even George recognizes that.. The rule was changed shortly after it and I understand why it was there (hey, guy like to put that stuff on the ball.. oh wait, they still do).. so getting that far to the barrel can put the tar on the ball essentially defacing the ball
Again...NO THEY DIDN'T! Look..you are ON the internet. So you know it exists. So research before making a fool of yourself. The rule had ALREADY BEEN CHANGED years earlier. A simple Google search and NOT just blindly accepting the first result will tell you that when George Brett came up to bat that day, the rulebook was VERY clear. If you had too much pine tar on your bat and were called out on it, the bat was temporarily taken out of play. NOTHING ELSE! You could have hit 4 grand slams in the game, and the rule didn't call for ANY of those home runs to be called back. In fact the bat wasn't even taken away from the player! They could take it, clean up it between at bats, and keep on using it.
The umpires were WRONG in that they didn't know about the rule change even though it was changed YEARS earlier. Not "shortly after"
I was NOT ready for a man named GAYLORD omfg
A question for George, if I may...
Does this mean that game jersey I bought from Gaylord is a scam? I mean, it's got tobacco juice and vaseline on it...has to be real? Right? 😂😂😂
Why are the images in black and white?
it was cheaper than color film so newspapers used it.
@@nachobroryan8824 but why are they using it?
@@mizer9510 35mm film can be scanned in at 6k while a still from a tv broadcast can only every be 480p.
Illegal bat. Period. Ump made the correct call.
Wrong. Unless the Yankees challenged that bat on Brett’s first time at the plate, they forfeit their right to complain about it later. MLB ultimately made the right call.
That pine tar rule was created because in the late 1800's the owners were cheap skates that said the players were using too much pine tar on their bats and it was costing them money to supply pine tar. The rule was a after thought and never removed from the books.
@@dwade6322 is that true? Cool if so
@jimmyfaherty8588 yes it's true. Which is why it was virtually unheard of up to that point. Billy Martin knew the rule book by heart an waited for the PERFECT moment to remind umpires to enforce it.