Summary: <p>It’s a video you’ve probably seen before. A man wildly sprints out of the dugout and has to be restrained by 4 referees and coaches, wanting to strangle head umpire Tim McClelland. We go in depth onto what happened that day and what would happen in the future. </p> <p><img src="http://a.fssta.com/content/dam/fsdigital/fscom/mlb/images/2014/11/22/HRLeadersByFranchise/112214-MLB-HR-leaders-by-franchise-OB-G10.jpg" alt=""></p> <p>At the end of July 1983, the Royals were in a hard fought battle with the New York Yankees leading 4-3. Royals 3rd baseman George Brett comes up (now a Hall-of-Famer), and smacks a 2-run homer. Royals lead. At the time, the Yankees were coached by known trickster and strategist Billy Martin. Martin came trotting out of the dugout and appealed the homerun, claiming Brett’s pine tar was too high on the bat, an act that had been deemed uncool by the MLB. </p> <p>You may think meh, no biggie, but a rule had just been put into place to prevent pine tar from being further up the bat than 18 inches from the handle. The rule prevented balls from getting gunked up and if the balls were gunked up it was a disadvantage for the batter, so overall the rule kept the game fair. </p> <p><img src="http://www.insidesocal.com/tomhoffarth/files/2015/04/gal-hated-brett-jpg.jpg" alt=""></p> <p>Going back to the bat, the 18 inches of pine tar are about half the bat. The average bat size is around 34 inches, so 16 inches of untarnished bat are required on a bat to make it legit. Of <a href="http://mlb.mlb.com/mlb/downloads/y2016/official_baseball_rules.pdf">the 160 pages of MLB rules</a>, pine tar is mentioned twice, so in general it’s not a huge deal.</p> <p>While we’re on the subject of sizes, home plate is 17 inches across, something we noted in part 1, when discussing umpires getting swapped out with robots. This allowed Tim McClelland to lay the bat over home plate and note that it well-surpassed the 18 inches of pine tar allowed. He walked over to the dugout, pointed at Brett, and signaled him out. </p> <p><img src="http://whatyouknow.rocks/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/dm_160712_mlb_george_brett_pine_tar_incident_rev2.jpg" alt=""></p> <h2>Why was Brett Called Out</h2> <p>At the time, under the rules in 1983, any batter using a bat that had over 18 inches of pine tar coverage was said to be illegally batting the ball. In general, an illegally batted ball was an immediate call of “out” for the batter and McClelland made that call. He was a rookie ump at the time and everyone makes mistakes, but he was using his understanding of the rule and made a decision. </p> <p>Signalling Brett “out” meant that the homerun was rescinded, the runs were washed away and the third out of the game had been made, therefore game over, Royals lose 4-3. Brett exploded. He couldn’t contain his rage and frustration. He charge the field, ready to kill McClelland. It took three or four coaches and other umpires to keep him away as he rampaged across the field. It’s a classic sports moment and one that still gives me chills. No doubt Billy Martin chuckled to himself as the chaos on the field cooled and the Yankees walked away with the win. </p> <p><img src="https://media.npr.org/assets/img/2015/07/26/be049659_wide-335f4aaa0d486115b1183a9787c26cc175ea3710.jpg?s=1400" alt=""></p> <h2>The Appeal</h2> <p>Royals manager Rocky Colavito felt the ruling was made unjustly, with the rule being misconstrued and Martin being an overall tool by not saying anything about the bat (in use all game) until Brett had undermined the possible Yankees victory. The Royals appealed the ruling and it went to the league president, Lee MacPhail.</p> <p>It’s important to note that baseball is one of the few sports that allows for protests. Overall the protests don’t affect the outcome of the game, but in rare cases when they are overturned the game must be continued. MacPhail determined that this was one of those cas</p>
