Brett's Pine Tar Bat
04-17-2014 / By:

George Brett of the Kansas City Royals caused quite a stir with his Hillerich and Bradsby pine tar bat in 1983. On July 24th, Brett hit a home run off Yankee reliever Goose Gossage in the ninth inning to give the Royals a 5-4 lead. Because the bat had pine tar beyond the legal limit of 18 inches, measuring from the bat handle, the home plate umpire disallowed the round-tripper. As a matter of fact, I recall that Brett had pine tar halfway into the Louisville Slugger trademark. However, this decision was later reversed and the pine tar home run did count. Kansas City ultimately defeated the Yankees, 5-4.