Pine Tar Incident
The Pine Tar Incident (also known as the Pine Tar Game) was a controversial incident in 1983 during an American League baseball game played between the Kansas City Royals and New York Yankees at Yankee Stadium in New York City on Sunday, July 24, 1983.
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| Date | July 24 – August 18, 1983 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Venue | Yankee Stadium | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| City | Bronx, New York | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Umpires | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Attendance | 33,944 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Television | WDAF-TV (Royals' broadcast) WPIX (Yankees’ broadcast) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| TV announcers | WDAF-TV: Denny Matthews, Fred White and Denny Trease WPIX: Phil Rizzuto, Frank Messer, Bill White and Bobby Murcer | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Radio | WIBW (Royals' broadcast) WABC (Yankees’ broadcast) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Radio announcers | WIBW: Matthews and White WABC: Rizzuto, Messer, White, and John Gordon | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
With his team trailing 4–3 in the top half of the ninth inning and two out, the Royals' future Hall of Fame third baseman George Brett hit a two-run home run off of Rich "Goose" Gossage (also a future Hall of Famer) to give his team the lead; however, Yankees manager Billy Martin, who had noticed a large amount of pine tar on Brett's bat, requested that the umpires inspect his bat. The umpires ruled that the amount on the bat exceeded that allowed by rule, nullified Brett's home run, and called him out. As Brett was the third out in the ninth inning with the home team in the lead, the game ended with a Yankees win.
The Royals protested the game, upheld by American League president Lee MacPhail, who ordered that the game be continued from the point of Brett's home run. The game was resumed 25 days later on August 18, and officially ended with the Royals winning 5–4.