George Brett's Pine Tar Scandal: Brett Didn't Know it was Illegal! | Undeniable with Joe Buck

[@wyattmann8157]

Brett's calm and measured reaction to being called out has been a joy to watch for over forty years now...

[@MrCubswin1]

GB was one of my favorite players growing up.

[@EndoftheTownProductions]

I remember watching it live.

[@wildcat314]

Me too.

[@jaymike3302]

That's something you probably wouldn't forget.

[@SirVic42]

I love the irony of Graig "Superball Bat" Nettles being the one to suggest that Brett was using an illegal bat.

[@michaelschaefer1904]

Nettles and George Brett should have made a beer commercial between their brawl in the final game of the ALCS and this event.

[@shouldhavedonebetter]

A little trivia; 1: Thurman Munson had a go-ahead double taken away from him for too much pine tar in 1975 when Frank Quilici was Twins manager. Yankees lost 2-1. 2: Lee MacPhail - who overturned Tim McClelland and Joe Brinkman's (the crew chief) correct call was the Yankees GM until 1973, and the first person forced out when Steinbrenner became owner. 2: Gaylord Perry stole the bat - and handed it to Royals coach Rocky Colavito who tossed it to Steve Renko who ran to the clubhouse being chased by Joe Brinkman and security. The guard in charge of the visiting clubhouse wouldn't open the door for Renko as long as he had the bat - which is how the bat was recovered. 4: When Brett said Nettles had previously pointed out two weeks earlier he had too much pine tar on the bat but that he "didn't do anything in that series to affect the game" - is that an admission that he knew the bat was illegal? 5: Tim McClelland: "We don't umpire on the spirit of the rules. We umpire on the letter of the law, and the rules said we needed to call him out". 6: Lee MacPhail said the rule was to discipline batters so doctored bats wouldn't increase distance potential - and that it wasn't in the 'spirit of the rule' - but that's questionable - the rule prevents a foreign substance from being on the ball - which might still be in play after pine tar got on it. 7: Dick Howser, Rocky Colavito, and Gaylord Perry were also ejected, for attempting to get rid of the bat.

[@genghiskhan2012]

i'm pretty sure Brett admitted on radio that Frank White warned him about the pine tar. I don't think it is completely honest by Brett to say he wasn't aware of the rule.

[@shouldhavedonebetter]

@markjohnson7488 You're wrong. All you have to do is a quick internet search to learn that Steinbrenner was responsible for MacPhail leaving the Yankees as GM - (he wanted to clean house of all CBS executives - CBS being the former Yankees owners). That Steinbrenner and MacPhail had a strong dislike for each other is well known - you can search for yourself if you feel like it - it will be a quick search for you (KZbin doesn't allow links to be pasted). AL and NL presidents were largely ceremonial positions in fact - and still are. As far as Nettles - I have no clue why - Brett said it in the interview and again, if you feel like doing an internet search you can do it for yourself. I remember at the time reading Rick Cerone also commenting on Brett's bat to an umpire during a game earlier in that year, but I can't find the source now. The overall gist that too much pine tar up the bat was an obscure rule unknown to players, umpires, and managers is completely untrue.

[@tommyfu9271]

for number 4- i think he meant he found out Nettles had told Billy Martin about it during the prior series, not that Nettles told him.

[@ken.matinale]

If you listen carefully to Yankee announcer Phil Rizzuto, he mentions that it has been called on Thurman Munson, Yankee catcher.

[@TL2354]

@@shouldhavedonebetterThere hasn’t been League Presidents in decades

[@ken.matinale]

Brett was 30 years old in 1983. He had been MVP in 1980. It's difficult to imagine that he didn't know that he should not have pine tar so far up the bat. It was way up near the trademark.

[@cbarrett34]

Brett was very clutch

[@markfroman738]

Money player

[@tommyfu9271]

when the game resumed Billy Martin made a mockery of the game. He had the pitcher appeal at each base. He also put Ron Guidry in center field and Don Mattingly at second base.

[@wildcat314]

Dick Howser had said that Dan Quisenberry wasn't available to pitch in that game to his being used a lot recently, and was worn down. Billy Martin knew that. So, when the game resumed 25 days later Howser intentionally used Quiz to close the game to stick it to Martin.

[@cossior]

Billy Martin knew about that particular bat’s tar build up for the previous two weeks but bided his time until it meant something. The time arrived on the last game of the series on the ninth with two outs. Eventually, the HR was allowed but Brett was expelled cuz of yelling at the umpire. I just love baseball!

[@whynot8082]

Gee thanks for telling us what is on the video

[@gregengel1616]

WOW, how did you come up with that?

[@kevinscott9242]

I was at the 83' Pine Tar Game. We went home happy only for(well known Yankee-hater) Lee MacPhail to change the rules in the middle of a game. Only time in the history of sports that has happened. Lee MacPhail's overturning the Yankees victory is a bigger stain on baseball than the steroids scandal, Pete Rose betting or 1919 BlackSox fix ever was.

[@NunYa953]

Billy Martin belongs in the Hall of Fame

[@scsmith4604]

I am still confused. So it was not illegal because the game was resumed with the home run counting and the Royals ended up winning?

[@williamca7067]

There were Yankee players that came up to Brett after that game and said they were shamed of that win …. Baseball commissioner rule in Brett favor.

[@RobertKlimtzak]

You broke the rules you're a great ballplayer

[@NickWard-f6l]

The Greatest Baseball meltdown of all time .Earl "You fucked us " Weaver a close second 😮

[@deanobrovo8595]

I love that clip of Weaver telling that umpire, "you're just here to fuck us!!"

[@JosephFeraco]

What ever happened to the bat

[@keithwarner6997]

A really amazing hitter. So so great. Descent fielder .. Hall of fame

[@TL2354]

What fielder?

[@henrywallacesghost5883]

Not knowing something is a rule or law does not mean no punishment should be given for breaking it.

[@FnMusicMan]

Why are his pants so short

[@whynot8082]

Ignorance is zero excuse.

[@DavidBayliff]

i always like george brett i remember this i was17 and he showed up evil billy

[@RagDraggo]

Well hey,,, rules are rules. As Bret's pinetar bat (homerun disallowed) incident happened in baseball,, reminds me of a very recent NFL game played LATE this past season. 12/30/2023.... Detroit Lions IN Dallas. With less than a minute to go, the Lions scored a touchdown,, then went for the 2 point conversion (to win the game) and ON field,, the Lions successfully made that conversion. Therefore,, game-victory to the Lions,, right???/ WRONG. The officials flagged the Lions for NOT properly reporting in a wide receiver substitution. Therefore,, Dallas COWboys,, the winners on paper. The Lions, can protest all of that to the ying-yang,, but NOPE,, you do NOT go up against the umpires or the referees,,, as they are the almighty "Powers to BE" and have the divine,, say-so,, when it comes to ALL the plays of the ballgame. So SORRY Bret,, rules are rules. SORRY Detroit Lions,, rules are rules.

[@justinamenta7241]

Wtf are you blabbing about? They aren't even remotely close to the same situation. Lol

[@ALTAIR2]

This year gave them a receipt. It cost us hutch 😓

[@CapAnson12345]

You can tell he's still bitter.

[@williamca7067]

Bitter??? he did nothing wrong … Brett hit The home run … baseball commissioner eventually rule in his favor and counted … and there were no fines

[@georgesouthwick7000]

Try that argument in a court of law and the judge will tell you, “ignorance of the law is not an excuse”.

[@frankbridges2171]

A brilliant move

[@johnroberts8061]

If Brett is talking pretty good chance is not telling the truth

[@bobzani]

Ignorance of the rule is not an excuse.

[@Joepacalypse1107]

They never should have allowed the redo. The bat was illegal and the run should not have counted.

[@donfaruolo1858]

Ask Brett if it was legal playing with a load in his pants? Crude dude!

[@richqualls5157]

He did more than yell at the umpire he had to be restrained. He should have been thrown out. I don’t believe he didn’t know the bat was illegal. He is trying to rewrite history for his own benefit.

[@cmoore185]

I always thought that Brett ued steroids. If he did, this was the best exhibion of roid rage ever seen.

[@johnwest194]

bull

[@2bigbufords]

Almost believable. But then again he's had 40 years to perfect his story

[@adquinta]

Lol. I would tend to agree with you. It didn't matter which sport you were in those days. Baseball, football, NASCAR, it was the era of, "If you ain't cheatin', you ain't tryin."

[@balrog322]

Lost some respect for Brett. He comes off like a republican, ie an expert at evading responsibility and revising reality to suit his book.

[@hoopsheavenpa]

You’re embarrassing yourself. The only reason why the rule was in place was because MLB didn’t want baseballs to get ruined by pine tar. If the pine tar was high on the bat, it would mark balls and they’d have to be removed from the game. Having pine tar that high didn’t give the hitter a competitive advantage. It was a money/budget thing.

[@balrog322]

@@hoopsheavenpa Bullshit. Not a syllable in the rule books about saving money on baseballs. Clown someplace else.

[@perfectgame23]

Yeah, and you must be a corn pop supporter. He truly is the best!

[@rubicon-oh9km]

Always takes one Simpleton to inject politics into a subject completely void of it.

[@shouldhavedonebetter]

@@hoopsheavenpa - not really. A number of baseball writers suggested that at the time. It's true it didn't give hitters an advantage - but it gives a pitcher a huge advantage, and a ball that had even a little pine tar on it could still be in play. So a batter pops up with a smidge of pine tar on the ball and ends the inning - now his pitcher has the ball - and that's a huge advantage.

[@normiewoo787]

His mistake was getting angry about it and getting himself ejected. He should have known the illegal bat rule because if he did he would have known that the umpires got it wrong. He would have known that the protest would have been upheld. He looks like an asshole running out of the dugout. Also, he told the story wrong. The Royals protested it immediately. Maybe he didn't notice because his ass was back in the locker room.

[@williamca7067]

This man played the game hard he had every right to be upset … a homer was taken away from him. He had every right to be upset … Brett was right, baseball commissioner overturned the call and the homer counted

[@normiewoo787]

@@williamca7067 It would have made the umpires look stupid if the Royals would have calmly protested the game. Instead, the umpires looked like victims since Brett quite literally looked like a foaming-at-the-mouth attack dog. Brett wasn't right because Brett even said he didn't know the rule. Had he known the rule, he wouldn't have had the pine tar that far up the bat in the first place. Also, if he had been playing the game the right way, he would have known the rules. In the end, the homer wasn't taken from him, even though he cheated and played the game in a very stupid way and with an angry, evil attitude.

[@williamca7067]

@@normiewoo787 Brett was awarded the homer, because it was the right thing not to get that homer would’ve been a disgrace, the MLB baseball… Brett said at that time that Yankee players came up to him and said that they were shamed of that win … Brett said that never ever use the cork back which they were doing … he hit the homer it eventually counted, and the Royals won that game. I don’t know if you know this the first pitch that goose gossage throw was a home run on the left side but it went foul … in an interview sitting right next to Brett … goose gossage was so mad, but he threw the ball and aimed that I Brett throat … Brett said he swung at it because it was amid at him and hit the home run