29 years ago today ... George Brett went BALLISTIC

The A-Rod/Varitek fight was also on this date in 2004.

 

And Martin put Don Mattingly at second base.

 

Had a similar incident happen in high school a few years later (1986 or '87) concerning my team.
Iowa had a rule stating each bat had to have a line marked such a distance from the handle. It was referred to as the George Brett Rule. Why aluminum bats needed such a line was never explained, but it was rule so we followed it.
We were losing on the road to a conference rival and their big hitter comes up and belts a homer.
Our coach had noticed his bat didn't have a line, so he waited until the player did something substantial and protested. The umpire agreed and called the player out. I believe it was also the third out of the inning.
As I recall, the player and his coach didn't go full George Brett, but they came close.

 

By the way, what was the actual penalty listed in the rule book at the time for such an infraction?
Did the umpire err in calling Brett out (which I doubt), or did the league president overstep is authority (which I believe)?
It makes no difference if it was a "dumb rule" or not. The rule was in place to be followed.

 

IIRC, the actual rule on pine tar on the bat was that if one was discovered in violation of the rules, the bat would be removed, but made no mention on what should happen to the batter.

In one of his books, former umpire Ron Luciano touched on the incident and said the crew made the ruling by stringing together a few rules, mainly (and I'm paraphrasing on these) "a bat with pine tar too far up the handle is an illegal bat" to "a ball hit with an illegal bat is an illegally batted ball" to "a batter who hits an illegally batted ball shall be called out."

 

If Brett and Nettles squared off who'd win? I'd have put my money on Brett.

 

I would put my money on it going to the death, but I wouldn't pick a winner.

Not sure what the source of their hatred is, but I can't think of two guys who were more alike. (Other than Brett's otherworldly hitting, of course.) They could even pass for brothers. Maybe that's why they hated each other.

 

Provided he could sit down. Oh wait, that was 1980.

 

If I remember right, at the time the commissioner's office said that calling Brett out wasn't in "the spirit of the rule," with "spirit" meaning "intent." What I took that to mean was that Brett should have been told he shouldn't have been using the bat and that it could no longer be used, but not that he should have been called out, because the rule was put in place to keep the pine tar for ruining too many baseballs.

I also could be entirely wrong.

 

Right. Too much pine tar on the bat gives a hitter no strategic advantage, it just dirties up the baseball.

 

Niiiiiiiiiice. (nodding appreciatively)

 

well played, sir.

(although the Hal Mcrae meltdown is one of the most underrated in sports)