Pine Tar - 25 Years Later

July 24th, 1983. The infamous Pine Tar Incident in Yankee Stadium. A game, that, for a nine-year old boy, solidified Billy Martin as the most hated man in all of sports. We've all seen the video, it's definately a classic - it's owned by MLB, so I can olnly link to it here.

Yesterday was the 25th anniversary of the game and the George Brett Bull-rush out of the dugout, so it's gotten a lot of play around the country - and rightfully so. It is a part of baseball histroy. The Pine Tar bat, as well as George Brett and the pitcher who threw the ball - Goose Gossage - are all in the Hall of Fame. The bat made it because of this game, the players for their amazing careers.

As I've read the different stories from the players in the game, there are several things that stand out to me. One, Greg Nettles is apparently the one that went to the umpires and said there was too much pine tar on the bat. I couldn't stand Greg Nettles as a kid. He was such a . . . Yankee. And that was the worst thing you could be to a boy in Eastern Kansas during the summers of the late 70s and early 80s.

Second, I love the fact that Gaylord Perry tried to hide the bat. One of the greatest cheaters in baseball history - always looking for the edge.

Third, Tim Kurkjian wrote an article for ESPN the Magazine where Brett talks about the game. In the interview, Brett says, "I played 20 years in the major leagues, I did some good things, and the one at-bat I'm remembered for is an at-bat in July, not an at-bat in October like Reggie Jackson. Only in New York. It would have never been that big a deal if it had happened in Cleveland." I hope that's just hyperbole from Brett. He's the greatest baseball player Kansas City has ever known. Yes, the Pine Tar incident gets a lot of play, but I'll never forget the home run to finally get to the Series in 1980 or the series against the Cardinals to win it all in '85. He's a KC legend and should always have a place with the club.

Finally, watching that video always makes me feel nostalgic to root for a baseball team that mattered on the national stage. This was before ESPN and SportsCenter turned Yankees-Red Sox into the new cold war. This was before nine-digit player contracts and rampant free-agency made it impossible to root for a player that stayed with your team for his entire career. The Royals were relevant back then. They fielded a team of Kansas City Legends - Brett at 3rd, Frank White at 2nd, Willie Wilson in Center, Dennis Leonard on the mound.

They were always in the mix with the Yankees for the American League pennant. As a seven-year old franchise in 1976, the Royals won their division, only to fall to the Yankees in the ALCS when Chris Chambliss hit a pennant winning home run in the bottom of the 9th at Yankee Stadium. In 1977, the Royals won 102 games and the Western Division, again facing the Yankees for the right to go to the World Series and again lost the deciding fifth game in Yankee Stadium. In 1978, for the third year in a row, the Royals won the West and faced the Yankees in the ALCS. This time, after losing a heartbreaking game three, the Royals fell in four games and again wound up runners-up. Finally, in 1980, the Royals broke through. They won the division and this time got the best of the Yankees as Brett, who nearly hit .400 in the regular season, hit a monster homer off Gossage to send the Royals to their first World Series. Although they fell to Tug McGraw's Phillies that year, they returned in 1985 and finally won it all.

That was really the peak of the mountain. There have been highlights since - Brett's Hall of Fame induction in 1999, the rise of Bret Saberhagen and Bo Jackson, Carols Beltran and Mike Sweeney. But the lowlights were even worse - the death of Dick Houser; the passing of the Kauffman's and the uncertainty of ownership; the plight of small-market baseball trying to compete without a salary cap; the Glass family's unwillingness to spend some of that Wal-Mart fortune. Now, we focus on getting above .500, finishing better than last in the division, collecting bobble-heads of Royals' Hall of Famers. These are our victories. These are our championships.

So, when I look back at the Pine Tar game, the joy over a Joakim Soria save or a Billy Butler blast feels a bit hollow. How long will they stay? Not forever. Not like Brett and White and Leonard. But, it still makes me smile when I see Brett, charging out of the dugout, ready to rip into Tim McLelland. That's Royals' baseball.