George Brett

From SoSH

Contents 1 Overall Career 2 Awards 3 Achievements 4 Trivia 4.1 The Pine Tar Incident 5 Transactions 6 External Links

Overall Career

George Howard Brett (born May 15, 1953, in Glen Dale, WV), displayed an extraordinary intensity at the plate. George Brett became the first player in history to accumulate 3,000 hits, 300 home runs, 600 doubles, 100 triples, 1,500 RBI and 200 stolen bases. The 12-time All-Star played his entire 21-year career for the Kansas City Royals, earning an American League Most Valuable Player Award, a Gold Glove, three batting titles and a lifetime batting average of .305. His .390 average in 1980 was the highest since Ted Williams .406 in 1941.

Awards

• Elected to Hall of Fame by Baseball Writers in 1999 (98.2%)

• 1980 Hutch Award
• 1980 Major League Player of the Year
• 1980 American League MVP
• 1985 ALCS MVP
• 1985 American League Gold Glove - 3B
• 1986 Lou Gehrig Memorial Award
• 3-time American Leauge Silver Slugger (1980, 1985, 1988)
• 13-time American League All-Star (1976 - 1988)

Achievements

• Member of the 3,000 Hit Club (3,154 Hits)

• AL Batting Average Leader: 3 times (1976, 1980 & 1990)
• AL On-Base Percentage Leader (1980)
• AL Slugging Percentage Leader: 3 times (1980, 1983 & 1985)
• AL OPS Leader: 3 times (1980, 1983 & 1985)
• AL At Bats Leader: 2 times (1975 & 1976)
• AL Hits Leader: 3 times (1975, 1976 & 1979)
• AL Total Bases Leader (1976)
• AL Singles Leader (1976)
• AL Doubles Leader: 2 times (1978 & 1990)
• AL Triples Leader: 3 times (1975, 1976 & 1979)
• 20-Home Run Seasons: 8 (1977, 1979, 1980, 1982, 1983, 1985, 1987 & 1988)
• 30-Home Run Seasons: 1 (1985)
• 100 RBI Seasons: 4 (1979, 1980, 1985 & 1988)
• 100 Runs Scored Seasons: 4 (1977, 1979, 1982 & 1985)
• 200 Hits Seasons: 2 (1976 & 1979)

Trivia

• Won a World Series Ring with the Kansas City Royals in 1985.
• When George Brett was first in the Royals' organization, he modeled his batting stance after future Hall of Fame outfielder Carl Yastrzemski.
• Nickname: Mullet
• Two words - Pine Tar
• Broke his toe in 1986 while running from his kitchen to his TV in order to watch the Bill Buckner play.
• During the '80 World Series, George Brett had an "attack" of hemorrhoids. He said, at a press conference: "Just because you guys are such perfect assholes, I don't know why you're making such a big deal about this. My problems are all behind me."
• Once, at Royals Stadium, Brett took out his frustration on a trash can. He beat on it with a bat, then threw himself into the trash can. Teammate Jaime Quirk found Brett in the can covered in garbage.

The Pine Tar Incident

Brett had injuries on-and-off for the next four years, during which occurred the most notable event in his career, the notorious "Pine Tar Game|Pine Tar Incident". On July 24,1983, the Royals were playing the 1983 New York Yankees at Yankee Stadium. In the top of the ninth inning, Brett came up to bat against Goose Gossage, his old rival. Brett hit a two-run homer to put the Royals up 5-4. After Brett rounded the bases, Yankees manager Billy Martin calmly walked out of the dugout and the umpires used home plate to measure the amount of pine tar, a legal substance used by hitters to improve their grip, on Brett's bat. Martin cited an obscure rule that stated the pine tar on a bat could extend no further than 18 inches. Brett's pine tar extended about 24 inches. Earlier in the season, the Yankees had noted Brett's habit of adding pine tar further than the allowed 18 inches, but waited until a crucial time to point it out to the umpires.

"I've never seen this," said sportscaster and ex-Yankee Bobby Murcer on WPIX as he watched McClelland measure the bat across the plate. "I never have either," said Murcer's partner, Frank Messer. A few moments later, the home plate umpire, Tim McClelland, who misinterpreted the rule, signaled Brett out. Brett charged out of the dugout, enraged, and was immediately ejected. An incredulous Messer: "Look at this!...He is out, and having to be forcibly restrained from hitting plate umpire Tim McClelland. And the Yankees have won the ball game 4 to 3!"

Years later, Brett explained his outburst by saying "It was just such an extraordinary thing to hit a homer off [Gossage], the thought of losing it was too much." In the same interview he also humorously chided his teammate Hal McRae (who was on deck) for not removing the bat from home plate before Billy Martin could have it inspected. "If Hal had [taken the bat], then I'd only be known for hemorrhoids," Brett quipped.<ref>1983 George Brett Recalls Pine-Tar Home Run | Baseball Digest | Find Articles at BNET.com</ref>

The Royals protested the game, and their protest was upheld by AL president (and former Yankees chief executive) Lee MacPhail, who ruled that the bat was not "altered to improve the distance factor," and that the rules only provided for removal of the bat from the game, and not calling the batter out.

The game was continued later that season, starting after Brett's homer. Billy Martin had one last trick up his sleeve, appealing the play in saying the umpires had no way of knowing Brett and the other runner had touched all the bases. Martin was stunned when the umpires produced affidavits saying they had. The Yankees went scoreless in the bottom of the ninth inning to lose the game. The outcome had virtually no effect on 1983's pennant race, but was in many ways the closing chapter on a heated rivalry. The Pine Tar Game has become part of baseball folklore, with Brett's famous bat on display at the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York.

During the 2008 Legends and Celebrities softball game, a part of the All-Star Game festivities, Brett came up to bat against Gossage, and, before stepping in the box, covered his entire bat with pine tar.

Transactions

• June 8, 1971: Drafted by the Kansas City Royals in the 2nd round of the 1971 amateur draft.

External Links

• Baseball-Reference.com - Career Statistics and Analysis
• George Brett: Hall of Fame Page
• 1999 Hall of Fame Class