The Tale of George Brett's Pine Tar Bat

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Thursday, 24 July 2008

The ultimate modern era game-used bat almost got back in the game.

Thursday marked the 25th anniversary of the Pine Tar Game, one of those unique, historic baseball moments filed in the banks of every fan's memory.

July 24, 1983 was the day George Brett went berserk.

In the prime of his career and in a hotly contested series with the arch-rival Yankees, Brett was called out after hitting a home run off Goose Gossage at Yankee Stadium. Yankee manager Billy Martin protested that Brett had too much pine tar on his bat. Being called out did not make George a happy boy.

But whatever happened to the sticky piece of lumber? There were no memorabilia companies with exclusive deals. No MLB Authentication.

Even in 1983, though, Gaylord Perry knew there was something special about the bat.

The much-travelled Hall of Famer spent his career as a starter, but the New York Times reports his one and only save may have come in the memorabilia department.

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