Honestly, if you grew up watching baseball, you've seen the footage a thousand times. George Brett explodes. He doesn't just get mad; he loses his mind. He bolts out of the visiting dugout at Yankee Stadium like he’s been shot out of a cannon, eyes bulging, neck veins screaming, charging straight for home plate umpire Tim McClelland.
It’s the most famous tantrum in the history of the sport.
But when you actually sit down and watch the george brett pine tar video today, you realize it’s more than just a guy having a meltdown. It’s a weirdly perfect storm of 1980s baseball pettiness, technical rule-book wizardry, and a level of intensity you just don't see in the modern game.
The Pitch That Started the Chaos
It was July 24, 1983. The Kansas City Royals were trailing the New York Yankees 4-3 in the top of the ninth. Two outs. U.L. Washington was on first. Brett was at the plate facing Goose Gossage, one of the most terrifying closers to ever pick up a ball.
Gossage threw high. Brett swung.
He absolutely crushed it into the right-field seats. 5-4 Royals. As Brett circled the bases, he was doing what any superstar would do—celebrating a go-ahead moonshot in the Bronx. He had no idea that Yankees manager Billy Martin was just sitting there, waiting to spring a trap he’d been planning for weeks.
Billy Martin’s Secret Weapon: Rule 1.10(c)
Billy Martin was basically the king of finding loopholes. He knew Brett used a ton of pine tar for grip. He also knew that according to the rule book at the time, Rule 1.10(c) stated that no substance could cover the bat more than 18 inches from the knob.
The Yankees had actually noticed the excessive pine tar on Brett’s bat in a previous series. Martin, being the strategist he was, decided not to say a word until it actually mattered. He waited for a home run.
As Brett sat in the dugout, Martin walked out and talked to McClelland. The umpires huddled. They didn't have a tape measure, so they did something sort of brilliant and sort of ridiculous: they laid the bat across home plate.
Home plate is 17 inches wide. The pine tar on Brett’s bat clearly extended well past the edges.
The Moment the Video Becomes Legendary
This is the part everyone remembers from the george brett pine tar video. McClelland looks toward the Royals dugout, holds the bat up, and signals an "out" sign.
Brett didn't just disagree. He went nuclear.
He was eventually restrained by his manager, Dick Howser, and crew chief Joe Brinkman, who actually had to put Brett in a bit of a headlock to keep him from reaching McClelland. It looked like a bar fight broke out in the middle of a professional ballgame.
The Yankees "won" that day. Or so they thought.
Why the Call Didn't Hold Up
The Royals immediately protested. And they actually won. American League President Lee MacPhail eventually ruled that while the bat was technically illegal, the spirit of the rule was never intended to nullify home runs.
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The 18-inch rule was actually an economic one. Basically, if pine tar got too high on the bat, it would smudge the baseball. Discolored balls had to be thrown out, which cost the league money. It wasn't about giving the hitter more power.
MacPhail ordered the game to be resumed from the point of the home run.
The Bizarre Completion of the Game
The "Pine Tar Game" didn't actually end until August 18, nearly a month later. It was one of the strangest scenes ever. Billy Martin was so annoyed by the ruling that he tried to turn the game into a circus. He put his ace pitcher, Ron Guidry, in center field and had Don Mattingly play second base (Mattingly was a lefty, and lefties almost never play second).
Martin also tried to argue that Brett never touched the bases during his original home run trot. He thought he had the umpires trapped because it was a different crew than the one from July.
The umpires were ready for him. They pulled out notarized affidavits from the original crew confirming that Brett had, in fact, touched every base.
The Royals recorded the final four outs and won 5-4.
What Most People Get Wrong
A lot of people think Brett was cheating to get more distance on the ball. He wasn't. Pine tar is just sticky; it helps you hold the bat without having to squeeze it so hard. It doesn't act like a corked bat or a "hot" bat.
In fact, Brett has said in interviews years later that he was mostly furious because hitting a home run off Goose Gossage was so hard to do. To have it taken away over a measurement of "sticky stuff" felt like a personal insult to his craftsmanship.
Today, the rules are different. If an umpire sees too much pine tar, they just tell the player to go get a different bat. You don't get called out for it anymore.
The Legacy of the Pine Tar Incident
The bat itself ended up in the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown. If you go there, you can see the brown smudge marks that nearly caused a riot in New York.
For Brett, it became his calling card. He had over 3,000 hits and won three batting titles in three different decades, but he’s still the "Pine Tar Guy" to the general public. He’s okay with that now. He even jokes that at least he’s remembered for doing something great—hitting a home run—rather than making an error.
Actionable Insights for Fans and Historians
- Watch the full clip: Don't just watch the charge; look at the umpires using home plate as a ruler. It's a fascinating bit of "low-tech" officiating.
- Understand Rule 3.02(c): If you're a player or coach, know that the modern version of this rule (formerly 1.10c) now clarifies that the bat is simply removed from play; the play itself stands.
- Study the Gossage Matchup: To appreciate the anger, look at Brett’s career stats against Gossage. It was one of the premier "power vs. power" matchups of that era.
- Check out the "Mission Impossible" operation: Look up the story of Gaylord Perry. While Brett was screaming, Perry actually tried to steal the bat and hide it in the clubhouse to destroy the evidence. It’s a hilarious subplot that doesn't always make the highlight reels.