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The Kansas City Royals, the New York Yankees, and Baseball's Most Absurd and Entertaining Controversy
Self Published
August 2015
On Sale: July 21, 2015
ISBN: 1476777179
EAN: 9781476777177
Kindle: B00P42X1F0
Hardcover / e-Book
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Non-Fiction History | Non-Fiction Biography | Non-Fiction Sports
An award-winning veteran sportswriter who personally covered
the Pine Tar Game looks back and explores one of the
wackiest events in baseball history.
On July 24,
1983, during the finale of a heated four-game series between
the dynastic New York Yankees and small-town Kansas City
Royals, umpires nullified a go-ahead home run based on an
obscure rule, when Yankees manager Billy Martin pointed out
an illegal amount of pine tar—the sticky substance used for
a better grip—on Royals third baseman George Brett’s bat.
Brett wildly charged out of the dugout and chaos ensued. The
call temporarily cost the Royals the game, but the decision
was eventually overturned, resulting in a resumption of the
game several weeks later that created its own hysteria.
The Pine Tar Game chronicles this watershed
moment, marking a pivot in the sport, when benign cheating
tactics, like spitballs, Superball bats, and a couple extra
inches of tar on an ash bat, gave way to era of soaring
salaries, labor struggles, and rampant use of
performance-enhancing drugs. Filip Bondy paints a portrait
of the Yankees and Royals of that era, featuring two
diametrically opposed owners, in George Steinbrenner and
Ewing Kauffman; a host of bad actors and phenomenal
athletes; and lots of yelling. Players and club officials
like Brett, Goose Gossage, Willie Randolph, Ron Guidry,
Sparky Lyle, David Cone, and John Schuerholz offer fresh
commentary on the events along with their take on a rivalry
that culminated in one of the most iconic baseball tantrums
of all time. Rush Limbaugh, employed by the Royals at the
time as a promotions director, offers his own insider’s
perspective. Through this one fateful game, the ensuing
protest, and ultimate fallout, The Pine Tar Game
examines a more innocent time in professional sports, as
well as the shifting tide that gave us today’s modern
iteration of baseball.
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