Today is the 25th Anniversary of the Pine Tar Incident.
On July 24, 1983, the Kansas City Royals were playing the New York Yankees, and trailing 4-3 in the top of the ninth inning. Royals star George Brett then came to the plate and hit a two-run homer, seemingly giving his team the lead. But Yankees manager Billy Martin protested, saying that Brett's bad contained an illegal amount of pine tar. After analyzing the bat, the umpires ruled Brett out, and despite the arguement of a furious Brett, the game was ruled over.
The Royals later protested the ruling to American League president Lee MacPhail. While MacPhail ruled that the bat was illegal, he nonetheless had the game restarted from the point following Brett's home run. He also ruled that Brett must be ejected for his outburst. Ultimately, Kansas City held on for the victory, but now after some additional theatrics. Check out the
Pine Tar Incident article over at Wikipedia for more information.