In the Bleachers by Ben Zaehringer for September 16, 2010
September 15, 2010
September 17, 2010
Transcript:
Upon further review, the pig did not have control of the ball prior to being eaten. Therefore, the pass is incomplete.
Remember the George Brett ‘pine tar’ game? Billy Martin had the page bookmarked in his rulebook, and held onto it for years waiting for the right time to appeal. A two-out, 9th inning, three-run homer brought Martin out of the dugout to point out that Brett had pine tar too far up his bat.
The ump used home plate to measure that in fact the illegal (by rule book) substance had worked its way up above the allowed length where a hitter grips the bat. He properly applied the rule, and called Brett out for using an illegal bat. Yankees win.. thaaaaaaa.. Yankees win!
The AL president overturned the ruling on appeal, saying that while the umps were correct in interpreting and applying the rule as stated in the rulebook, Brett had not violated the spirit of the rules nor deliberately altered the bat to improve the distance factor, so the ruling on the field was disproportionate to the offense.
The game was resumed months later before 1200 fans. The Royals won, 5-4. The bat went to the Hall of Fame.
Common sense, who’d have thunk it?