Bob Costas always said, and he may have been quoting someone else, that baseball is about anticipation. It's about waiting for something big to happen. Sitting through a game, a series, or a season, knowing that some player will do something memorable... sometime. It could be an amazing accomplishment like Bo Jackson's famed "The Throw." It could be a colossal mistake, like the ball going through Bill Buckner's legs in the 1986 World Series. It could be Steve Bartman, forever blamed for interfering with a foul ball and continuing the Cubbie curse.
At my first Royals game, I saw John Mayberry hit for the cycle. At my second game, the catcher for the visiting Chicago White Sox handed me a ball during warm-ups. At my third game, Morganna the Kissing Bandit came out and planted one on George Brett. I assumed something unusual like that would happen every night. It didn't, of course, but I kept waiting.
24 years ago today, I waited for something to happen. It was a warm summer afternoon and the Royals were playing the Yankees, neither team much of a factor in the pennant race. But the Yankees are always the Yankees, and the rivalry was especially thick back then. The Royals were in the Bronx, trailing 4-3 in the ninth, Goose Gossage was on the mound and George Brett was in the on-deck circle. I had just turned on the game moments earlier, but I kept the channel where it was. After all, George Brett was up.
Something big might happen.
My mother walked by and said "He's going to hit a home run." Moments later, her words seemed prophetic. Brett knocked one into the stands, giving the Royals at 5-4 lead. But after George had circled the bases and the celebration in our house had calmed down, the real fireworks started.
Yankee manager Billy Martin brought the bat to the attention of umpire Tim McClelland. He looked it over. He talked to Martin. He measured the bat against home plate. He talked to Martin some more. Then he looked at Brett in the dugout and called him out. Too much pine tar on the bat, he said.
That's when something really big happened.
Brett, displaying what experts might call uncontrolled rage, flew out of the dugout and lunged for McClelland. My mother, fortunately not prophetic this time, said "He's going to kill him." Brett was fortunate that someone in a blue uniform kept him far enough away from McClelland to prevent him from doing any damage. I am lucky to say that I have never seen anyone that angry before or since.
The call ended the game, but the Royals went on to challenge the ruling. American League president Lee MacPhail surprised many Royals fans when he reversed the decision on the field. The Royals made up the final four outs during an off day in the Bronx about a month later, and the bizarre game went into the books as a win.
The Royals will celebrate the event's 24th anniversary Tuesday night when they play the Yankees Kauffman Stadium, giving away T-shirts in the powder-blue style the team wore back then. Pine Tar optional.
I won't be able to make it to the game, but I plan to catch what I can on the radio. Maybe Billy Butler will go eight for eight. Maybe A-Rod will hit his 500th homer into the water spectacular. Maybe Morganna, the Kissing Bandit, will come out of retirement and plant one on Alex Gordon.
Hey, you never know.
Jeff Field
NBC Action News Executive Producer
What significant moment in sports do you remember seeing, either in person or on television? Let us know in the comments section.