On July 24, 1983, the Royals and Yankees were squaring off at Yankee Stadium. In the top of the ninth with two outs, Royals third baseman George Brett hit a go ahead two run homer off of Goose Gossage to put them up 5-4.
As Brett rounded the bases, manager Billy Martin slowly and calmly walked toward home plate with his hands in his pockets. He went up to the umpires and pointed toward Brett’s bat, it appeared he wanted them to take a closer look at it. Martin argued that the pine tar on it violated MLB’s rule that stated: any foreign substance on a bat could extend no further than 18 inches from the knob.