On July 24, 1983, with two outs in the top of the ninth inning, George Brett of the Kansas City Royals hit a home run against the New York Yankees. With a man on base, it moved the score from 4-3 Yankees to 5-4 Royals.
But it actually turned into what one wag called baseball's only "game-losing home run," when Billy Martin, manager of the Yankees, pointed out to the umpire that Brett's grip-enhancing pine tar had been applied illegally far above the end of the bat. The umpire ruled, correctly, that that discovery nullified the home run. Furthermore, the rule book specified that the penalty for hitting with an illegal bat was to have the batter ruled "out," and thus the game ended with Brett…
