Pine Tar Silver Anniversary

right now. Ninth inning, Brett about to bat….awesome.

Does anyone here remember that game (which the Royals likely won, then lost, then won)?

Had it on the TV while helping one of my college roommates move from one apartment to another—in Brooklyn.

I thought about attending the completion of the game in mid-August, but by then I was busy packing up my own things for graduate school. So I watched that on TV too. After the dramatic homerun, the reversal by McClelland, the explosion by Brett, and the protest upheld by MacPhail, all covered in typical New York fashion in the newspapers, I expected that there would be a good crowd at Yankee Stadium for the sequel. But it was a quiet event, enlivened only by Billy Martin’s attempt to knock the engine of justice off the rails by appealing Brett’s home run at every base. He was prepared to argue that the umpiring crew for the completion couldn’t possibly make a call on appeal plays because they weren’t there for the home run. However, they were ready for him: they had affidavits from the original crew stating that Brett had touched all the bases. In addition, Martin had enacted a modest “protest” of the situation by playing Guidry in center and lefty Don Mattingly at second base, as if to say the whole thing was beneath him.

I forgave Martin, supposing that he could never imagine that competent people who could withstand his bluster might exist in positions of authority. After all, he was a Yankee under George Steinbrenner. But I couldn’t forgive ESPN Classic for not showing the whole game—last time I watched it they concluded with the action on July 24. Did they show the whole thing today?

I remember it clearly, especially being confused as elation turned to bafflement as Brett boiled out of the dugout with that mad-eye look on his face. I will never, ever get tired of watching that replay.