On July 24, 1983, in a Major League Baseball game, the New York Yankees led the Kansas City Royals with two outs in the ninth inning. Down to their last out, with runners on base, the Royals’ George Brett hit a go-ahead home run off of pitcher Rich “Goose” Gossage.
Although Brett was ejected, the home run wiped off the board, and the Yankees seemed to win the game, the issue was not over, as the Royals appealed to the league office.
As you see, the issue came down to an issue of how to interpret the league rule on use of pine tar on the bat: Should it be read literally meaning that if you violated the words in the rule, you were guilty or should both the reason for the enactment of the rule and the player’s intent be used to interpret how to apply the rule?
Do you think that the American League president decided the case correctly, and why?
