Your fantasy baseball heyday...

sportsbettingman · Post by **sportsbettingman** » Mon Mar 09, 2009 12:38 pm

I know we all come from different places and times, and for some...this is your first year in high stakes fantasy baseball.

For many others, though...this could be year 2 or 5 or 12 or 25, and there will always be a warm and fuzzy feeling for "when we were young", or "when were carefree and without kids and a mortgage" (kids rule by the way)...or "when the boys were still a tight knit group"...etc.

If you could name ONE player that could bring you back to that moment in time...who would it be?

There are many, many players that I could list here...but since it's only one, I'd have to go with Jeff Bagwell.

I know he played most all of his career in the steroid era...but boy was it a blast!

Having a first freaking baseman go 40 hr 30 sb and depending on the year, either knock in 140 RBI or score 150 runs with a .300 average was bliss.

Who's your heyday player?

~Lance

Thunder · Post by **Thunder** » Mon Mar 09, 2009 12:44 pm

i'm probably a lot older than most. i grew up in the era of the "Big Red Machine" and "Mr. October". that's when the world series finished in october. one of my favorites of all time was George Brett and the memory of the "pine tar" incident is as vivid today as it was when it happened. to this day i don't think i've EVER seen an athlete as mad as brett was when that occurred.

bill

[ March 09, 2009, 06:45 PM: Message edited by: KentuckyReign ]

sportsbettingman · Post by **sportsbettingman** » Mon Mar 09, 2009 12:56 pm

I have seen George Brett rush out of the dugout 100 times...but never knew the whole story...so your post motivated me to do just that...very entertaining!!!

"The Pine Tar Incident

The baseball bat used by George Brett in the Pine Tar Incident on July 24, 1983.Brett had injuries on-and-off for the next four years, during which occurred the most notable event in his career, the notorious "Pine Tar Incident." On July 24, 1983, the Royals were playing the Yankees at Yankee Stadium. In the top of the ninth inning, Brett came up to bat against Goose Gossage, his old rival. Brett hit a two-run homer to put the Royals up 5–4. After Brett rounded the bases, Yankees manager Billy Martin calmly walked out of the dugout and the umpires used home plate to measure the amount of pine tar, a legal substance used by hitters to improve their grip, on Brett's bat. Martin cited an obscure rule that stated the pine tar on a bat could extend no further than 18 inches. Brett's pine tar extended about 24 inches. Earlier in the season, the Yankees had noted Brett's habit of adding pine tar further than the allowed 18 inches, but waited until a crucial time to point it out to the umpires.

"I've never seen this," said sportscaster and ex-Yankee Bobby Murcer on WPIX as he watched McClelland measure the bat across the plate. "I never have either," said Murcer's partner, Frank Messer. A few moments later, the home plate umpire, Tim McClelland, who misinterpreted the rule, signaled Brett out. Brett charged out of the dugout, enraged, and was immediately ejected. An incredulous Messer:

“ Look at this!...He is out, and having to be forcibly restrained from hitting plate umpire Tim McClelland. And the Yankees have won the ball game 4 to 3! ”

Years later, Brett explained his outburst by saying "It was just such an extraordinary thing to hit a homer off [Gossage], the thought of losing it was too much." In the same interview he also humorously chided his teammate Hal McRae (who was on deck) for not removing the bat from home plate before Billy Martin could have it inspected. "If Hal had [taken the bat], then I'd only be known for hemorrhoids," Brett quipped.[3]

The Royals protested the game, and their protest was upheld by AL president (and former Yankees chief executive) Lee MacPhail, who ruled that the bat was not "altered to improve the distance factor," and that the rules only provided for removal of the bat from the game, and not calling the batter out.

The game was continued later that season, starting after Brett's homer. Billy Martin had one last trick up his sleeve, appealing the play in saying the umpires had no way of knowing Brett and the other runner had touched all the bases. Martin was stunned when the umpires produced affidavits saying they had. The Yankees went scoreless in the bottom of the ninth inning to lose the game. The outcome had virtually no effect on 1983's pennant race, but was in many ways the closing chapter on a heated rivalry. The Pine Tar Game has become part of baseball folklore, with Brett's famous bat on display at the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York.

During the 2008 Legends and Celebrities softball game, a part of the All-Star Game festivities, Brett came up to bat against Gossage, and, before stepping in the box, covered his entire bat with pine tar.

Red Sox Nation · Post by **Red Sox Nation** » Mon Mar 09, 2009 1:29 pm

The Pine Tar incident is great but this is George Brett's best work. Hilarious!

PS Crank up the volume

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SUdHMkE5Qdk

sportsbettingman · Post by **sportsbettingman** » Mon Mar 09, 2009 1:41 pm

Originally posted by Red Sox Nation:

The Pine Tar incident is great but this is George Brett's best work. Hilarious!

PS Crank up the volume

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SUdHMkE5Qdk Hell yes!!! Ha!!!!!

Raskol · Post by **Raskol** » Mon Mar 09, 2009 6:01 pm

Originally posted by Red Sox Nation:

The Pine Tar incident is great but this is George Brett's best work. Hilarious!

PS Crank up the volume

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SUdHMkE5Qdk Wow. Just plain wow.