The swing that challenged the .400 mark.
In the summer of 1980, a deadly heat wave engulfed Kansas City where temperatures hovered above 100 degrees for 17 straight days. But even that wasn’t as hot as George Brett. In the seven games after his return from the disabled list on July 10, it was like Brett hadn’t actually missed the month of games he did after tearing a ligament in his foot June 10 in Cleveland. In those first seven games back, Brett hit a mind-numbing .586 (17-for-29) before a 0-for-4 outing in Boston temporarily (and we mean temporarily) stalled his batting average at .366. Then it would be a month before anyone would keep Brett hitless again. The next day after leaving Boston, Brett feasted on Yankees pitching in the Bronx, going 4-for-6 with a home run and 4 RBI. That was the first of 30 straight games Brett hit safely in, the streak finally coming to an end August 19 in steamy Texas. He was then officially over the .400 mark. And just a week later, a 5-for-5 eff ort at Milwaukee sent the batting average to a high-water mark of .407.
It was an amazing run for the then-27-yearold third baseman, who easily won his second American League batting championship that season. He would win a third 10 years later, becoming the only player in major league history to win three batting titles in three different decades. Yep, not even Ty Cobb did that. By the end of the year, however, as Brett’s Kansas City Royals were in their first World Series in franchise history, the bid for .400 (he finished at .390) seemed to take a back seat (pun absolutely intended) to a bout with hemorrhoids so painful that he had to leave Game 2 of the Series in Philadelphia. So much for the guy who nearly hit .400. Now he was the guy with the painful …you know what. Yet three years later he would become known for something else: Pine Tar. “Greatest thing that ever happened to me,” Brett says. “Let me ask you this: Would you rather be known for pine tar or for the other?” Given the choice between the two, I suspect most of us would pick the pine tar.