Pine tar

While pine tar is most widely known as the sticky substance baseball players use on their bats to improve grip, it has many, lesser-known uses. It has been used by mariners, in soaps, in roofing projects, and in the treatment of skin diseases since its discovery in the middle 1600s.

Related Topics:
Baseball - Soap - Roofing - Skin diseases

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Pine tar is produced by a process called destructive distillation of the wood from a pine. The wood is rapidly decomposed by applying heat and pressure in a closed container; among the byproducts is pine tar.

Related Topics:
Destructive distillation - Pine

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Today, while it is still used in many other ways, pine tar is still best known for being applied liberally to Major League Baseball bats all over the country every season. Because of its sticky texture, pine tar is used by batters to improve grip on the bat and prevent the bat from slipping out of batters' hands during hard swings.

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Rule 1.10(c) of the 2002 Official Rules of Major League Baseball states that batters may apply pine tar only from the handle of the bat extending up for eighteen inches.

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Famously, George Brett of the Kansas City Royals hit a seemingly go-ahead ninth inning home run off of New York Yankees reliever Goose Gossage on July 24, 1983. Yankee manager Billy Martin had known about Brett's rule infraction long beforehand, yet he waited until his complaint would have the largest impact. After Brett hit the homerun in the ninth to put the Royals ahead, Martin notified umpire Tim McClelland, who agreed and disallowed the homerun. The umpire ruled that the bat Brett had used was illegal because of excessive pine tar that extended beyond the allowed limit, upon which Brett came storming out of the dugout and had to be physically restrained. The game was protested and appealed to the league office. The rule was re-written as a result to state that umpires may not disallow, after the fact, hits gained using bats with too much pine tar on them. American League President Lee MacPhail overruled McClelland, declaring that Brett's home run was valid, and ordering the game to be finished. This was done on August 18. In protest, the Yankees played Don Mattingly (normally a first baseman) at second base, and Ron Guidry (a pitcher) in center field. The Royals won the game, 5-4. This came to be known as the "Pine Tar Bat Game".

Related Topics:
George Brett - Kansas City Royals - Home run - New York Yankees - Goose Gossage - Tim McClelland - Lee MacPhail - Don Mattingly - First baseman - Second base - Ron Guidry - Pitcher - Center field

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On June 14, 2005 against the Washington Nationals, Brendan Donnelly of the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim had his own pine tar incident. Replacing starter Ervin Santana in the seventh inning, Donnelly warmed up and was ready to throw his first pitch when Nationals skipper, Frank Robinson asked the umpires to check his glove. They discovered a "significant amount" of pine tar on the heel of it and ejected him from the game for violation of Rule 8.02(b) regarding foreign substances on gloves. Furious, Angels manager Mike Scioscia yelled at Robinson, saying that he would "undress" the Nationals pitchers as well. This caused Robinson to storm out to the field and the two managers barked in each others faces as the dugouts emptied, though no punches were thrown. Donnelly admitted to having the pine tar in his glove but said he didn't consider it cheating. Some pitchers, such as Mark Buehrle and Todd Jones, claimed it is a common--if not well-kept--secret among pitchers. None the less, Donnelly received a 10-day suspension.

Related Topics:
Washington Nationals - Brendan Donnelly - Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim - Ervin Santana - Frank Robinson - Mike Scioscia - Mark Buehrle - Todd Jones

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