Why wasn't George Brett suspended or fined for his behavior in the pine tar incident or for the bat itself?

Question

If he was in the league today and this happened, what would've been the consequences?

Answer 1

Brett wasn't right the umpire was wrong! George Brett was guilty of using a bat deemed illegal by the umpire because the pine tar was too far up on the barrel of the bat ,which was the correct call . BUT the only penalty for an illegal bat is to simply remove it from the game. That is why the Royals protest of the game was upheld and George was given credit for the home run.

Answer 2

occasionally baseball, like all of life, has something happen that just doesn't fit neatly into some resolution...

brett hit the home run, and everyone knows that the pine tar so far up the bat had nothing to do with that...

on the other hand, the rules were and are specific about how far up the handle of the bat tape or other substance can reach...

the objection after the home run by the other team was just as right as brett's reaction...it left the umpires and baseball overall in an impossible situation, governed only by the rules...

the correct call was made according to the rules, just as much as a silly call was made in the light of both science and common sense...too bad that all of society  always needs rules where reality should be enough...

ahhh...george brett...a great player...and in this case, rightfully cheated out of a very important home run...

and how can anyone actually go any further than that and suspend him or otherwise penalize him?

Answer 3

I'm going to say because he was RIGHT.  Doggone it, it's hard enough to hit a baseball thrown by a major league pitcher and even harder to hit one for a Home Run.  The pine tar on his bat did NOTHING to enable him to take any unfair advantage as a batter.  To have it deemed illegal because of some lawyer like technicality is like having a loophole in playing the game.

Besides all that, I've totally loved the Brett reaction to what the umpires did when they called him out,  It is Hilarious for me to see.  Everytime!

Answer 4

That would have been stupid. The umpires made the wrong call in the first place.