In the history of Major League Baseball, only a select few players can be clearly identified as the face of the team.
George Brett definitely deserves a spot with the Royals after spending all 21 seasons of his Hall of Fame career in Kansas City.
Former teammate Willie Wilson said, “For us, he was the best guy. I feel like the bigger the situation, the more he was having fun.”
Brett’s penchant for breathing fire but managing to remain calm under pressure is explored in a new documentary, “Bullet,” premiering this Thursday at 8pm ET on MLB Network.
Here are some key takeaways from the 90-minute feature.
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Brett’s competitiveness was legendary.
The documentary features interviews with teammates, opponents, and Brett himself, with his intensity on and off the field being a central theme.
Milwaukee Brewers Hall of Famer Robin Yount said, “I had seen George play a few times when he wasn’t the happiest man in the world, so I took the game very seriously.” “I knew what I was working on,” he says with some understatement.
But the 13-time All-Star and three-time Hitter of the Year also knew how to enjoy the game.
“Some players don’t want to be at home plate when the game is on the line. George enjoyed that, embraced it, loved it. And he responded as he always did,” said longtime Royals radio announcer Denny Matthews. said.
“I always thought of myself as a clutch player,” Brett admits. “The more nervous I got, the more nervous I got.”
Brett’s complicated relationship with his father
The film explains that Brett has had a competitive fire burning in his heart since he was a child, and that it has its roots in his fractious relationship with his father.
Veteran Jack Brett and his wife raised four sons. The oldest, Ken, played 14 seasons in the major leagues as a pitcher.
As the youngest child, George endured constant criticism from his father.
“I’ve been intimidated by him my whole life,” Brett says. “I couldn’t do anything right.”
Even after being named AL MVP in 1980 and hitting close to .400, he struggled to gain Jack’s approval. After the season ended, he recalled his first words spoken to him by his father. “If I had taken better care of myself, I could have gotten five more hits.”
Not a good fit with the Yankees
The Royals faced the New York Yankees four times in the American League Championship Series over a five-year period from 1976 to 1980.
It brought out strong emotions on both sides.
“This rivalry was a sportsman’s hatred,” said star outfielder Reggie Jackson, whose Yankees won each of the first three games of the ALCS.
Former Royals catcher Jamie Quirk said, “I’ve been involved in baseball for 49 years, both as a player and a coach, and I’ve never seen a game as competitive as those two teams. I knew that.”
In Game 5 of the 1977 ALCS, the intensity boiled over when Brett hit a spectacular triple in his first at-bat, diving to third base in the face of a tag attempt by the Yankees’ Graig Nettles.
“I was late and I slid over the bag, and when I got up I pushed Greig a little bit. He got mad about that and kicked me in the mouth with his left foot. I was like, what the hell? I thought, ‘Yeah, that’s it,”’ Brett recalled. What the hell was that? So I stood up and threw the haymaker at him. ”
Both benches were emptied and a scuffle ensued. However, no one was ejected.
Interesting coda: Despite the bad blood, Brett said Yankees catcher Thurman Munson jumped on him in the scrum…to protect him.
“I’ll never forget this. He said, ‘George, it’s Thurman. I’ve got you covered. No one’s going to attack you.'”
“Wasn’t that so cool?”
Brett unexpectedly suffers from hemorrhoids
The Royals finally broke through against the Yankees, defeating them in the 1980 ALCS and advancing to the World Series against the Philadelphia Phillies.
However, Brett was not completely healthy, developing severe hemorrhoids the night before the series opener.
Although he tried to play, he was unable to make it through Game 2 and was eventually replaced at third base by Dave Chalk.
After undergoing emergency surgery, Brett returned to the field for Game 3 in Kansas City and famously told NBC sportscaster Bryant Gumbel, “I’m done with it.”
In his first at-bat of this game, Brett hit a home run. He became the first player in Kansas City Royals history to hit a home run in a World Series game.
KC ended up losing the series to Mike Schmidt, Pete Rose, Steve Carlton and the Phillies. However, the Bullets and the Royals would eventually win the elusive World Series title in 1985, defeating the St. Louis Cardinals in seven games.
“Pine tar game”
Perhaps the most iconic moment of Brett’s 21-year MLB career came not in a playoff game, but during a midseason matchup against…who else?The Yankees.
On July 24, 1983, Brett stepped up to bat at Yankee Stadium in the top of the 9th inning with the Royals trailing by one run and two out and on first base.
On the mound was Yankees closer Goose Gossage. He hit a memorable three-run homer against Brett in Game 5 of the ALCS three years ago.
Gossage was as menacing as any pitcher at the time, but Brett wasn’t intimidated.
“Goose was the type of player you wanted to play against in that situation,” he said.
Aiming to pitch to the inside half of his at-bat, Brett hit a high drive into the right field seats, giving the Royals a one-run lead. However, Yankees manager Billy Martin noticed that Brett, who famously never used a batting glove when batting, had a large amount of pine tar on his bat to improve grip.
Martin cited a little-known rule and accused Brett of using an illegal bat. After a long discussion among the referees, Bret was declared the end of the match.
Brett exploded like never before.
“I kind of just came out of there and I watched the video after it happened and my arm went crazy…” he recalled.
The Royals appealed and the game was resumed 25 days later following a court order. The Royals held the Yankees scoreless in the bottom of the 9th inning, winning 4-3.
However, Brett hasn’t been at the ballpark since he was ejected for verbal abuse. He watched the results of the match “on a small black-and-white TV behind the bar” at an Italian restaurant near LaGuardia Airport.
