KC Royals Memories: George Brett Fights the Yankees

The KC Royals have had their fair share of fights and brush-ups over the decades, but few are more memorable than this one against the New York Yankees.

In the Seventies and Eighties, the Kansas City Royals franchise was one of the most successful expansion teams of all time. Only six years after their debut in 1969, the Royals went on an 11-year run in which they compiled the fourth-most wins in the majors, according to Fangraphs.

The Royals won 951 games in that stretch, including six AL West titles, seven playoff appearances, two trips to the World Series, and one World Championship. They also finished second in the AL West four times during those seasons.

Despite being in different divisions, for the Royals, there wasn’t a bigger rival than the New York Yankees. From 1976 through 1980, Kansas City met the Yankees in the American League Championship Series four times, losing the first three before breaking through in 1980.

Both teams were filled with fiery players from George Brett, Hal McRae, Freddie Patek, and Amos Otis for the Royals to Graig Nettles, Willie Randolph, Goose Gossage, and Ron Guidry for the Yankees.

These two teams account for some of the best games in Royals history, including Game Five of the 1977 ALCS. Both teams were fierce competitors with incredible wills to win. That fiery attitude was never more apparent than on this play.

Enjoy this fun video of Brett and Nettles going at it.

Brett slid hard into Nettles and third base on this early triple. He appears to fall into the Yankees third baseman (some would say pushed), and Nettles lashed out at Brett with his foot. Brett takes umbrage, and the fight is on!

Dugouts and bullpens clear, while the Royals’ shortstop, Freddie Patek, and Yankees’ starter Ron Guidry are pulled out of the melee by teammates. Brett and Nettles continue to duke it out.

Remember, this was AFTER McRae took out Willie Randolph with a brutal slide (which led to a rule change) in Game Two.

1977 was a different time indeed because no one was thrown out of this game. The players brushed themselves off, buttoned up their jerseys, and went back to playing ball.

Sunday’s fracas between the Rangers and the Blue Jays was a similar situation, other than it wasn’t a playoff game. Jose Bautista came in late and hard to second, and Rougned Odor was upset. Odor then proceeded to clock Bautista with a hard right fist to the chin.

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Brett and Nettles would have been proud!

Fights and posturing are nothing new in baseball, but things have changed over the last 40 years. Every game is broadcast and media is ever present to send out footage to the masses via social media and highlights almost as soon as they happen.

Fines and suspensions will cost players money and games in today’s culture. Players don’t just dust themselves off and carry as normal as soon as the fight is over, until the next time.

Today’s players pose and posture for the cameras. They give sound bites so they can drag out the limelight. They appeal their punishments and claim it wasn’t their fault.

The players of yesteryear were not perfect. They held grudges and sought revenge probably more often than today’s players. Back then, most of these situations were handled on the field, but the whole world wasn’t watching to see how they reacted.

Still, it is nice to see the game hasn’t changed in every way. You might not be a fan of Jose Bautista, but his slide was much tamer than many we’ve seen, especially here in Kansas City, through the years. Odor’s reaction wasn’t out of line either.

Next: Royals All-Time Leaders in Triples

Baseball could use a little more excitement at times, and a few fun fracases do break up the long season with some fun talk and discussions.

Players like Brett, Nettles, McRae, and Guidry were fun to watch, and they wanted nothing more than to win. They weren’t certainly afraid to mix it up, even on the biggest stage!

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