George Brett
From BR Bullpen
George Howard Brett
- Bats Left, Throws Right
- Height 6' 0", Weight 200 lb.
- High School El Segundo High School
Inducted into Hall of Fame in 1999
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[edit] Biographical Information
"I love George Brett, George is everything that's right about baseball." - Charlie Lau
Third baseman George Brett of the Kansas City Royals won the 1980 American League MVP after flirting with a .400 batting average most of the season. He was hitting .400 as late in the season as September 19th but ended the year hitting .390.
"He was always the guy. He was the clutch guy . . . he was so mentally tough and he accepted being that guy." - Denny Matthews
Brett had 3,154 lifetime hits (# 15 on the all-time list; rankins as of June 2007), 665 doubles (# 5 on the all-time list), 1,595 RBI (# 27 on the all-time list), 229 intentional walks (# 4 on the all-time list), and 120 sacrifice flies (# 5 on the all-time list).
The most similar player is Al Kaline, although the similarity score is only 850.
Forever linked with Robin Yount. Among the coincidences in their careers.
- Both were raised in Southern California.
- Both played their first full season in the major leagues in 1974.
- Both played their entire careers for teams in the midwest.
- Both had an older brother who played in the majors.
- Yount collected his 3000th hit on September 9, 1992. Brett collected his on September 30, 1992, just three weeks later.
- Both played in their last game on October 3, 1993.
- Brett finished with 3154 career hits. Yount finished with 3142 career hits.
- Both elected to the Hall of Fame in the Class of 1999.
He is famous as the victim of the "pine tar" incident in 1983, where New York Yankees manager Billy Martin convinced the umpire to disallow a home run by Brett on the grounds that Brett had rubbed pine tar on the bat beyond the allowed height. The decision was later reversed by the American League President, forcing the two teams to replay the game's last few outs.
Elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame on January 5, 1999 by the Baseball Writers Association of America.
Brother of Ken Brett, a pitcher who played 14 years in the major leagues and appeared in the 1967 World Series at the age of 18. He faced his brother 20 times in his career, getting 6 hits, 2 doubles and 1 RBI. His other brothers Bobby Brett and J.B. Brett bought the Spokane Indians along with Ken and George. They have also purchased the Spokane Chiefs minor league hockey team, the Tri-City Dust Devils, and the High Desert Mavericks.
George Brett's cousin, actor Matthew Modine, opened a short lived chain of comic book stores in Northern Michigan called 'Brett-tastic 5', as a tribute to his cousin.
Wore no. 5.
"What do you do - buy a condo each time?" - Don Slaught, a teammate of Brett's, on hearing about Brett's regular six-figure paycheck.
[edit] Notable Achievements
- 13-time AL All-Star (1976-1988)
- 1980 AL MVP
- 1985 ALCS MVP
- AL Gold Glove Winner (1985)
- 3-time AL Silver Slugger Award Winner (1980/3B, 1985/3B & 1988/1B)
- AL Batting Average Leader: 3 times (1976, 1980 & 1990)
- AL On-Base Percentage Leader (1980)
- AL Slugging Percentage Leader: 3 times (1980, 1983 & 1985)
- AL OPS Leader: 3 times (1980, 1983 & 1985)
- AL At Bats Leader: 2 times (1975 & 1976)
- AL Hits Leader: 3 times (1975, 1976 & 1979)
- AL Total Bases Leader (1976)
- AL Singles Leader (1976)
- AL Doubles Leader: 2 times (1978 & 1990)
- AL Triples Leader: 3 times (1975, 1976 & 1979)
- 20-Home Run Seasons: 8 (1977, 1979, 1980, 1982, 1983, 1985, 1987 & 1988)
- 30-Home Run Seasons: 1 (1985)
- 100 RBI Seasons: 4 (1979, 1980, 1985 & 1988)
- 100 Runs Scored Seasons: 4 (1977, 1979, 1982 & 1985)
- 200 Hits Seasons: 2 (1976 & 1979)
- Won a World Series with the Kansas City Royals in 1985
- Baseball Hall of Fame: Class of 1999
[edit] Miscellaneous Notes
- Homered 10 times off of these Hall of Famers: Dennis Eckersley, Catfish Hunter, Ferguson Jenkins, Jim Palmer, Gaylord Perry and Don Sutton.
- Lifetime Batting Average against Hall of Fame pitching was .299 and Slugging Percentage was .434.
| AL MVP | ||
|---|---|---|
| 1979 | 1980 | 1981 |
| Don Baylor | George Brett | Rollie Fingers |
[edit] Records Held
- Sacrifice flies, left handed batter, career, 120
- Consecutive games with three or more hits, 6, 1976
- Decades with a batting title, 3, 1976, 1980, 1990
[edit] Further Reading
- Thomas Boswell: "Georgie Ballgame", in How Life Imitates the World Series, Penguin Books, New York, 1982, pp. 178-183.
