Page "Kansas City Royals" Paragraph 10

The Royals returned to the post-season in 1981, losing to the Oakland Athletics in a unique divisional series resulting from the split-season caused by the 1981 Major League Baseball strike.

The 1981 Royals as of 2012 are the only team to qualify for the postseason despite having a losing record.

In July 1983, while the Royals were headed for a second-place finish behind the Chicago White Sox another chapter in the team's rivalry with the Yankees occurred.

In what has come to be known as " the Pine Tar Incident ," umpires discovered illegal placement of pine tar ( more than 18 inches up the handle ) on third baseman George Brett's bat after he had hit a two-run home run off Gossage that put the Royals up 5 – 4 in the top of the 9th. The baseball bat used by Kansas City Royals third baseman George Brett ( baseball ) | George Brett in the Pine Tar Incident on July 24, 1983.