Editing Kansas City Royals (section)

===1980–1984: From Pennant to Pine Tar Incident===
After the [[1979 Kansas City Royals season|Royals]] finished in second place in 1979, Herzog was fired and replaced by [[Jim Frey]]. Under Frey and a legendary .390 season from George Brett, the [[1980 Kansas City Royals season|Royals]] rebounded in 1980 and advanced to the [[1980 American League Championship Series|ALCS]], where they again faced the [[1980 New York Yankees season|Yankees]]. The Royals vanquished the Yankees in a three-game sweep punctuated by Brett's home run off of Yankees' star relief pitcher [[Goose Gossage]]. After reaching their first [[1980 World Series|World Series]], the Royals fell to the [[1980 Philadelphia Phillies season|Philadelphia Phillies]] in six games. Game 6 was also significant because it remains the most-watched game in World Series history with a television audience of 54.9 million viewers.<ref name=Sandomir>{{cite journal|last1=Sandomir|first1=Richard|title=Baseball World Series: Postseason Vanishing From Broadcast Networks|journal=The New York Times|date=October 18, 2014|volume=CLXIV|issue=56,657|pages=D4|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2014/10/18/sports/cables-ascent-tests-baseball-fans-and-their-fingers.html|access-date=October 25, 2014|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141027112826/http://www.nytimes.com/2014/10/18/sports/cables-ascent-tests-baseball-fans-and-their-fingers.html|archive-date=October 27, 2014}}</ref>

[[File:George brett pine tar bat rotated.JPG|thumb|500px|The [[baseball bat]] used by third baseman [[George Brett]] in the "Pine Tar Incident" on July 24, 1983, versus the [[New York Yankees]]]]

In July 1983, while the [[1983 Kansas City Royals season|Royals]] were headed for a second-place finish behind the [[1983 Chicago White Sox season|Chicago White Sox]] another chapter in the team's rivalry with the New York Yankees occurred. In what has come to be known as "the [[Pine Tar Incident]]", umpires discovered illegal placement of [[pine tar]] (more than 18&nbsp;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. After Yankee Manager [[Billy Martin]] came out of the dugout to talk to home plate umpire [[Tim McClelland]], McClelland and the other umpires mulled over the bat (measuring it over home plate, touching it, etc.). McClelland then pointed to Brett in the dugout and gave the "out" sign, disallowing the home run. Enraged, Brett stormed out of the dugout toward McClelland and Martin, and McClelland ejected Brett. The homer was later reinstated by [[List of American League presidents|AL President]] [[Lee MacPhail]], and the Royals won the game after it was resumed several weeks later.

The 1983 season was also notable for some transitional changes in the Royals organization. First, owner [[Ewing Kauffman]] sold 49% of his interest to Memphis developer [[Avron Fogelman]]. Second, [[John Schuerholz]] was named general manager. Schuerholz soon bolstered the farm system with pitchers [[Bud Black]], [[Danny Jackson]], [[Mark Gubicza]], [[David Cone]], and [[Bret Saberhagen]], as well as hitters such as [[Kevin Seitzer]].

Thanks to the sudden and surprising maturation (specifically, in pitching) of most of the aforementioned players, the [[1984 Kansas City Royals season|Royals]] won their fifth division championship in 1984, relying on Brett's bat and the young pitching staff of Saberhagen, Gubicza, [[Charlie Leibrandt]], Black and Jackson. The Royals were then swept by the [[1984 Detroit Tigers season|Detroit Tigers]] in the [[1984 American League Championship Series|American League Championship Series]]. The Tigers went on to win the [[1984 World Series|World Series]].