Road to greatness: George Brett’s Kansas City Royals (and Hall of Fame) career was epic
Fifty years on from his 1973 big-league debut, this illustrated timeline shows the Hall of Fame career of lifelong Kansas City Royals superstar George Brett.
FIFTY WONDERFUL YEARS
May 15, 1953
George Brett is born on May 15, 1953, in Glen Dale, West Virginia, but would spend his entire childhood in Southern California, where he played multiple sports (and surfed off the beach in El Segundo) before settling on baseball.
June 26, 1971
George Brett makes his professional debut, playing shortstop for the Royals’ rookie league team in Billings, Montana. He hits .291 with five home runs in 68 games, 47 at short. The Royals decide in the offseason that Brett would be better suited for third base, and in 1972 for San Jose, the organization’s Class A team, he plays 104 games at the corner and hits .274.
August 2, 1973
Batting eighth and playing third base, George Brett makes his major-league debut at Chicago’s Comiskey Park. He lines out to pitcher Stan Bahnsen in his first at-bat and flares a broken-bat single to left field in his second appearance for his first big-league hit. Brett wears uniform No. 25. He changes to the familiar No. 5 in 1975.
July 23, 1974
With baseball's best gathering in Pittsburgh for the All-Star Game, Brett seeks out Royals batting coach Charlie Lau ... and a swing is transformed. Brett changes his approach, rallies for a big second half and finishes third in AL Rookie of the Year balloting.
September 27, 1975
Brett goes hitless in his final game of the year, at Texas, but tops .300 for the season at .308.
October 3, 1976
A 3-for-4 performance in the season finale against the Twins propels Brett to his first batting title. But there’s controversy. Brett finished at .333 and teammate Hal McRae at .332. McRae alleged that Twins left fielder Steve Brye made a suspect effort on a Brett drive in the ninth, which resulted in an inside-the-park home run. Had Brye caught the ball, McRae would have won the batting title.
October 14, 1976
Brett’s three-run homer off the Yankees’ Ed Figueroa in the eighth inning ties the fifth and deciding game of the American League Championship Series. But Chris Chambliss gives New York the pennant with his solo homer in the bottom of the ninth.
October 6, 1978
Brett leads off Game 3 of the American League Championship Series at Yankee Stadium with a home run off Catfish Hunter. He homers again in his second at-bat, and his third. But the three solo shots off Hunter aren't enough as the Royals lose 6-5. In Game 4, they lose their third straight playoff series to the Yanks.
May 31, 1980
For the first time all season, Brett’s batting average tops .300.
July 18, 1980
Brett begins a 30-game hitting streak. In those games, Brett hits .467 (57-122) and his batting average surpasses .400 for the first time on Aug. 17.
August 26, 1980
Brett goes 5 for 5 at Milwaukee and his average hits .407.
September 19, 1980
After going 2 for 4 against Oakland, Brett's average sits at .400. He falls below the magic number the next day and doesn’t return, finishing the season at .390. For a full season, nobody has been better since then. With his second batting title and a career-best 118 RBIs, Brett won the American League MVP award.
October 10, 1980
In the ultimate power vs. power matchup, Brett turns on a Goose Gossage 98 mph fastball and blasts it into the third deck at Yankee Stadium. The three-run shot to right in the seventh gives the Royals a 4-2 edge and leads to victory, an ALCS sweep and the organization’s first World Series appearance.
October 15, 1980
Brett leaves Game 2 of the World Series in the sixth inning because of hemorrhoid pain. He returns for Game 3 and homers, saying afterward his “problems were behind him.” Brett hits .375 for the Series, but the Royals lose in six games to the Phillies.
July 24, 1983
Brett clocks Gossage again, this time with a go-ahead two-run homer in the top of the ninth. But Yankees manager Billy Martin protests to home plate umpire Tim McClelland that the pine tar on Brett’s bat exceeded the legal limit of 18 inches. McClelland signals out, launching Brett from the dugout in one of the most animated protests in the game’s history. The Royals protested the call and eventually won the game when it resumed the next month.
July 10, 1984
Brett blasts his only All-Star Game home run, over the 400-foot sign in dead-center at Candlestick Park in San Francisco, for his team’s lone run in a 3-1 loss. Brett appeared in a Royals-record 13 All-Star Games and owned a .292 career batting average against the game’s top pitchers.
October 11, 1985
Down 2-0 in the ALCS against the Blue Jays, the desperate Royals lugged a 10-game postseason losing streak into Game 3 in Kansas City. Lose this one and raise the white flag. Nearly single-handedly, Brett didn’t let that happen. At the plate, his box-score line of 4 4 4 3 included two home runs; in the field, he speared a smash by Lloyd Moseby and gunned down Damaso Garcia at home. The Royals won 6-5 and went on to win the series in seven games.
October 27, 1985
The Royals reach the top. An 11-0 thumping of the Cardinals in Game 7 of the World Series makes Kansas City baseball’s champion for the first time. For the Series, Brett hit .370, and this game marked his last postseason appearance. His final postseason numbers: 43 games, .337 batting average, 10 home runs, 23 RBIs.
September 30, 1992
With his fourth hit of the night, a hard smash to the right side off Angels lefty Tim Fortugno, Brett becomes the 18th player to reach the 3,000-hit milestone. He did it in his first attempt. “I just remember I was real calm,” Brett said a few years later.
September 29, 1993
In his final at-bat at Kauffman Stadium, Brett shows his flair for the dramatic with a single up the middle to bring home the tying run in what became a 3-2 victory over the Indians. After the game, Brett rode around the stadium in a golf cart to a standing ovation. Then he hopped out and planted a kiss on home plate.
October 3, 1993
The final game of the season is at Texas, and it also marks the career finale for Brett and another future Hall of Famer: Rangers pitcher Nolan Ryan. Brett is hitless in three at-bats before stepping to the plate to lead off the ninth inning. Brett’s roller up the middle isn’t gloved by shortstop Manny Lee and the single marks career hit No. 3,154. In his 21st and final season, the 40-year-old Brett leads the Royals in RBIs with 75.
January 5, 1999
Cooperstown calls. Baseball’s Hall of Fame Class of 1999 is announced and Brett receives the fourth-highest vote percentage in history. He’s joined in the class by fellow legends Nolan Ryan and Robin Yount, making it the first since the inaugural class in 1936 to include so many first-year inductees (three).
July 25, 1999
With tears, Brett makes it through his Hall of Fame induction speech. At one point, he looked at older brothers Ken and Bobby and said, “Sometimes I wonder why all this happened to me and not you. All I ever wanted was to be as good as you.”
May 30, 2013
After 20 years in the Royals’ front office, Brett returns to the field as a hitting coach to help the struggling club. The Royals beat the Cardinals that night.
July 25, 2013
Brett announces he’s stepping down after a 56-day stay as a hitting coach. The Royals, eight games under .500 when he returned to the dugout, go 26-22 during his run. “It’s been a tremendous, tremendous experience for me after being gone for 20 years from the game to have an opportunity again to put on a uniform,” an emotional Brett said.
This story was originally published July 30, 2023 at 6:00 AM.
