KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- The Kansas City Royals and the New York Yankees have a dramatic post-season history that goes back nearly 50 years. In fact, the two teams have far more than a typical history. Both have a long-standing rivalry full of contention, all of which can be seen on the walls of Kauffman Stadium's Royals Hall of Fame. George Brett reminds Royals players of intensity of past playoffs against Yankees From 1976 to 1978, the Royals faced the Yankees in the American League Championship Series. In each appearance, however, the Royals came up short, leading to heated exchanges, high-intensity games and bench-clearing brawls. Kansas City Royals third baseman George Brett, right, fights with New York Yankees third baseman Graig Nettles in the first inning of Game 5, the final of the American League playoffs at Kansas City, Oct. 9, 1977. (AP Photo, File) But in 1980, the last year the two teams went face-to-face in a post-season match-up, the Royals swept the team in three games. From there, they went on to the World Series. "They finally beat the Yankees," said Royals Hall of Fame Director Curt Nelson. "They swept them in three games and won Kansas City's first American League and had wonderful moments in doing that, including George Brett's home run in Game 3 in New York that made Yankee Stadium go silent." Although the Phillies went on to win the 1980 World Series, third baseman and Hall of Famer George Brett won the American League MVP Award that same season. Pete Rose, baseball’s banned hits leader, has died at 83 The two teams' hatred for each other didn't stop with the end of their postseason bouts either. In 1983, the infamous "Pine Tar Game" took place, enraging the Royals, especially George Brett, who blasted a game-tying homer in the ninth inning off Hall of Fame closer Goose Gossage. Royals' third baseman George Brett talks with the news media at Kansas City International Airport, July 28, 1983, after the American League president, Lee MacPhail overruled the umpires and reinstated Brett's 2-run homer. Brett was called out for using an illegal bat because of excess pine tar. The Royals were leaving Kansas City for a series of games at Detroit. (AP Photo/Doug Atkins) While Brett was rounding the bases, however, the Yankees were pleading with the home plate umpire to take a look at Brett's bat, which was typically coated in pine tar as he never wore batting gloves. Officials determined that the pine tar on the bat extended the 18-inch limit, and Brett was ruled out. Brett, seeing red, stormed onto the field, headed for the umpire screaming all the while. The incident earned Brett a letter from President Richard Nixon, who wrote: “Dear George, As one who roots for the home team I am a Yankee fan. As a long time George Brett fan I thought you got a lousy deal. I'll wager they change the rule in the future. In the meantime - Keep slugging." Five years after sweeping the Yankees, the Royals would go on to win the iconic 1985 World Series I-70 Rivalry against the St. Louis Cardinals with most of the players from the 1980 World Series roster. Today, October 5, 2024, the Royals will once again play at Yankee Stadium. A matchup decades in the making has many around the league wondering what could happen, including Brett. There's little chance that this series matches the grit of the Brett-era Royals, however. “You’ve got to find a way to turn it up a notch,” Brett said in an interview with the Associated Press on Friday as he watched Kansas City’s workout. “Obviously, if you do something that we used to do to each other out here, you’re kicked out of the game here or it’s an automatic double play or whatever. I mean, me and Nettles got in a fistfight at third base and didn’t even get kicked out of the game, for crying out loud.”