At the moment marks the fiftieth anniversary of maybe essentially the most notorious, absurd, and hostile night in MLB historical past: 10-cent beer night time. There have been hospitalizations, full-frontal nudity, and lots of, many cups of too-affordable beer.
The combating, which broke out throughout a recreation between the Cleveland Indians (now referred to as the Cleveland Guardians) and the Texas Rangers on June 4, 1974, has develop into the stuff of legend. However to completely grasp the rising tensions that led to the incident, we should look six days prior.
Earlier than the Conflict
Throughout a Could twenty ninth recreation between the identical two groups at Arlington Stadium in Texas, Rangers participant Lenny Randle disrupted what ought to have been a double-play for the Indians’ third baseman John Lowenstein when he slid into second base, colliding with the Indians’ Jack Brohamer. A couple of innings later, Indians pitcher Milt Wilcox struck again by throwing a menacingly low pitch behind Randle’s legs. When Randle hit a bunt on the next pitch, he sprinted towards first base, and stiff-armed Wilcox alongside the way in which. In a matter of seconds, a bench-clearing brawl broke out between the 2 groups. Over the course of the following few days, a number of interviews with the group managers and provocative feedback from sports activities radio announcers additional fueled the fireplace. And similar to that, the Indians and the Rangers have been mortal enemies.
10-Cent Sabotage
On the time, the Indians have been having bother drawing a crowd at house in Cleveland Stadium. The group hadn’t been on a sizzling streak since 1968, and the common attendance for any given house recreation was simply over 13,700 followers — not so sizzling for a 78,000-seat stadium. Evidently, a promo was so as, and dropping the worth of a beer from 65 cents to 10 cents appeared like a foolproof plan. And initially, it was: On the night time of the now-historic recreation, 25,000 followers took to the stands, able to imbibe.
The Rangers took a 5-1 lead early on within the recreation, and the group grew more and more drunk and unruly. It didn’t assist when the Indians’ Leron Lee smashed a line drive into the abdomen of Rangers pitcher Ferguson Jenkins, prompting the higher decks to chant “hit ‘em once more.” Issues solely received worse over the following few innings: a girl leapt from the stands onto Cleveland’s on-deck circle, flashed her breasts, and tried to kiss the umpire. A person streaked throughout the sector and slid into second base. A father-son duo took to the outfield and mooned the viewers. Followers started tossing firecrackers, sizzling canines, and empty wine jugs on the sector, all aimed on the Rangers — and the motion would quickly come to a head.
Chaos On the Diamond
Close to the tip of the sport, the Indians managed to bounce again and tie with the Rangers, however the increasingly-drunk crowd had pushed their antics to the following degree. A 19-year-old Indians fan ultimately ran throughout the sector and tried to steal Rangers outfielder Jeff Burrough’s hat, prompting all the Rangers lineup to hurry in the direction of the younger fan, armed with bats. The gang responded by flooding the sector, able to duke it out with the Texan guests, at which level the Indians really buddied up with their opposing group to struggle off the indignant, belligerent lots. Folding chairs flew, blood spilled, and admittedly, all hell broke unfastened.
Seeing that this wasn’t going to finish effectively, each groups retreated to their clubhouses and locked the doorways. The umpire awarded the tied recreation to the Rangers by the use of forfeit, and the riot powered on. About 20 minutes later, the Cleveland police arrived to dispel the crown — the stadium had no safety on the time — making 9 arrests within the course of. The Rangers remained cooped up of their clubhouse for a number of hours till police escorted them to a lodge downtown.
“Individuals had been completely happy and drunk a lot of the recreation and simply having a blast,” former Rangers designated hitter Tom Grieve lately informed USA At the moment. “It was only a completely happy group of drunks. I don’t suppose it occurred to anyone till later that if 1,000 individuals went onto the sector and received pissed off, what are we going to do about it.”
Regardless of the chaos, Cleveland Stadium went on to carry one other 10-cent beer promo, however set a restrict of two discounted brews per particular person. And unusually, it seems that the riot introduced the feuding groups collectively, and the Rangers not rank among the many Guardians’ greatest rivals. Nonetheless, the legacy of 10-cent beer night time nonetheless stands as some of the unhinged video games in MLB historical past. 50 years later, the worth of a beer on the Guardians’ stadium has risen to $5, and that’s in all probability for one of the best.
