Still.... nothing will ever beat the Cleveland Indians and $0.10 beer night
Problems from the beginning[edit]
Six days after the brawl in Texas, Cleveland's Ten Cent Beer Night promotion drew 25,134 fans to Cleveland Stadium for the Tuesday night game, twice the number expected.
[8]
The Rangers quickly took a 5–1 lead. Meanwhile, throughout the game, the
inebriated crowd grew more and more unruly. Early in the game, Cleveland's
Leron Lee hit a line drive into the stomach of Rangers pitcher
Ferguson Jenkins, after which Jenkins dropped to the ground. Fans in the upper deck of the stadium cheered, then chanted "Hit 'em again! Hit 'em again! Harder! Harder!" A woman ran out to the Indians' on-deck circle and
flashed her breasts, and a
naked man sprinted to second base as Grieve hit his second home run of the game. One inning later, a father-and-son pair ran onto the outfield and
mooned the fans in the bleachers.
As the game progressed, more fans ran onto the field and caused problems. Ranger
Mike Hargrove, who would later manage the Indians and lead them to the World Series twice in
1995 and
1997, was pelted with
hot dogs and spit, and at one point was nearly struck by an empty gallon jug of
Thunderbird.
The Rangers later argued a call in which Lee was called safe in a close play at third base, spiking Jenkins with his cleats in the process and forcing him to leave the game. The Rangers' angry response to this call enraged Cleveland fans, who again began throwing objects onto the field. Someone tossed lit firecrackers into the Rangers' bullpen.
[9]
In the bottom of the ninth, the Indians managed to rally, tying the game 5–5, and had
Rusty Torres on second base representing the potential winning run. However, with a crowd that had been drinking heavily for nine innings, the situation finally came to a head.
The riot[edit]
After the Indians had managed to tie the game, a 19-year-old fan named Terry Yerkic
[10] ran onto the field and attempted to steal Texas outfielder
Jeff Burroughs' cap.
[11] Confronting the fan, Burroughs tripped. Thinking that Burroughs had been attacked, Texas
manager Billy Martin charged onto the field with his players right behind, some wielding bats. A large number of intoxicated fans – some armed with knives, chains, and portions of stadium seats that they had torn apart –
surged onto the field, and others hurled bottles from the stands. Hundreds of fans surrounded the outnumbered Rangers.
[9]
Realizing that the Rangers' lives might be in danger, Cleveland manager
Ken Aspromonte ordered his players to grab bats and help the Rangers, attacking the team's own fans in the process. Rioters began throwing steel folding chairs, and Cleveland relief pitcher
Tom Hilgendorf was hit in the head by one of them. Hargrove, after subduing one rioter in a fistfight, had to fight another on his way back to the Texas dugout. The two teams retreated off the field through the dugouts in groups, with players protecting each other.
[9]
The bases were pulled up and stolen and many rioters threw a vast array of objects including cups,
rocks, bottles, batteries from radios, hot dogs, popcorn containers, and folding chairs. As a result, umpire crew chief
Nestor Chylak, realizing that order would not be restored in a timely fashion,
forfeited the game to Texas. He too was a victim of the rioters, as one struck and cut his head with part of a stadium seat
[12] and his hand was cut by a thrown rock. He later called the fans "uncontrollable beasts" and stated that he'd never seen anything like what had happened, "except in a zoo".
[13]
As
Joe Tait and
Herb Score called the riot live on radio, Score mentioned the security guards' inability to handle the crowd. He said, "Aw, this is absolute tragedy." The
Cleveland Police Department finally arrived to restore order.
[9]
Later, Cleveland general manager
Phil Seghi blamed the umpires for losing control of the game.
The Sporting News wrote that "Seghi's perspective might have been different had he been in Chylak's shoes, in the midst of knife-wielding, bottle-throwing, chair-tossing, fist-swinging drunks."
[14]
The next Beer Night promotion on July 18 attracted 41,848 fans with beer again selling for 10 cents per cup but with a limit of two cups per purchase.
[15] American League president
Lee MacPhail commented, "There was no question that beer played a part in the riot."
[12
