Ten Cent Beer Night: The Wildest Night in Baseball History

[00:00:01] Could you imagine in 1974 going to a baseball game at Cleveland Municipal Stadium with two dollars in your pocket to see them face off against the Texas Rangers and you get not only a ticket but you are able to get 15 beers that night as well.

[00:00:15] That's what happened when on June 4th 1974 the Cleveland Indians put on a promotion offering beer for 10 cents which led to some wild hijinks and a riot at the end of the game that ruined their chance of the Indians coming back and they had to forfeit the game and led to policies getting changed into the sports world forever. Let's dive into the story today on Daily Sports History. Let's go!

[00:00:48] Welcome to Daily Sports History. I'm Ethan Reese, your guide as you daily learn more about sports history increasing your sports knowledge. So first let's set the stage. Let's go back to the 1970s especially in Cleveland which was a city and a team in transition.

[00:01:11] Cleveland was a once booming industry but was faltering. The city had thrived on steel manufacturing and shipping but now they're facing a downturn in the economy and the population saw a steep fall in their income over the last decade. Even as the country's income rose per capita it did not reflect what was going on in Cleveland.

[00:01:34] And the Indians were desperate to fill seats. You have to remember back in the 1970s games may have been on TV but they weren't generating revenue from television like they are today. The Indians were led by Ken Aspermothi who took over in 1971 season after a 102 loss season. And he brought stability and would incrementally improve the team especially when they acquired Gaylord Perry in 1972, a future Hall of Famer.

[00:02:03] However, by 1974 they seemed to be stalling out. After being in first place mid-season they would go on to finish 77 and 85 and Ken would be out. And they would bring in the very first black manager in Major League Baseball history in Frank Robinson, a Hall of Famer himself. And then there was the Texas Rangers who were managed by Billy Martin who became famous for being the manager of the Yankees like seven times.

[00:02:29] But he had a fiery personality, aggressive style and he really turned around the struggling Rangers. He quickly made a mark, orchestrating some key trades. And Martin's teams played hard and they were a challenge for anyone they faced. Now before June 4th, 1974 these teams had bad blood.

[00:02:47] On May 29th, just six days before this 10-cent beer night, the Indians and Rangers met in Arlington and a hard slide by Ranger Lenny Randall into second baseman Jack Roheimer ignited tensions. A pitch thrown behind Randall when he was at the plate, leading to a drag bunt and a collision between Randall and pitcher Milt Wilcox.

[00:03:12] Indians first baseman John Ellis punched Randall and both benches cleared and emptied into a full scale brawl. And the teams would be pelted by food and beer and angry Texas fans. Although despite all this, no player was ejected and the Rangers would win the game. And this would lead to one of the most iconic nights in baseball history.

[00:03:32] See about a week later on June 4th, 1974, the Cleveland Indians were hoping to increase their attendance on a weekday, which was a struggle to get fans to come out on a Tuesday night. So they offered 10-cent beer night, which was a good deal as regularly it was 65 cents for a beer, about 12 ounces. Today that would be about a little over $4.

[00:03:55] So it's a good deal and the only restriction they had was a six beer per purchase limit. First of all, that's a crazy number limit because have you tried to carry six beers? It's very difficult. And there was no cap on how many trips a fan could go to the beer stand. So what this meant is they could go as many times as they want, get as drunk as they want, get their friends as drunk as they want. It was set up for failure.

[00:04:23] And when they originally started this, they were going to sell a beer that had less alcohol content. Problem was they sold out of that pretty quickly and had to go to the regular content and made it even worse. But it worked overall. They were able to get over 25,000 fans, more than double they would get on a regular Tuesday night. But it's also estimated that they had over 60,000 beers sold that night, which was roughly at least three beers for every person. At least.

[00:04:52] Probably more for certain people, less for say the kids that were there. And a ticket to go into the bleachers for their cheap seats would only be 50 cents that day. So for a dollar, you could get a ticket to the game and get five beers. Sounds like a great deal. And this really hit as a lot of people were having financial difficulties, auto jobs, looking for work. There's college students that didn't have a whole lot of money.

[00:05:19] Diehard fans just wanted a chance to see a game for that. Just had a brawl a week earlier. There was a lot going on. And the atmosphere was a fun night at the beginning, which usually happens if you're having a party with alcohol. The beginning of the night is fun. It's towards the end of the night. It gets a little crazy. Beginning of the night, there's a woman that runs on the field, flashes the crowd, kisses the umpire. Later, there's a naked man that slides into second.

[00:05:46] And then even later, there's a father and son duo get onto the field and moon the crowd. And the problem, they offered this night and they doubled their capacity, but they did not double their security. So security was overwhelmed this night. Not only the stuff that has happened on the field, but the stuff that's happened in the crowd they had to deal with. They just were not prepared. And the problem was, the game was starting to get heated as well.

[00:06:10] As Cleveland's Leon Lee would hit a line drive during the game that hit pitcher Ferguson Jenkins right in the stomach. Now Jenkins laid on the ground and fans chanted, hit him, hit him again. Hit him harder. And when Billy Martin came out to check on him and argue the call on the field, he would be pelted with beer. But he would antagonize the fans by blowing kisses to him, making it worse. And as the game would drag on, fans continued to hurl beer cups, light fireworks.

[00:06:41] The air in the stadium was filled with a haze of marijuana smoke, and there was nothing they could do to stop it. It was just overwhelming. Like a stampede. As strong as you are, you cannot stop a stampede. The sheer number overtakes you. And the problem was, Cleveland was losing most of the game. And that antagonized the fans. They were hoping to see a Cleveland win. But in the ninth inning, they began to rally back and would end up tying the game in the bottom of the ninth, 5-5.

[00:07:10] And they had two runners on base with a chance to win. And then a fan rushed the field, trying to steal the Rangers outfielder's baseball cap. And he obviously was not letting him do that. And it led to the Rangers and Billy Martin actually storming the field with bats in hand to try to help their fellow teammates. Seeing fans began to storm the field. And they weren't just wielding bats. Some of them had knives, changed, makeshift weapons.

[00:07:38] The players on both teams, along with the umpires, were forced to defend themselves as chaos erupted. Cleveland pitcher Tom Hingeldorf was hit in the head with a metal folding chair. The umpire, Nestor Galak, suffered cuts on his hands. Rangers outfielder Mike Hargrove was struck in the head with a beer bottle. The melee lasted for over 15 minutes. And there was over 200 fans on the field. And the chaos was not dying down.

[00:08:07] As we said, the security was not prepared for this night. They were not ready. And so, the umpires called the game and forfeited in favor of the Texas Rangers, which was the first forfeit in over four years. Police and police were called and would arrive on the scene onto the field. Both teams would retreat into the dugout and to the team's locker rooms and locking the doors behind them. While the crowd wrecked havoc on the field, tearing it up, stealing bases, fighting amongst themselves. The riot would last for over 15 minutes.

[00:08:38] And when police arrived, they only arrested nine people of what's estimated to be over 200. But it was a different time. And chances are those nine people were probably Texas fans. We don't know. Those details are not aware of us. But both teams had to wait hours for this all to get cleaned up before they could leave the stadium for safety. Now, this led to stricter alcohol rules for Major League Baseball and has bled over into other sports as well.

[00:09:06] They would institute limits on alcohol beverages that fans could make at one purchase, increase security for promotional nights, and they would eventually go on to change the containers as cans would not be served anymore, only plastic cups. But they would take time for all these things to be implemented to what we see today. But even today, the Cleveland Guardians still have a $2 beer night, which is roughly equivalent to what it was back in the 10 cent beer night.

[00:09:35] But this is much more regulated. You can only buy two beers per person at a time served in a cup to prevent them from being thrown and fan scene throwing anything, no matter what it is, onto the field will be immediately ejected from the stadium. So these rules and stricter regulations make it safer not only for players on the field, but also for fans. A lot of these fans got injured and hurt by other fans.

[00:10:04] When chaos ensues, you don't care who it is. You don't care who you're going after and you end up in bad situations. And that's exactly what happened in this one. But the question is, was this night the best sports promotion value wise in sports history? With $1, you get a ticket and five beers. Seems hard to beat for me. I want to thank you for listening to today's Daily Sports History. If you like this, make sure you like and subscribe wherever you're listening.

[00:10:34] That way you do not miss a single episode. And we'll see you on the next one.