Posted on 06/04/2019 6:02:06 AM PDT by Phlap
Ten Cent Beer Night
Ten Cent Beer Night was a promotion held by Major League Baseball during a game against the Texas Rangers at Cleveland Stadium on Tuesday, June 4, 1974. The idea behind the promotion was to attract more fans to the game by offering 12 U.S. fl oz (354.9 ml) cups of 3.2% beer for just 10 cents each (regular price was 65 cents) with a limit of six per purchase. During the game, fans became heavily intoxicated, culminating in a riot in the ninth inning which caused the game to be forfeited due to the crowd's uncontrollable rowdiness and because the game could not be resumed in a timely manner.
(Excerpt) Read more at encyclopedia.thefreedictionary.com ...
Mo wonder there was a riot. 10 cents is outrageous!!
The only thing I have known to be 10 cents were gumballs before they were raised to a quarter.
How about, say, a Ten cent Joint Nite At a Rockies home game
Let’s see how well that goes
They should do it again.
Well, there was Disco Demolition Night at old Comiskey Park in Chicago a few years later. IIRC, Ron Luciano discussed the event in one of his books as he umpired at that game. Believe he said that the umpires had to make themselves scarce once things got out of hand because a blue umpire outfit would have been as popular as an “Elvis Loved Disco” t shirt at the park that night, lol.
Indeed they do. That was a fun read, thanks!
Awesome, what a story!
I love these vignettes from our greatest decade.
And don't you forget it....
Back in the mid-70s a place called Sam’s Woodshed Pub in North Orlando had $0.05 beer night on Wednesday.
Here’s how it worked. Beer started at 5 cents at 8 pm. It went up 5 cents every 5 minutes until 9 pm.
We made the not so brilliant move one time of starting our bar-hopping there. Predictable results.
My brother and his buddy took me to this game. I was underage, so no beer for me.
My brother was smarter than me, he saw it getting a little out of hand, and we left before things boiled over. We heard about it in the car as we drove home.
...
Ranger Mike Hargrove ... was pelted with hot dogs and spit, and at one point was nearly struck with an empty gallon jug of Thunderbird.
Now that's some fun times.
Trivia Fact:
There were 3 baseball games during the 1970’s that were never finished due to violence on the field:
The Washington Senators’ last home game at RFK, where fans stormed the field late in the game and began tearing out souvenirs.
Ten Cent Beer Night in Cleveland
Disco Demolition in Chicago
Outfielder Rusty Torres was in the lineup for all three games.
Was that the one where they set fire to the outfield stands?
Also there was the rainout in the Astrodome.
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“Today in History: Riot at Ten-Cent Beer Night (1974)”
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/3754332/posts
This game was at the old, now demolished, Memorial stadium.
What the riot should have been about was the lack of bathrooms.
All of that cheap beer would necessitate far more bathrooms than that old stadium provided.
Even on a regular day there were always lines to use the rest rooms.
One day I was in the restroom waiting for a urinal and a woman walked in to the men’s room and jumped the line for a stall.
That stadium had far to few bathrooms for it’s 85,000 seat capacity.
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