Cleveland’s 10 Cent Beer Night

Give people what they want for a very low cost if you want to get a lot of attention. Make that item alcoholic if you want things to go ugly. When the Cleveland Indians attempted 10 Cent Beer Night in 1974, that is what transpired.

Cleveland was fighting back from a 5-3 deficit against the Texas Rangers in the eighth inning. But by that point, a lot of 10 cent beers had been consumed, and the fans' patience had run dry. Even though Cleveland had a chance to win and two runners on base, inebriated sleaze took over. As inebriated spectators attempted to take right fielder Jeff Burroughs' hat, he was knocked to the ground. Billy Martin, the manager of Texas, led the rest of his team onto the field while brandishing bats.

Fans started to swarm the field. Mike Hargrove was struck in the head with a beer bottle. Chairs struck others. The unrest had started. The 50 security personnel on site had no hope of keeping things under control with 60,000 beer cups sold to 25,000 people. The Indians lost by forfeit after twelve fans were detained.