In the nineteen seventies, people across North America were carrying a heavy burden. A recession was in full swing, which left many people jobless, homeless, and with pent up emotions without any means of an outlet. That was until a baseball game was scheduled. This wasn't your average game, though. This game put angry individuals into a packed stadium with an almost endless supply of beer for basically free, with
nothing else to do but drink and vent. The crowd quickly turned into a violent and angry mob that was out of control.
My name's Ben and I'm Nicole, and you're listening to Wicked and Grim, a true crime podcast. Warning.
The following podcast material more mature audience listener discretion. I tea. You've got tea and beer today? Yea double piston delicious. My throat's really sore. I think I don't know. I might be losing my voice.
You're talking too much. Maybe I better not be getting sick. Just about as we're about to go on baking.
I know that would suck.
Well, I would be pissed.
Ta Fino. Although we are heading there to Tafino this coming week, we are going to have an episode. But even if I'm sick, I'm going to just sleep the whole time. And that sounds like a great vacation to be anyways, So.
I know, we are literally just talking at how we have no expectations for this trip and like we're fine with just chilling.
I think that's our first time we've ever had like just zero expectations for a trip.
Yeah, we're just both I think maybe a little tired and just need some R and R. Yeah, and the weather's gonna be pretty shitty while we're there, but you know what, that's okay.
Tell me this doesn't sound amazing though, sitting in a fucking cabin, walking dish in distance from the ocean in the Pacific Northwest rainforest as rain is fucking pouring down, snuggled up with your two huskies.
Well yeah, but my okay, it does sound nice. So then my thought wet dogs lots of times aren't really the best. But eh, whatever, we'll figure it out. Yeah, it's gonna be great. It will be Oh and you miss you missed something very important in that description.
What did I miss?
Eating taco fino?
Oh? Fuck you? Come on, if anyone ever goes to Taco Fino into Fino. Get to check out the truck because we have wicketting grim stickers on there and we're gonna put another one on there.
I hope it's not like off season and they're not open or something.
They better not be.
I know, I thought I would the other day flip my shit, you would start a riot.
Yes, speaking of riot, there's that's kind of on topic for today's theme.
But we're not there yet, no.
No, not quite. But one thing we did do because speaking of the dogs. Backtracking a little bit here, we did a vlog the other day for our patrons.
We did.
We talked to them, We're like, what sort of content do you guys want a little bit more here, and they're like, mostly we got vlogs, we want flogs the dog.
They basically just want to see more of the dogs. No one really actually gives a shit about us. It's just all about that.
It's true. So we've logged taking the dogs out and doing some stuff. So yeah, we can expect more of logs to come out on Patreon and hopefully soon enough we'll be rolling out some more stuff on YouTube as well. We got a lot of stuff coming out of the Woodworks here in the next couple months, so keep tune, stay tuned for that.
Yeah, it's gonna be exciting. I'm excited for it.
And speaking of Patreon, we got patrons to thank for signing up this week.
We have quite a list. I'm excited we do.
Starting off for who signed up this week, We've got Lindsay. We have Susan and I'm really good at butcher this name because there's like all kinds of accents on it.
I think Lindsay was last week. Sorry I didn't.
Oh well Lindsay.
Yeah, thanks again, Lindsay, you're the best.
Yeah, way to notify me.
You Sorry, I screw that up.
Nicole's job is usually to tell me who I need to announce. She takes care of the list, and then I announced it.
Okay, so I split it up. I've messed up once in my life.
It's still messed up. No, you messed up twice. What was the other time you married me?
No? That was my greatest my greatest choice.
Your greatest choice. Well, well you're earning some brownie points today. Anyways, we digress. We have Susan, Susanne or Susan. Some people pronounce it completely different ways, but Susan our Scold, our school, our schoold is what I'm gonna go with, Okay, Susan our Schold right on. We have Nicola Clark, Shannon Charlton and John Kleelo, Diane Litwin, Kimberly Wandle Sarah with a J. Hewlett, No, it's it's Jarrah. But they message us with like, yeah, it's like Sarah with the J.
So so you're yeah, you're just gonna pronounce it that way, Sarah.
With the jet, Jarah, you are forever Sarah with the J. I'm sorry. And Alfredo Mendina right on. Yeah, So, thank you guys so much for signing it for Patreon. It means a lot, even if you don't sign up for Patreon. We we appreciate you here and that means lot.
We just love that you're here. We just love what we do, you know, we just love everything about it.
Touche we do.
This case has me a bit intrigued here.
It's a good case. We've had it requested multiple times and I was gonna look up who it was. I think it might have been Mandy who's been requesting it over on Patreon. I could be wrong, but it's been requested multiple times, multiple multiple, multiple times. So we're going to talk about it today.
And this is a new one for me.
I've never heard this case other than it being requested.
Oh shoot, sorry, Kiwi, that was really rude. Well, I was bundle up in a blanket and then I got too hot and I threw it on the coach. But I didn't realize he was curled up there.
Wow wow you mean yeah, Well, talking about this case today, sorry, Kiwi. He's just he's just like sauntering away all pissed off.
Yeah, he's mad at me. Now.
So this case today, we're talking about ten cent beer night.
You had to have a beer for this one.
I had to and I had to wait for the right moment to open it.
Absolutely and it's.
Foaming, it's fuming. Fine, I got it.
There you go.
We're good. Okay. So this is ten cent beer night. It's all happening at a baseball game. It's intense. So let's get down. Let's talk about this. It's a wild ride. During the nineteen sixties, Cleveland was a thriving industrial city with a strong manufacturing sector, but however, by the nineteen seventies, the city began to experience a decline in manufacturing, which resulted in job losses and a decline in the city's economic prosperity. So it's never cool.
Yeah, that's scary, just that feeling of uneasy. That's not a great feeling.
Well, and a lot of people argue that we're technically in a recession right now.
Yeah, well, I mean the cost of everything is through the roof.
Yeah, And I do remember the recession in what was it like, two thousand and eight, back in the day, Back in the day. I'm feeling old. Man. We've been through a recession or two in my time. Sorry, I just felt old there for a second. I remember those days. I remember the recession, the great two thousand and eight depression. Recession, not depression.
Do you see. I don't know. I block things out though. My memory is not the best.
Wow. All I know is going through this sort of thing. It's not easy. And a lot of people, no, it's very stressful. It affects everyone differently. Yeah, but it's super stressful for sure. So during this time, in fact, nineteen seventy four, particularly Cleveland was hit hard by this economic recession. It affected the entire United States minu but we're talking about Cleveland here specifically. Now, the city's unemployment rate rose to over ten percent.
Wow.
Yeah, as around six hundred factories shut their doors. Holy shit, that's a lot of jobs.
That is a lot of jobs.
Six hundred factories.
Oh my goodness. Yeah, that's very high.
Oh that's massive. Yeah, one out of ten people job. And there was a severe decline in this steel industry, particularly, there was an energy crisis, high inflation rates. The population also began to decline as many people left the city in search of better job opportunities elsewhere. The city was in shambles as everything basically seemed to burn to the ground around them. Ratively, of course, but as well literally.
Okay, Yeah.
The Cuyahoga River had become heavily polluted with all the industrial waste and sewage, which created a very toxic and flammable environment, brutal. The river had caught fire several times in the past, but specifically the nineteen sixty nine fire was particularly significant because it received national media attention. There's a little bit more detail on that, but I'm not
going to talk too much on it. But the fire did start on June twenty second, nineteen sixty nine, when sparks from a passing train actually ignited to oil and debris floating on the surface of the river, which the flames quickly spread and caused damage to bridges, boats, other structures along the river. So, needless to say, the early seventies were not an enjoyable time, as many people were left wondering how they were going to find a job
or even survive at this point. It caused many people to turn to substance use, such as drugs or alcohol, to try and forget whatever harsh realities they were facing at the time. Brutal, so not fun.
That's terrifying too. Like the visual of a river catching fire.
Oh yeah, and there's images of this. You can google it and it's just going to have to. It's just out in the middle of the water and it's just flames fucking shooting high.
Wow.
Yeah, it's it's wild. It's insane. You should look it up.
Well I will. And I'm very glad that we've changed things because like the fish and stuff living in that.
Poor river right Oh, I can't imagine.
Yeah, like that can't be good.
No, here, there's images of the fire right now there, Like it's massive, it's terrifying.
That is terrifying if.
You're listening right now and you're not driving, and you're not driving, yeah, quickly grab your phone, give it a Google the Cuyahoga River fire.
Yeah, And that's just crazy because you're already facing really hard times and you're like, oh, nothing, nothing could get worse. And I don't know, shit, is what is the sayings where stuff always piles on?
You know, like stuff's piling on?
Is that the same? I don't know, like bad things come in threes or it's just like, yeah, when you're down on your luck, like lots of times more bad, Yeah, exactly. And so and you're already down and literally the river in your city fucking catches fire. Are you kidding me?
Yeah? So it's it's nuts. So yeah, rightfully. So people were turning to substances. I mean not everyone, but it was something people were doing.
Which is just gonna make things financially and everything worse.
Yeah. And I mean, I don't get me wrong, I'm sitting here drinking a beer. Obviously, I'm a strong advocate for alcohol. If you're not aware, however, moderation is key.
Well, I just mostly meant if an addiction, say unfortunately formed or something, and then you're already strapped and now you're having to put more money and for your addiction, and.
Oh oh, this is just I just didn't want to say, if you're drinking a beer and be hipocrite, being like those filthy alcoholics, don't know what I mean.
No, no, not at all.
Okay, So I mean to touch on this just a little bit. I do personally like to have a beer, particularly after a nice, like long, stressful day, and millions of other other people enjoy alcohol in a similar way, for example, sitting back with a nice cold beer watching a game, right, which I mean they go hand in hand nowadays. In fact, it's sort of a pastime, even
just in modern day. That's just just normal. It's been going on for decades, and big sporting events have actually leagues have kind of made this a thing.
Well, I was just gonna say a lot of times too. They have like big sponsors. Yeah, say like Molson Canada or whatever is a sponsor of like the Vancouver Canucks.
Or you're literally like reading my mind, Oh serious, Oh yeah, that's my next freaking sentence here.
Okay, that's weird.
Often have sponsorship deals with major brands like Budweiser, Cores or Molson for example.
Wow, yeah, I'm pretty smart.
Yeah you nailed it. Good job. I'm like, seriously, though, if you are watching like a game, whether it's you know, big league or little league, well maybe not little league, small league, like not a professional league.
That's what I meant.
Children not children's league. That's not what I was meaning. If you pay attention to these leagues, these games, when you're watching TV during the games, you'll you'll see ads run constantly during commercials. There's banners on the boards of like arena, like hockey arena, baseball, all this sort of thing. There's there's logos everywhere. Yeah, UFC. I think that they had like the big beer logo in the middle of
their octagon for a long time. I don't know if they still do, because I remember there was when brock Lessener, remember back in the day, brock Lessener. I didn't like him, right, No, not many people, okay, but yeah, there was a big controversy because apparently Budweiser wasn't gonna, wasn't sponsoring him or something like that. So after he won a match, he was getting interviewed in the middle of the Octagon Live TV, and he's basically like, yeah, fuck Budweiser. I'm gonna go
home and have a Coors Light. But Budweiser was actually sponsoring UFC, just not him, so he got in major shit.
Yeah. But honestly, sometimes like even bad publicity, sometimes it's still publicity. I can't even say that publicity. I can't say it publicity. I'm just not even publicity. Oh my gosh. But you know what I mean, even bad is sometimes good.
Oh yeah, for sure. And I mean you can even go out and buy a case and oftentimes and it's like, oh, it's got like the Seattle Seahawks logo on the case. It's like they go hand in hand. Not just the sporting event peddling the beer, but the beer is also peddling the sports. Often, Yeah, because you go to your local store if you are in Seattle, you'll see, oh, Budweiser Seattle Seahawks. But if you go to a state over you're gonna see them also advertising that team. It's yeah,
it's yeah, they just peddle it. It's a lucrative business, especially when one includes the other and the fan. It keeps going.
Absolutely.
So Anyways, we digress. Perhaps this was one of the reasons why the management team of the Cleveland Indians baseball team decided to start doing some promotional events involving beer during these tough times in the seventies. Now, in our current year nineteen seventy four, attendance at the Cleveland Indians games had dropped. People weren't spending their money so frivolously and had other matters in their life to attend to. So management of the team decided to run a campaign
to help draw the crowd to the game. Now they were on to something in the past that they had. This they called nickel Beer Night in nineteen seventy one.
Okay, five cents, that's awesome.
For a beer, Yeah, stupid cheap. Crowds came out for the game, spent a lot of money, had a lot of drinks, and it helped revive the fan base for the team. Now, with inflation as it was now three years later in this recession, they couldn't do nickel Beer Knight anymore, but they could do ten cent beer Night.
Which I still feel like is a steal of a.
Deal, especially when you look at it's today's equivalent in dollar figures.
What is it.
Take a guess. We're talking usd here, so US dollars, so ten cents United States dollars. What do you think that's equivalent to toys?
Oh? My goodness, I don't even know. I have absolutely no idea.
A dollar ten cents in nineteen seventy four, okay, is equivalent to sixty four cents today?
Oh wow? Us okay, a little lesson. I thought, Yeah, that's still that today. That would be freaking amazing.
Yeah, that's a cheap ass fucking beer.
I don't think you can get if you got a beer for five bucks, that's a steal of a deal.
Now. I think if you go, well, if you're out, we're talking Canadian dollars here though, mind.
You, okay, yeah, if you.
Go to a pub for five dollars a Canadian but yeah, so yeah, yeah, beer and cheap I'll calling cheap.
No, it isn't.
And mind you, the beer that they were selling, though, it wasn't exactly like was top quality beer. It wasn't even very strong, but I mean it was still alcohol. Yeah, but when you pay sixty four cents equivalent for a beer, I don't think anyone sit cares exactly. I don't think they give a fuck, so regardless of the quality of the beer. By doing this promotion, the baseball team management had just accidentally set in motion an absolutely terrible situation without even realizing it.
Okay, here they thought they were doing what they did in previous years and yeah, yeah.
Well how it played out is a little bit different. Let me explain. Ten cent Beer Night was set only a week after the at the Cleveland Indians, which I should clarify they have since renamed their name to Cleveland Guardians and frankly so, yeah, yeah, but I'm going to refer to them as the Cleveland Indians as what they were at the time, so it's kind of historically accurate in that way. But they are the Cleveland Guardians.
Okay, I was actually gonna ask, but I wasn't. I thought that happened, but I wasn't certain.
Yeah. So they had went to Arlington Stadium when they played the Texas Rangers. Now this is the very same team that they were going to be playing against at their big promotional event in one week's time, the ten cent Speer Night. Right. Okay, so a week ago or sorry, a week prior to they're doing this and a fight had actually broken out on the field between both teams.
Players and coaches came bursting out of their dugouts to come to their teammates defense, creating a huge ball brawl on the pitchers mound that took quite a bit of time to actually get under control. So both teams just going nuts, a big brawl center field.
So there's already some tension a bruin.
Yeah. So by this time, both the teams are starting to head back to the dugouts. Rangers fans had decided to defend their team too. They began throwing food beer at the Indians players and their coaches, hurling insults, taunting them, so much so that the catcher Dave Duncan had to restrain or had to be restrained, sorry, so that he didn't go up to the stands and start fighting Rangers fans.
Really, Hey, yes, holy this is that's kind of getting pretty out of control there. Oh for sure, I kind of can understand it among the players, But then to also get so fired up that you're going to go into the stands, well, think of it, and nobody it would not go well for that person either.
These people are throwing shit at you and like calling you names and stuff, and you're just trying to mind your own business and you're already on high tension.
Well I get it, but I mean one single person going to the stands.
Oh yeah, you're gonna get your ass.
You're gonna get like a little fucked up, just a little. Like I would not advise that.
Yeah, So going to the stands or not. Though, Like, tensions were super high. But the game did carry on and the Rangers actually won three nothing Okay, But when given the chance to ease the growing troubles between both teams, the Rangers manager Billy Martin, sorry Billy Martin, did the exact opposite. In an after game inn with a Cleveland reporter,
Billy Martin had a lot to say. So the reporter asked Billy if he was going to take his armor to the Cleveland game after the Rangers fans had treated the Indian players so poorly, and so that would that game that he's referring to is going to be the ten cent beer Knight, right? Okay, so Billy replied, Nah, they won't have enough fans there to worry about. Wow, So implying going to their home stadium, there's not even going to be enough people in their stands watching to worry about it.
Oh my gosh.
So like you're you're you're putting some friction on this fire, You're getting the flames.
Yeah, this seems like it's going to just be like the perfect storm, isn't it.
Yes. Yeah, he basically just let a fuse for dynamite. Let's just say that, almost like he had issued them a direct challenge in a way. So yeah, Indians management and Cleveland Sports journalisted everything they could to make sure that the stadium would be packed when the Rangers showed up to play against the Indians. Again. Everything became about
fueling tensions between both the teams. We see that a lot nowadays, specially since I already mentioned UFC, especially with fights, boxing, all this sort of stuff, the trash talk that goes into it, hyping up the fight, yeah right, really getting emotions involved into it.
Yeah, absolutely, that's what they did.
On the day of the game, The Plane Dealer, which is one of the biggest newspapers in Cleveland, published a cartoon of Chief Wahoo, which was the team mascot for the Indians, wearing boxing gloves under the caption reading be ready for Anything.
Oh my gosh, Oh this is just alarming. I'm as you kind of I feel as I know what's going to happen, but it's just unfolding. Oh in just a cr it's cringey. This is the whole tales so far as a little cringey that I know exactly where this is going.
But I don't think anyone predicted it to end up like this. I think it was just like trash talk. They didn't expect any outcome.
Absolutely not. But then now hearing it, hearing it on Bold, it's.
Just like, wow, well, hindsight is one twenty.
Yeah.
Yeah, after the math you like, or after the math matter, you're just like, oh oh shit, yeah yeah I can see that.
Yeah.
It's no different than like you stubbing your toe as you walk by the coffee table and you're like, fuck, yeah, of course I'm walking real close to it. I'm gonna
smash it. So anyways, it was a match between new rivals that have been built up as much as possible basically just to sell tickets, with a stadium pact filled with two sorry twenty five thousand, one hundred and thirty four fans in the Cleveland Stadium that's a lot of people that were twice the amount of people than they expected, really two.
Times holy And was that mass capacity?
I don't know what the capacity was now.
Okay, so but probably I'm imagining pretty close.
Probably, And of course, mind you, beer was only ten cents a cup.
Yeah, I just have to say, that's like a third of our city was that this game?
Holy shit? Yeah, you're right.
Wow, that's a lot of people.
We live in a small city.
Is seventy five thousand considered small?
It's not a small town, but it's a small city.
Okay, there you go.
Yeah, that's how I refer.
To it anyway, No, that makes sense. That's good.
So these fans were, well, they're really ready for anything and ready to defend their team, and a little bit of liquid courage went a long way, let's put that way, except, of course, they had a little bit more than a little bit to work with. As I mentioned, beer was only ten cents a cup, but not only ten cents a cup because purchases were limited to six cups at a time per person, but there were no limit to how many times someone could go back and make purchases
again during the game. So let me reiterate that you could keep going back and getting six twelve fluid ounce cups full of beer as many times as you want, as frequent as you want. It was unlimited.
That's crazy. I feel like six alone is insane.
Yeah. They did not limit how much beer you could drink. They only limited how much beer you could carry.
Well, how, I mean, how could they have controlled that? Right? In a sense, they probably should have been like, maybe, oh, you can only take two cups or two beers.
Yeah, not sick exactly. And all you have to do is be like, okay, present your ticket stub because I mean you get tickets, but back then for sure. Yeah, yeah, and we're going to punch a hole in it I get for beer you buy.
Yeah, it would have been ways to monitor it, yeah, easily, but I think just limiting it from two to two from six would really have helped. That's that is Yes, Sorry, did I say backwards? I don't even know how you go about carrying that. I maybe I had, Tracy.
I'm sure there was a lot of spirit spilt beer even prior to people being inebriated. Yeah, so right away, of course people began pounding back the cheap Bruce kis as players took the field, and they took their seats, multiple cups of beer in hand, and away we go.
Question, yes, how many times would you be going back? Or should I ask you that at the.
End of this In hindsight, I wouldn't have gone to.
This game, okay. Oh, in hinds okay, okay.
I might have been going back a few times if I was actually at this game and didn't know it was going to turn into a brawl.
Cause I could just picture ten cents.
Fuck yeah, let's go. Sounds about right. I wouldn't have rioted, though, I'm not that kind of person. No, I've been in situations where yeah, shit's going south and I'm like, I'm gonna sneak out the back fucking door.
Yeah.
So anyways, we digress again. But the game began and the Rangers found a lead once again, and tensions were rising in the stadium. So when Cleveland player Leron Lee hit a ball and it crashed into the stomach of the Rangers pitcher Ferguson Jenkins, the blow was actually strong enough that it knocked him down and he held onto his mid section. He was in the right and when this happened the Cleveland fans in the crowd began chanting hit him again, hit him again, harder, harder.
Yeah, now that would really freaking hurt.
Oh, it was for sure. And this was pretty much the point where you could see shit was about to go dark and quick. Okay, So, as the game continued, employees at the stadium struggled to keep up with the demands of the cheap beer. Instead of cutting people off, their decision was to make fans line up by the outfield fence where they can get their cups filled directly
from the Stro Company beer trucks. So rather than going to the concession, they decided to pull the trucks around to the edge of the field and let people just go directly to the trucks.
Wow.
Now, reportedly I couldn't find confirmation of this, but reportedly there were only about two teenage girls who were tending and serving the beer at the time, and they got so overwhelmed they just left.
Oh my gosh.
And because of that, people were just grabbing beer as they please from these freaking trucks.
So at this point they're rolling around in like twelve At this point.
There's also stories of kegs tapped kegs being hauled into the stands.
You're kidding again.
I cannot clarify if those are true stories, but those stories are out there circular.
Oh that is just that is a scary picture.
Yeah. And a total estimate of sixty thousand cups of beer were sold that night, My soul sold sold.
So not counting the ones that were just helping themselves after the two left. If that's how If that's how it went. Yeah, oh my goodness.
And mind you, there's twenty five thousand people in the stands, and I'm sure not all of them are.
Drinking exactly yeap, Holy okay.
So now with a really easy and quick way to get their refills, it didn't take long for the situation in the stands to spill onto the field. First, a woman ran out from the stands, flashed the crowd, and then tried to kiss the umpire.
Oh my gosh.
Yeah, she didn't get very far, but her actions continue to set the downhill tone for the game. So while the players desperately tried to focus on the game, fans start started playing a game of their own. One completely naked man ran across the field and slid into second base.
Oh my gosh. Okay.
Yeah. Only an inning after he had removed was removed from the field, a father and son stood front row of the crowd and pulled their pants down, moaning the fans.
Okay, I just have to say that I pictured you sliding.
Wow. Thanks.
I have no idea. That's why I'm laughing so hard, because in my brain was you sliding.
Oh what do you think of me? You're just like, yeah, you'd definitely be one of the drunk asshles, very highly of you.
But for some reason, my brain just pictured you and it was amazing.
Wow, thank you. I mean, you pictured naked me and that was amazing.
So that's all you'll take it.
Yeah, for sure. So yeah, when the fans weren't busy entertaining each other, fans took out there growing frustrations on
the team they've been told were the enemy. Over this entire past week, which was of course, the Texas Rangers, fans were throwing food, empty drink bottles, cups, spat at the Ranger players while they were on the field, But in some ways those players were actually the lucky ones because out in the field also meant that they were further away from now the highly intoxicated and angry crowd. Oh my goodness, that couldn't be said the same with
their teammates and coaches sitting in the dugout. Right, Indians fans taunted any of the Rangers players that they could get at. They threw more food, trash, and even set off fireworks inside the dugout why, putting everyone on edge. Yes, you heard me right. People brought fireworks to the game, lit them and aimed them into the dugout and shot them into the dugout.
Okay, this almost seems like at this point the game needs to be called off because like the safety of the players is at risk here.
Oh yeah, big time definitely is.
Oh wow, Okay, this is unbelievable.
Do you know how many innings are in a baseball game?
Nine?
I think so, I asked, because I don't know.
Oh shit, I thought that was a test.
No, it was not a test. All I know is that we're by the seventh inning. Now, I'm pretty sure there is nine. By the seventh inning, anyone who wasn't drunk and didn't have to be there, akay, like players or staff mostly left the stadium for obvious reasons. Yeah, and by the ninth inning, everything finally exploded. Despite the constant distractions, the Indians had actually managed to even the score and the game was currently a tie and even looked like a potential win was on the horizon when
another Indian fan decided to storm the field. A nineteen year old boy ran onto the field and tried to steal a Ranger outfielder's hat. Oh man, This resulted in a confrontation with a player ended up actually getting in a bit of a tussle with him and he fell to the ground, but it was otherwise unhurt. But this had his teammates and his manner, Billy Martin, upset because they
couldn't see from the dugout. They couldn't see if he was injured or not, and all they could see was this player hit the ground and they thought he was being attacked. Oh okay, when really it was just kind of like a little quick tussle, yeah, and he felt with the ground sort of thing, but the perception was he was being attacked. So wanting to save this player, Billy the team manager ordered the rest of the Ranger team to charge the field and save him for his own safety.
Oh okay, maybe not. The best choice. But I can also kind of understand how that, yeah, escalated to that.
So by this time, the Rangers had endured countless insults, a mocking crowd throwing food and drinks at them, exploding fireworks endangering their safety. To put it simply, the Rangers had had enough. They stormed across the field, some of them with bats in their hands, ready to save their teammates. But all the Indians fans saw was the team that most of them had come to hate at this point, coming for the team that they had all gone there that night to defend.
Oh, this is this is almost a little painful to listen to here. Why I don't know, does anyone die or I'm going to keep just listening here, But this this is scary.
It's a scary situation.
I'm honestly terrified. If I was there, I think I would be terrified. I would have left. Well, I don't know, you don't know. You can't say unless you're in that situation. Yeah, because sometimes you just like get in the moment, right, and then then you don't know and you just follow the crowd. Really, it takes a right it takes a braver person to not follow the crowd than to just follow the crowd, right, So.
Oh yeah, yeah, so this was the boiling point. All the drinks, all chaos explode in this moment as Indians fans swarmed the field, some of them with their own actual weapons like knives, chains, and clubs, which means they brought these to the game. Others created their own impromptu weapons as they tore apart the stadium, using bits of plastic, wiring and even steel chairs to attack the Texas Ranger players.
I am very concerned for the Texas Rangers safety right now because they are incredibly outnumbered here.
Oh yeah, they're against twenty five.
Thousand people and they're all just able to get onto the field. Hey, same with them, the Empire or umpire umpires like oh okay.
All staff like, I mean the stadium did have security guards, for example, but they had a meager fifty individuals on staff for securities. They were helpless to do anything against twenty five thousand fucking people.
Yeah, well we're not, I mean, not all of them. I'm sure we're going onto the field.
No, Like, sure, let's cut it in half. Some people went home on altim are going in the field. Let's say it's just twelve thousand, Okay, twelve thousand against a baseball team.
That doesn't even help. No, it doesn't.
That actually almost makes it worse because it's like, yeah, you can fit twelve thousand people on a field. You can't tip fit twenty five, but you can fit twelve thousand.
Jeez.
So yeah. In another incredible twist to this story, when the Indians manager ken As Prompte realized that the opposing team's lives were possibly in danger, yeah, he ordered his players to go defend them. Okay, yeah, he pitted the Cleveland Indian players literally against their own fans in order to save the Rangers players.
Oh see, this is just an unbelievably difficult situation though. Yeah, Like, I mean, it's almost that seems like kind of a good decision. Oh. I don't even know what to say. This is so brutal, it's so it's wild.
Yeah, this is like the wild fucking West. It is on a baseball It's insane. Yeah. So it was literally both teams, baseball bats in hand, trying to defend themselves for their own lives. Yeah. They're basically trying to fight through the crowd get back to their clubhouses, which they did manage to do.
Oh wow, Okay, I'm actually impressed.
They got there, They locked the doors and they barricaded themselves inside. But outside on the field, the riot continued. It kept going on until local police showed up about twenty minutes or so later. They used pepper strip, pepper spray, sorry batons, they managed to finally begin to subdue the crowd.
Wow.
Several players did receive injuries, nothing life threatening, but certainly a frightening experience for everyone involved. One injury was to the Rangers outfield fielder Mike Hargrove, who took a beer bottle to the head.
Wow.
Yeah, a bit of a goose egg and a cut in his head. So, and I'm sure there was a lot more injury in the crowd as well, but I don't have numbers for that. Unfortunately. I'm pretty sure they're all just kind of minor injuries. So now they still had to get out of these clubhouses once they were barricaded in, and they had to try and get away from the mob. They didn't want to get hurt, no one else to get hurt. Yeah, they're trying to be officially safe.
They had to also travel out of that city.
Yep, that too.
I mean, gosh, I feel like when they got home they would just kiss the ground that they literally.
Probably probably, but with the subdued crowd, the Indian players escorted the Rangers through the crowd and back to their bus. Flare ups of the riots still happening around them as fans continue to fight with each other. During these final moments of the riot, three bases were stolen from the stadium and have never been seen again. Oh so three people out there have a piece of this history sitting in their house somewhere, or maybe discarded in the garbage,
who knows. But yeah, a little fun fact for you there.
Yeah, I'm surprised that they well, I mean not like they could really come out for sale.
So yeah, what are you gonna do? Well, how are you going to prove it? For one?
Yeah, so exactly.
But yeah, the police arrested nine people, which is clearly not nearly enough, and while trying to conduct an interview with some of the remaining fans, local sports writer Dan Cooligan was punched twice in the face during these riots. So but after the dust finally did settle, only one real question did remain. Whose fault was it that this had all spiraled out of control? Whose fault was it that people's lives were put in danger trying to get the root of the girl?
Yeah, I know, I'm almost like, yeah, who would you even blame for that?
Well? The Cleveland general manager Phil Saghee blamed the umpire for losing control of the game and control of the crowd.
I don't know if I'm three with that.
I disagree wholeheartedly too.
They don't have that much power.
No, what's he going to do saying, you guys are being in really less shut the game down. Yet that's going to cause a riot?
Oh yeah?
Yeah. The umpire, whose name is Nestor chi Lac, disagreed. He also began or So he'd also been attacked and injured by the crowd, and speaking about the incident later, he said that they'd all been quote uncontrollable beasts.
Yeah it sounds like that.
Yeah. Many people disagree with Phil, and the American League president at the time, Lee McPhail was one of them, who, in an interview later said, quote, there was no question that beer played a part in the riot. You don't fucking say.
Yeah, that person, they deserve a lot.
He deserves a fucking raise. Yeah, you know, Beer, I think Beer was a part of this. Maybe just a little bad, really, Bud.
But I would honestly say, I think it would be the like the Cleveland team, the franchise or whatever. That's who I would have to if I was to blame anyone.
Yeah, but who the manager Probably.
Just blame like the whole team, the whole franchise kind of thing, and even the players, not the picture, the franchise, the management team.
Yeah, if I don't, you guys should see Nicole's hand just right now.
Yeah, trying to get something else.
He's almost doing like a two B or two not to be gesture with her hand arcd way out.
I mean, yeah, you Yeah, It's hard to put a blame on anyone, but them blaming the umpires, I think is them just trying to put the blame off of them.
I think so too, Yes, But speaking of that umpire, once he realized there was no way to get control of the game and get it back on track, he actually did declare the game as a forfeit to the Rangers. Okay, yeah,
so the Rangers did win this game forfeit from Cleveland. Really, Yeah, it was another loss for the Cleveland Indians, and with everything stemming from their idea to drive up attendance in the game, basically saying, hey, let's just try and get more numbers, give people some cheap ass beer, and bring up tension in these hard times. Fantastic idea, right, Like I said, like you said, pretty sure it's just the management team.
Well, they're also probably looking to kind of make a little bit more of a profit. Oh yeah, but after the shit that went down, I'm sure they were at a loss.
Well, how many people do you put this perspective? Guarantee you that they're at a loss for the beer, right for this.
Game, but the damage and everything, well.
Assuming the game is going to go the way they want, right, they got a bunch of numbers, they're going to be at a loss for the beer. But people are going to have fun at this game. They're going to want to come back to the next game, and next game when we have beer at regular prices, they're going to be more people in these seats buying more beer, and then we'll make profit in the long run. Yeah, I guess so that's probably their perspective. But like you say,
trying to make a profit. Trying to make a quick buck turned into something they didn't think exactly happened. Anyways, back to the Indians, it didn't look like their event had been a success or that their reputations would stay intact. But first impressions can be very deceiving, because the truth is that a little over a month later, on July eighteenth, the Cleveland Indians ran another ten cent Beer Night promotional event.
You're serious?
This time, nearly over forty two thousand fans showed up to support their team, almost doubling the numbers that had come out before. There did this again only a month later.
Are you like what?
Yeah?
That blows my fucking mind.
Same. I don't fucking understand it.
Oh my gosh, Okay.
The risk you're running like it's it's nuts.
You wouldn't even think that they would have repaired the damage I know the stadium.
Yeah, and clearly you're probably just like expecting the exact same thing to happen, Like you're baffled, trust me, I was to, But it looks like management had actually learned a lesson from the ten cent beer Night previously. Okay, this time fans could only buy two beer Okay, at the reduced price for the entire game.
Okay, well I had that idea earlier.
You did. You did pretty smart, And this time the event went off without ending in any potential life threatening riots. Wow, it went off without a hitch. It was a great game. People got to drink a couple of cheap beers, had a good time. Yeah.
Wow, I was like holding my breath there. I was like, what's round two gonna look like?
It went fantastic and everyone lived happily ever after.
I'm actually surprised as fuck.
That is the tale of ten cent beer night.
Huh.
That is a wild ride.
That is quite the tail while I was believable.
While I was talking to Nicole Boat doing this one just prior to hitting record on this episode, she's mentioning to me the Vancouver Riot. Was it twenty eleven?
Eleven? Yeah? I googled it really quick because we had something kind of similar. It happened in BC, probably not to the Yeah, a little different.
Different reasoning, but pretty much the same results. It wasn't in a stadium, it was in the streets.
Yeah.
But if anyone is a hockey person in twenty eleven, Vancouver Canucks We're playing Boston.
Bruins Stanley Cup Game Game seven.
Final game. The winner of this game wins the Stanley Cup. Vancouver hadn't went when a Stanley cupp still hasn't in decades, sorry, and tensions were super high. Vancouver is known to shit the bed and that's exactly what they did. And they lost the game brutally and people rioted in the city streets ye Vancouver.
Yeah, Like basically there was so much vandalism to the shops and the business is downtown around where like the arena was yea, and I'm reading here was it says in twenty fifteen, four years after the riot, please finish their investigation and recommended the final charges against two suspects, bringing the total to eight hundred and eighty seven charges against three hundred and one people. Holy shit, that's a lot of people.
Well, and the problem with that sort of thing is nowadays people are riding in the streets. There's phone cameras and video everywhere, and like.
Yeah, security cameras and everything. Yeah, so they were able to kind of pinpoints and I.
Remember this, people were like taking selfies and posting it to their Facebook and hashtagging shit on.
Instagram and they were breaking in and stealing shit from stores and everything.
Yeah, and they're live and shit doing this.
And do you remember was that that iconic photo of the two kissing in the street. Yeah, yes, there was literally like a freaking riot going on behind them, like fire and just like shit everywhere, debris all over the road and everything. And then it didn't like the girl fall or something, and then he helped her up and then they had like a little bit of an embrace or something like a kiss, and that got captured and it was an unbelievable image.
I've heard stories of it was it was a setup image. Even if it was or wasn't, it's still a fantastic image. But yeah, I think the story goes that, yeah, she had tripped or something like, they're perfectly safe, they're not in danger. Yeah, but yeah, she had just like fallen to the ground. They're kind of laughing, and yeah, he kissed her. But it's it's wild because they're just amongst like officers in riot and shit.
Yeah, that's I forgot all about that image. That was I own iconic blown away by that.
I think that is the image that represents that riot.
Yeah, but I remember just being like a BC person and I was just mortified.
Oh yeah, it was disgusting.
I was so embarrassed, not that image the riot, the riot itself that it was just I.
Mean, it was it was the couple kissing public displays of affection. You get a room.
People are like pretty passionate about their sports teams and everything, and that's and that's a hobby and it consumes their life and that's awesome. But just losing a game and not winning the Stanley Cup, like we no one should be acting like that afterwards.
I like dungeons and dragons, but I'm not about to reach across the table and fucking deck my dungeon Master because it died or something.
I mean, by all means be upset, like one hundred percent, like oh that like be disappointed in shit, But you don't need to be like vandalizing a shop that really had nothing to do with it and everything.
So yeah, it's disappointing when things escalate that far.
Yeah, so so on and that is so and the Vancouver one and this one that you just talked about, it's surprising that no one really died in either of these.
There was no death in the Vancouver one. It's just just like injuries.
Yeah, and not even like a ton of I think there was only one that was really bad, which it's amazing, blows my mind that people didn't die.
Yeah, but there were people getting stabbed in the Vancouver one. Wasn't There wasn't there people who got stabbed.
I'm not sure.
I'm pretty sure there was people who like got like minor stab injuries. Don't get me wrong, but I'm pretty sure there were people who at least got stabbed. Oh yeah, not a fun time. No, No, if there's a riot, you can guarantee you will see me running the other way. Oh yeah, and my pants will probably be wet with brown streaks in the back with fear.
Hey yeah, yeah, I would want to run for the hills. I mean yeah, lots even going to a hockey game now, I feel like around that many people, I'm just like, no, nope, I'm good.
Nope.
For our vacation, We're literally going somewhere that at this point is off season and there's hardly gonna be anyone there.
That's the time to go. You don't have stressful people running around being like, oh my god, I need to take a selfie, take a picture of me.
Yeah.
So, although that will be us because we're gonna take our cameras and we're gonna be taking.
Fucking oh yeah, I'll probably have to show my camera all the dogs after it is gonna be a million one photos of them.
Well, and you even told me you were gonna do like a vlog or a reel or something of like the dogs having this epic adventure to.
The dogs take on Tiffino.
Yeah, so we are going to be those annoying tourists. What are we talking about.
We'll be the only ones there.
Yeah, everyone's going to be looking at us being like, look at these fucking weirdos.
No, yeah, we'll fit in.
I don't know, we'll fit in. We are fucking weirdos. Bud No, we are fucking weirdos, bud No. Yeah.
Anyway, good job.
Thank you. That was a fun episode. It was. It's scary too, but a little less depressing than someone getting murdered assaulted or murdered or kidnapped.
Or so or like, I don't know why this the calleen one where Colleen Ritzer I was going to say stan and the one where she was literally in the box as a sex slave. Like God, some of the cases out there are just brew like just awful.
It baffles me what humans are capable of.
It's kind of baffling.
Yes, and in incidences like these riots or anything, a long mob mentality. It's wild to see. And we hate to say it's not we're not capable of it, but how many people took part in it. It happens around you. People just join in, and there's people who talk about it and say, you know what, Yeah, it's just like following the crowd. It's weird.
Yeah, you're kind of just living in the moments.
It's like a hive mind mindset. You just do it. We're all capable of it, which is scary as fuck.
Yeah, well, especially too. I think alcohol would just escalate that fan.
Yeah, it's not for me though, I'm a happy drunk. There are happy drunks out there.
Yeah, but even happy, you're kind of just like you're wanting part of something. They're like, yeah, like, whoa, I kind of I don't know.
I like to lecture people when I'm drunk, yet I talk a lot.
He does not shut the fuck.
I would be down there giving that umpire a piece of my mind. That player did not touch second base. I'm telling you right now.
As you're the one holding second base and have it in the.
He doesn't have it, I do.
I told you bye, and you're the one. Yeah, you see, you're the one that ran Nate the second.
Base and stole it and to this day I have it in storage. No, I'm kidding. Anyways, we've rambled enough. Thank you for being here, Thank you for listening, especially if you are at this point.
Yeah, you are the true MVP.
We've started doing this uh kind of rambling talkings a little bit at the end at the episodes. We think it's a little bit fun. Instead of doing it at the beginning, we could get a little little looser at the end. And whoever wants to stay for it ken and we don't interrupt the whole episode at the beginning exactly. So if you are here for it, we appreciate you. If you're here for even five minutes to the beginning
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Time, stay wicked.