Classic moments in bargain history
So I'm watching Costas because I wanted to catch his interview with car racing buff Paul Newman.
But the highlight of the show was a segment recalling an extraordinary moment in the history of bargains: 10-cent beers offered at a 1974 baseball game.
What could possibly go wrong?
It was June 4, 1974, and the Cleveland Indians were at the bottom of the barrel. The team had come off a season marking its lowest attendance since World War II.
What to do?
Offer super cheap beer, of course.
So 25,000 fans show up, three times the usual number, to see the Indians play the Texas Rangers.
Half-way through the game, fans were running all over the field, some streaking.
Some Rangers players were showered with beer and hot dogs. Texas first basemen Mike Hargrove almost got hit in the head by a jug of wine.
One of the umpires was struck in head by a flying chair.
It was a riot by the ninth inning.
Texas manager Billy Martin grabbed a bat and told his team to charge the field. Hargove later recalled it was broken.
Umpire Nestor Chylak, hit by a chair and a rock, allowed players to escape before declaring a 9-0 forfeit victory for the Rangers.
One newspaper headline summed it up: "Beer, 9. Indians, 0."
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