Guest Column by ALEX ROKAKIS

CLEVELAND, JUNE 3 — Growing up in Cleveland’s West 25^th & Denison Avenue neighborhood, I remember going to many Cleveland Indians baseball games as a child in the cavernous old Cleveland Municipal Stadium. I remember many players like Sam McDowell (Sudden Sam McDowell), Leon Wagner (Daddy Wags), Duke Sims, Max Alvis, Rocky Colavito (“Don’t Knock the Rock) and Tito Francona (father of Terry Francona). I also remember numerous promotions that were held such as Bat Day and other gimmicks to get people into the seats because the team was pretty lackluster during my childhood.

All of these promotions pale by comparison to the Beer Night promotion of June 4, 1974. The Cleveland Indians thought it would be a good idea to sell beer for 10 cents a cup with a limit of 6 cups of beer per purchase. Alcohol laws were very different then. In 1974, Ohio sold a low alcohol 3.2% beer at the time which was the only alcohol available to an 18-year-old.

On June 4, it was my 18^th birthday and my twin brother, Andy and I decided to go to the Cleveland Indians baseball game that night and celebrate with my best friend Mike and his dad and enjoy my first legal beer. I remember it was a Tuesday night and my high school prom and graduation were later that same week. It was a very exciting time. The weather was wonderfully warm and a perfect night for the baseball game.

I remember sitting in the upper deck on the first base side, and it was amazing to me that I could go to the vendors and get six beers for $.60!  The craziness started early. At the time, streaking (running naked at public events) was very popular and it didn’t take more than an inning before we saw a streaker jump onto the field wearing nothing but a smile and try to run across the outfield before the police caught him!

We were playing the Texas Rangers and although there had previously been a bench-clearing incident the last time the two teams met in Texas, I didn’t think it was a big deal, but then again, I wasn’t on the field either. I look back now on all the players on the Texas team who became part of Cleveland Indians history, including of course, Mike Hargrove, Toby Harrah and Billy Martin! I remember the crowd was fairly large for a weeknight and I have since looked it up online and apparently the crowd was about 25,000 fans who consumed 60,000 cups of beer!

As the game progressed, things began to get more and more rowdy, but I never saw it as a problem; it seemed just like a giant party (perhaps it was the fog of beer). More and more streakers were coming out on the field between innings and it turned into a contest, whether or not the police would catch the streaker before they jumped over the fences in the outfield! I also remember that a woman ran out on the field and exposed her breasts, which was a big deal when you’re 18 years old, but I was so far away I couldn’t see anything really!

The Indians tied the Rangers 5-5 late in the game and then things began to get crazy with more and more fans running onto the field between innings. By the ninth inning the fans kept getting louder and louder and some fans began to throw things on the field. If you read the national newspaper stories from the day after, it was much more dangerous and uglier than I realized at the time. I do recall some firecrackers going off, but I was unaware that they were actually tossed in or near the Texas Rangers dugout! I know that things definitely got out of hand by the ninth inning.

Newspaper accounts from the next day State that in the ninth inning, a fan ran out on the field and tried to take the baseball cap from Jeff Burroughs of the Texas Rangers. Burroughs fell down during the incident and the Texas Rangers believed he was attacked and emptied their bench. That’s when all hell broke loose! Hundreds of fans poured onto the field and it was impossible to complete the game. Apparently, there have only been five baseball games forfeited since 1954 and this was one of them as we did forfeit the game!

Luckily, I saved my ticket stub and have proof that I was there. I used my ticket stub and created my own little display at home with a plaque and pictures displayed in my basement man cave of that crazy part of Cleveland Indians baseball history.

Rokakis is a retired assistant United States attorney. He lives in Rocky River, practices law, and still attends Cleveland baseball games.