30. Drunken Chaos Reaches a Crescendo in Cleveland (Part 3)
Halfway through the game, with chaos engulfing the Indians’ ballpark, a Rangers player was hit by a ball. The crowd loved that as well, and by now, having gone from the jolly drunk phase to mean drunk mode, they began shouting: “HIT HIM HARDER!” Against that backdrop, the Rangers’ manager Billy Martin, an alcoholic who had supposedly once taken a hit out on an umpire, came out to argue a call. The home crowd did not like that one bit, and before long, plastic cups were raining down from the stands. They were followed soon thereafter by a hail of firecrackers so intense that the Rangers’ bullpen had to be evacuated for the players’ safety. Somebody made an announcement, asking the fans to stop throwing trash on the field, but that only emboldened them to redouble their efforts.
Soon, the fans were throwing not just plastic cups and firecrackers, but just about anything they could get their hands on, including hot dogs, rocks, batteries, trash cans, and ripped-out seats. One Rangers players estimated that at least 20 pounds of hot dogs had been thrown at him. So many streakers were getting on the field, that piles of clothes began to form up. By then, it should have begun to dawn on the Indians that they might have skimped on security: they had hired only 50 personnel to secure the entire ballpark. However, there was a huge disconnect between what should have happened and what did. How did management actually handle the mounting crisis? By the 8th inning, just about anybody in charge, or who worked for the Indians’ administration, had left.
