21. From Drunk to Drunken Riot
Halfway through the game, as chaos engulfed the Indians’ ballpark, a Rangers player was hit by a ball. The crowd loved that as well. By now, they had gone from the jolly drunk phase to mean drunk mode, and began to shout: “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 that asked the fans to stop throwing trash on the field. 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. That included hot dogs, rocks, batteries, trash cans, and ripped out seats. One Rangers players estimated that at least twenty pounds of hot dogs had been thrown at him.