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  • 10-Cent Beer Night Celebrates 40th Anniversary

    It’s been 40 years since the Cleveland Indians hosted 10-cent beer night, and to this day it is still one of the most infamous promotions in Major League Baseball history.

    The promotion was held on June 4, 1974 and was intended to both show the Cleveland Indians’ appreciation for fans and as a way to make money of course.

    While the idea was innocent enough, 10-cent beer night ended up going wrong and even caused a massive riot. It also led to several streakers, a few fist fights, some fire crackers and the Indians forfeiting that night’s game against the Rangers.

    The whole thing may sound like a mess and something Cleveland would be ashamed to talk about, but that couldn’t be further from the truth. Cleveland Indians fans talk about the catastrophe with fond memories and even consider it a source of civic pride.

    There are a lot of questions about what really went down at the stadium that night, but an even better one is, “why would anyone attempt a 10-cent beer night at a baseball stadium?”

    The truth is, Cleveland wasn’t the first place to come up with the idea and other stadiums across the country had hosted similar events. Cleveland had already sponsored a five cent beer night that went much smoother than expected and inspired them to host similar events.

    “It was just a way to get fans to the ballpark,” said Tom Grieve, then a Rangers outfielder. “It seemed like a good idea. [The events on June 4 were] a matter of circumstances that presented themselves throughout the night.”

    10-cent beer night may have been a bad idea, or it may have been a coincidence that a bunch of people drinking cheap beer and watching a sporting event under a full moon got a little rowdy and out of control. The point is that 10-cent beer night is remembered as an infamous day in sports history and today, Cleveland fans celebrated its 40th anniversary.

    Image via YouTube

  • 10 Cent Beer Night Offers Memories And Nostalgia

    Baseball, more than any other sport, revels in the history of the game, remembering the great or not-so-great players and moments of the past, a tinge of nostalgia blanketing over the memories, always accompanied by the phrase—“I was there!”

    Even for nights like 10-Cent Beer Night, which was hosted by the Cleveland Indians at Municipal Stadium on June 4, 1974, the reminiscing is contagious. What started off as a simple idea to sell cheap beers led to mayhem in the ninth inning of a game between the Indians and Texas Rangers, according to MLB.com. It led to a night that was unforgettable.

    So what are the stats of this game between the Indians and Rangers, according to Dan Coughlin, a retired sportswriter who was present at the game? How, in other words, would you sum it up?

    “There were 25,134 fans. 60,000 Genesee beers at 10 cents each. 50 cops. 19 streakers. 7 emergency room injuries. 9 arrests. 2 bare moons. 2 bouncing breasts. 1 sportswriter punched in the jaw.”

    Dan Coughlin, of course, was that sportswriter.

    According to Anthony Castrovince of MLB.com, the environment and past history between the two teams led to the eventual forfeit of the game by the Indians (only the fifth forfeit in MLB history). A much younger crowd was on hand for the game, due to college students returning to town. The early June humidity led to clogged lines at the concession stands, and of course there was a full moon that June 4 night.

    “Every bartender will tell you,” said Coughlin, “the gravitational attraction of the full moon makes crazy people even crazier.”

    As Castrovince writes about the events that would transpire, “The Indians forfeited that night’s game against the Rangers in the midst of a ninth-inning comeback because a crazed crowd had overtaken the events on the field. It is one of just five forfeits since 1954, and the only one known to include a combination of streaking nudists, exploding firecrackers, stolen bases (literally) and an organists’ rendition of ‘Take Me Out to the Ballgame’ serving as the soundtrack to 50 ballplayers defending themselves from a crowd of unruly drunks.”

    It would not be the last of the 10-Cent Beer Night in Cleveland. The Indians held another one July 18, 1974. For that game, the crowd was larger but the promotion went off without a hitch.

    Image via Wikimedia Commons

  • Detroit Tigers Show Up Late and Lose

    The Detroit Tigers just had one of those days. Not only did they show up late to work, but they ended up losing in extra innings.

    The team was forced to spend an extra night in Boston Sunday after their plane experienced mechanical problems. The team played the Red Sox and were set to leave immediately after their win. After sitting on board the plane and waiting over an hour, they heard the news they were staying put.

    ”It was noisy until they told us the flight was cancelled,” Tiger Torii Hunter stated in an interview. ”We were having fun, jumping up and down and cracking jokes with each other. An hour and a half went by and then they said, ‘Hey, we’re going back to the hotel’ and all the jokes just stopped.”

    The team’s staff was left to find 60 hotel rooms at 2 am, not giving the team much time to rest before playing the Indians. Hunter said he didn’t get to bed until about 4 am. They were also left to wear their black and orange striped pajama-like travel uniforms they put on after the game, as their equipment showed up after they did.

    The team didn’t arrive to Progressive Field until about 4 pm, just three hours before the first pitch. And despite all of their efforts, they didn’t have what it takes to topple the Indians.

    Detroit’s J.D. Martinez hit the long ball, tying up the game at four a piece in the ninth, but that’s where the Tigers’ luck ended.

    Cleveland’s Michael Brantley homered off of Al Alburquerque with two outs in the 10th inning, sending the ball into the Tigers’ bullpen. The walk-off homer helped end the Tigers’ six game winning streak.

    Tigers manager Brad Ausmus didn’t use lack of sleep as an excuse for the team.

    “The guys did a good job getting themselves prepared to play,” he said in an interview. “They were fine. The Indians were just better tonight.”

    Image via Detroit Tigers, Twitter

  • Cleveland Indians Land Yan Gomes In Six Year Deal

    Catcher Yan Gomes has made a big commitment to the Cleveland Indians.

    On Monday he finalized the deal and signed a $23 million six-year contract with the team. He said that he felt confident that their turnaround in the 2013 season would carry over to future seasons and he wanted to be a part of that.

    “It goes into what it means to be in this organization,” Gomes said. “You’ve got younger guys like ourselves just wanting to be here. We’re potentially signing a big amount of our careers. There’s not another place I would want to be with, especially from the top to the bottom here. It’s the organization you want to be with.”

    The Cleveland Indians are just as excited as Gomes to have him coming on full time with their team. They saw a little bit of what Gomes could do during the 2013 season, and are anxious to see what the future holds. Last season, Gomes hit .294 with 11 home runs, 18 doubles, and 38 RBIs in 88 games.

    “He showed us that he’s worth this contract,” Terry Francona, Cleveland Indians manager, said. “That’s how much faith we have in him. That’s pretty amazing for a young kid with that kind of track record, or lack of track record, for us to buy in that much. That’s a pretty big compliment to him.”

    Gomes joined the Cleveland Indians after he was traded from the Blue Jays for pitcher Esmil Rogers in November 2012. “This is the organization I want to be with, that actually made it pretty easy,” Gomes said. “I’m so thankful for that. My wife and I are excited to be Cleveland Indians for a while now. … We got a little taste of the postseason last year. That’s what we play for.”

    Image via Twitter

  • Cleveland Indians Defeat A’s, Sign Gomes

    Cleveland Indians Defeat A’s, Sign Gomes

    The Cleveland Indians defeated the Oakland A’s in Opening Day play on Monday by a 2-0 score. The win was enough to cause A’s fans to boo, and to send the American League saves leader to the dugout without a win.

    Athletics starting pitcher Sonny Gray battled through six innings against the Indians, before leaving with both tied at zero. At the top of the ninth, the score was the same as the A’s sent in closer Jim Johnson, who boasts 101 saves over the last two seasons.

    After facing five batters, Johnson gave up two runs, allowing the Indians to beat the A’s with the points they earned at the hands of the former Oriole.

    Johnson was sent to the A’s during this past off-season in a trade to Baltimore for Jemile Weeks. Although Johnson had a phenomenal 2012 season, 2013 will riddled with blown saves and heartache for Orioles fans. The former all-star revisited his past Monday with yet another blown save. And just like in Baltimore, the fans weren’t too appreciative in Oakland, either.

    “I would have booed me, too,” Johnson said in an interview.”I deserved it. The next time, though, they’ll be cheering.”

    Here’s how Twitter responded to Johnson’s performance:

    The Cleveland Indians hope to continue the momentum of this win throughout the season, especially with the help of newly-signed catcher Yan Gomes.

    The ink was still wet on the contract when the young player, who experienced a break-out season last year, sat behind the plate on Monday. Gomes and the club agreed to a six year, $23 million deal, which also includes club options for 2020 and ’21 that could bring the total to $42 million over eight years, or even $48 million with escalators.

    Gomes is the first Brazilian-born player in the majors, and is appreciative and excited about the opportunity.

    “This is a huge blessing getting a contract like this, but now we’re talking about taking this team to another level,” he said in an interview.

    Image via Cleveland Indians, Twitter

  • Baseball Playoffs Set to Begin Tonight

    It was an amazing finish for three American League teams competing for the right to play in the one game Wild Card that begins on Tuesday night. For the past several weeks, the Texas Rangers, the Tampa Bay Rays and the Cleveland Indians fought tooth and nail to outlast the Baltimore Orioles, the New York Yankees and the Kansas City Royals. And even after 162 games, there needed to be another game, another dramatic finish for Texas and Tampa Bay who have seemingly been playing like every day was an elimination game.

    On the heels of an outstanding pitching performance by David Price and the power bat of Evan Longoria, the Rays were able to best the Rangers in their ballpark in Arlington 5-2 for the right to face the smoking hot Cleveland Indians who have won ten in a row. The two teams will compete in a one game match on Wednesday night at 8:07 pm.

    David Price describes Monday night’s victory on his twitter account:

    Tonight, the Pittsburgh Pirates, who haven’t hosted a postseason game in 7,660 days and haven’t had a winning season since 1992, send Francisco Liriano to the mound to face Johnny Cueto and the Cincinnati Reds. Tomorrow, we will get a chance to see the Rays face the Indians in Cleveland at 8:07. The game will be a battle of young arms. The Rays will send 25-year-old Alex Cobb to the mound and the Indians will hope that rookie Danny Salazar can give them quality innings. Both games will air on TBS and both games feature a one and done scenario. Win and move onto the best of five series against the division winners, lose and schedule a tee time back home.

    The winner of the Pirates/Red matchup will face the St. Louis Cardinals on Thursday at Busch Stadium. There will be three games on Friday as the Division series gets into full swing. The winner of the Rays/Indians will face the Boston Red Sox at Fenway at 3:00 pm. The Los Angeles Dodgers are set to face the Atlanta Braves at Turner Field at 6:00 pm and the Detroit Tigers will square off against the Oakland Athletics at the Coliseum at 9:30.

    The Red Sox and the Cardinals both led their respective leagues this season with 97 wins. However, we’ve seen before with this three-round playoff system, it’s anyone’s title to win. The Indians are certainly the hottest team coming into the playoffs but it really is anyone’s championship to win.

    Image via Facebook

  • Cleveland Indians Defeat Minnesota Twins

    Cleveland Indians Defeat Minnesota Twins

    The recent victory for the Cleveland Indians against the Minnesota Twins, ending with a score of 5-1, perfectly positioned the Indians for competing for the AL wild card where at least a tie is pretty much guaranteed.

    The next phase for the Indians will take place on Wednesday against either Tampa Bay or Texas at Progressive Field. The winner from that game will move on to ALDS to duke it out against the following division champions: Detroit, Oakland, and Boston.

    One may expect the team to relish in the recent victory; however, the manager seemed more concerned that the team focus on their strengths and plan to take the process day-by-day.

    Terry Francona, the manager of the Cleveland Indians, spoke about the team’s recent win. “Every time you win, it makes the next day that much more important, so we get to show up tomorrow and see if we can win a game. We need to be one run better tomorrow and then we go from there,” Terry said.

    The players appeared to enjoy the competition as much as their fans have been enjoying watching the games. “We want to keep this roll going. This is so much fun,” Nick Swisher said.

    Scott Kazmir, who has 43 strikeouts in 28 innings, spoke about the importance of getting opposing players to just swing at the ball. “I was able to attack the strike zone and expand. I’m going out there and getting them in swing mode, and once I get two strikes, I have quite a few pitches I’m able to set them down with,” Kazmir said.

    If hard work is the epitome of success, Kazmir and his teammates have set themselves up well. “We’re still very hungry, so we’re going out there every day and grinding at-bats and making quality pitches. That’s something we can carry into the postseason,” Scott Kazmir said.

    The following video shows an overview of the Cleveland Indians presented by the Major League Baseball Network with talks during the team’s spring training.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g55nlGCnuiE

    [Image Via Wikimedia Commons]

  • Ten Cent Beer Night: Famous Riot Remembered On 39th Anniversary

    Does ten cent beer night ring a bell to you? It should if you’re a baseball fan, or over the age of 45.

    Today is the 39th anniversary of one of the worst riots in baseball history – Ten Cent Beer Night. It happened at Cleveland Stadium in a game between the Cleveland Indians and Texas Rangers on June 4, 1974.

    In an attempt to attract more fans, the Cleveland Indians decided to offer ten cent beers. The beers contained 12 fluid oz. of 3.2 percent alcohol with a limit of six per customer. Even with such low alcoholic content, many fans became drunk and belligerent as the night went on. In the ninth inning, a drunk fan had run out onto the field attempting to steal an outfielder Jeff Burrough’s hat. Needless to say, things got out of control quickly. The teams and the fans converged on the field in a massive brawl that saw many players and fans injured.

    After the event, you would think that the stadium would be done with ten cent beer night. But alas, the stadium went ahead with the promotion, but with some strict parameters in place. On the next ten cent beer night, staff were only allowed to serve two beers per person.

    Since then, the ten cent beer night has become somewhat of a legend among baseball fans. It even got its own ballad from “Yet Another String Band:”

    [h/t: Wikipedia] [Image: Homage]

  • Johnny Damon Signs On With Cleveland Indians

    Baseball vet and ex-Tampa Bay member Johnny Damon has officially signed a deal with the Cleveland Indians, a move that some see as an attempt to boost their numbers as well as help a weak offense. With a .176 batting average, the Indians are the worst team in the MLB right now.

    Though the details of the contract haven’t yet been disclosed, it reportedly has a full no-trade clause, but will allow him to opt out upon the return of outfielder Grady Sizemore, who is out due to a back injury.

    Damon hasn’t been in spring training at all, so the word is that he’ll have to take some time to prepare before he’s ready to start a full season.

    (image)@keithlaw
    keithlaw    I don’t trust Johnny Damon as far as he can throw.(image) 14 hours ago via Twitter for Android ·  Reply ·  Retweet ·  Favorite · powered by @socialditto

    (image)@chadzumock
    chad zumock    Are we able to trade Johnny Damon for Johnny Damon 12 years ago? #tribe(image) 6 hours ago via Twitter for iPhone ·  Reply ·  Retweet ·  Favorite · powered by @socialditto

    (image)@GlennMooreCLE
    Glenn Moore    I’m all for Johnny Damon. I just hope there is a clause in his contract that he has to come back when Sizemore gets re-injured.(image) 4 hours ago via web ·  Reply ·  Retweet ·  Favorite · powered by @socialditto

    (image)@nickstads
    Nick Stadler    Cleveland just landed Johnny Damon! We need more guyz like him(image) 5 minutes ago via Twitter for iPhone ·  Reply ·  Retweet ·  Favorite · powered by @socialditto

    (image)@unlitco
    Matthew Hughes    I’m happy for Johnny Damon. The Indians (@indians) just got better.(image) 3 minutes ago via web ·  Reply ·  Retweet ·  Favorite · powered by @socialditto

    (image)@chabrams3one4
    Chad Abrams    How much will Johnny Damon really help us? As soon as Grady comes back, Damon gets to leave. That’s in June. I hope I’m wrong. #Indians(image) 6 minutes ago via Twitter for Android ·  Reply ·  Retweet ·  Favorite · powered by @socialditto

    (image)@JordanMWilhite
    Jordan Wilhite    johnny damon is an indian!!! #rolltribe(image) 1 minute ago via Mobile Web ·  Reply ·  Retweet ·  Favorite · powered by @socialditto