Disco Demolition Night

Disco Demolition Night was a promotional event which occurred on July 12, 1979 at Comiskey Park in Chicago, Illinois during a scheduled twilight-night Major League Baseball doubleheader between the Chicago White Sox and the Detroit Tigers which eventually turned into mayhem. It was also known as "Anti-Disco Night", or by its indelicate "underground" title, "Disco Sucks Night".

Related Topics:
July 12 - 1979 - Comiskey Park - Chicago, Illinois - Major League Baseball - Doubleheader - Chicago White Sox - Detroit Tigers

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Steve Dahl and Garry Meier, two radio disc jockeys for the Chicago radio station WLUP, came up with a promotion that involved people bringing unwanted disco music records to the game in exchange for a 98 cents admission fee. It would prove to be the most ill-conceived promotional idea since the infamous "Ten Cent Beer Night" in Cleveland in 1974 http://www.baseballlibrary.com/baseballlibrary/features/flashbacks/06_04_1974.stm.

Related Topics:
Radio disc jockey - Radio - WLUP - Disco - Record - Ten Cent Beer Night - Cleveland - 1974

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

This promotion apparently encouraged a lot of people to come to the park who were not "typical" baseball fans. Sox TV announcers Harry Caray and Jimmy Piersall commented freely on the "strange people" that seemed to be wandering aimlessly around the stands. In Slouching Toward Fargo, Mike Veeck – son of then-White Sox owner Bill Veeck – recalled that the pregame air was heavy with the scent of marijuana. Many of the spectators threw their records from the stands during the baseball game.

Related Topics:
Harry Caray - Jimmy Piersall - Mike Veeck - Bill Veeck - Marijuana

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

After the first game, Dahl came out to center field along with the records in a box rigged with a bomb, in a mock demolition of disco music. When it was exploded, thousands of fans ran onto the field. Some started their own fires and mini-riots. The bomb also ripped a hole in the outfield grass surface. Bill Veeck took to the public address system and pleaded with the fans to leave the field immediately. Sparky Anderson, manager of the Detroit Tigers, refused to field his team citing "safety" concerns despite the fact that the field had been cleared by Chicago police. This was the sole reason for the cancellation of the second game, which also resulted in the forfeiture by the White Sox to the Tigers.

Related Topics:
Bomb - Sparky Anderson

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~