TRIVIAL PURSUITS: What Caused the Last American League Forfeit?

Do you know what happened?

Answer:  Disco Demolition Night

“Disco Demolition Night” was held at Comiskey Park between games of a doubleheader between the Chicago White Sox and the Detroit Tigers.  More than 50,000 fans were in attendance – along with another 20,000 who crashed the gates (even though the game was sold out).  To put that in perspective, that season the White Sox were drawing about 12,000 to their Thursday night games.

The “demolition” consisted of the public destruction of a pile of disco records (reportedly about 20,000) that fans had brought into the park in exchange for a ticket with a discounted price of 98¢ (the sponsor of the event was WLUP-FM, 97.9 MHz.

After the demolition, several thousand fans, many of them intoxicated, stormed the field, stealing equipment and destroying the infield.

The Tigers won the first game 4-1.  But the nightcap of the doubleheader was canceled and forfeited to the Detroit Tigers.  To this day, the second game of this doubleheader is still the last game forfeited in the American League.

You can check out some coverage of the demolition (check out the much-younger Bill Curtis and Greg Gumbel) at http://www.plansponsor.com/A_Little_Pre_Friday_File_Fun_071211.aspx