Most fans at Dodger Stadium on Aug. 10, 1995, were presumably root, root, rooting for the home team, but that didn't stop them from sabotaging a potential win for the local nine in the middle of a playoff race.
That was the night when a supposedly harmless fan promotion went way wrong. Not in a Disco Demolition Night or 10 Cent Beer Night way, but the end result was the same.
After fans hurled giveaway baseballs onto the field for a third time in disgust over a bad call and player ejections, the Dodgers had to forfeit their game against the Cardinals with one out in the bottom of the ninth. Final score: Cardinals 2, Dodgers 1. Here's a vintage report from "SportsCenter."
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"It was unbelievable," Dodgers manager Tom Lasorda said at the time, according to the Los Angeles Times. "I've never seen anything like this. I'm disappointed in the ones who threw the balls, not the good fans."
The forfeit wasn't without controversy, as one might expect. Despite balls being thrown onto the field multiple times, fans received no warning to stop. So when umpire Jim Quick abruptly ended the game, it took many by surprise — including the Dodgers.
"What amazed me is that they would forfeit the game without having any announcement made," team executive vice president Fred Claire said. "I don't know how you can do that without giving a warning over the PA."
The umpires stood by their decision, but weren't willing to accept responsibility.
"This whole thing was Tom Lasorda's fault," umpire Bob Davidson said, according to The Associated Press. "He instigated the crowd, waving his arms. He has himself to blame, absolutely. He knows he's to blame."
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Lasorda, obviously, saw it differently.
"How did I instigate it? I was talking to Jim Quick. All I was asking was why he threw my players out," Lasorda said. "Who made them (the fans) throw the balls the first time? What did I do? If I don't come out and ask why my players are being thrown out, what kind of a manager am I? That's all I did. I tell you, that is a real crime, for those guys to try to put that blame on me."
Regardless of where the blame fell, it was the first MLB forfeit since Disco Demolition Night in 1979 — and the last one to date. Though the forfeit prevented the Dodgers from inching closer to a postseason berth, they ended up winning the division anyway — then were swept by the Reds in the NLDS.
Two years later, a similar ball-tossing incident occurred on opening day in Milwaukee. The dreaded F-word was threatened, but thankfully for the Brewers, order was restored before baseball's nuclear option was needed.
After the Milwaukee fiasco, MLB declared that giveaways of baseballs or other throwable objects must occur after a game as fans leave the stadium.
