Rangers History Today: Cleveland's 'Infamous' 10-Cent Beer Night

Today, one of the most infamous days in Rangers history happened, as 10-cent beer night in Cleveland brought things to a halt.

On this date in Texas Rangers history, it was ‘Ten Cent Beer Night’ in Cleveland.

On June 4, 1974, at Cleveland Municipal Stadium, the Texas Rangers faced Cleveland on a night in which the powers that be, hoping to pack the stadium, offered the locals 10 cent beers.

It went about as well as one could have hoped.

Cleveland had nearly rallied from a 5-3 deficit in the ninth inning. In fact, Cleveland had two runners on base, including the winning run, when a large number of fans entered the field of play. One could surmise that many were drunk. Things got unruly for about 15 minutes and led to at least one injury to Rangers outfield Mike Hargrove, who took a beer bottle to the head.

Done with the situation, umpire Nestor Chylak declared the only forfeit in Rangers history, declaring the Rangers the winner by a score of 9-0. The game remains one of the most bizarre in Major League history. Per nationalpastime.com, Cleveland sold an estimated 60,000 cups of beer to the 25,134 in attendance.

Chylak, who was an American League umpire for nearly 25 years, mingles with Rangers history in another way. Chylak eventually made his way to the Baseball Hall of Fame, doing so in 1999 in a class that featured Rangers legend Nolan Ryan.

Also on this date …

June 4, 2012: Craig Gentry became the fourth Rangers position player to pitch in a regular season game in Rangers history. He threw an inning at Oakland, giving up three hits, two runs and walking one.

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