Forfeit (baseball) - MLB Forfeits Since 1970

MLB Forfeits Since 1970

• At the Washington Senators' final game at RFK Stadium against the New York Yankees on September 30, 1971, with the home team leading 7-5 and two outs in the top of the ninth inning, fans angered by the team's impending move to Dallas-Fort Worth, where the Senators were to become the Texas Rangers in 1972, stormed the field and vandalized the stadium. One fan grabbed first base and ran off with it. With no prospect of order being restored (the security guards had simply walked out during the game), the umpires forfeited the game to the Yankees.
• Ten Cent Beer Night: A promotion held by the Cleveland Indians on June 4, 1974 backfired when intoxicated Cleveland fans jumped onto the field and attacked Texas Rangers outfielder Jeff Burroughs with the score tied 5-5 in the ninth inning. This led to a riot in which the drunken and rowdy fans—armed with an array of debris including chunks of the stadium seating -- brawled with players from both teams as well as with staff members. The umpires forfeited the game to Texas.
• During the September 15, 1977 game between the Baltimore Orioles and Toronto Blue Jays at Exhibition Stadium, Orioles manager Earl Weaver claimed a tarp being used on the bullpen mound endangered his players. After arguing with umpire Marty Springstead, Weaver was ejected and he responded by pulling his team from the field, forfeiting the game to the Blue Jays. This marked the first (and to date only) time since 1914 that a Major League baseball team deliberately decided to forfeit a game.
• Disco Demolition Night: On July 12, 1979, the Chicago White Sox held a game in which Chicago radio personality Steve Dahl came onto the field to blow up a box full of disco records between games of a doubleheader with the Detroit Tigers. Rowdy and intoxicated fans, who had packed Comiskey Park beyond capacity, immediately stormed the field, engaged in various acts of vandalism and theft, and did not leave the field until the arrival of Chicago Police in full riot gear. The field was so badly torn up that the umpires decided the second game couldn't be played. American League President Lee MacPhail later forfeited the second game to Detroit.
• On August 10, 1995, the Los Angeles Dodgers gave out baseballs to paying customers as they entered the Dodger Stadium gates for a game against the St. Louis Cardinals. However, fans interrupted the game in the seventh inning when they threw baseballs onto the field. The Cardinals were leading the game 2-1 in the bottom of the ninth inning. The first batter, Raúl Mondesí, was called out on strikes and promptly ejected by home plate umpire Jim Quick for arguing, as was Dodger manager Tommy Lasorda moments later. Dodger fans, fueled by a series of close calls and a few rounds of alcohol, immediately began throwing baseballs onto the field. The Cardinals left the field due to safety concerns. However, when they returned to the field, a ball sailed out of the center field bleachers. The umpires immediately forfeited the game to St. Louis.