As the Yankees stand on the brink of elimination in the first round of the playoffs for the third season in a row, owner George Steinbrenner says longtime manager Joe Torre needs his team to advance to the ALCS if he wants to keep managing the club.

Ten Cent Beer Night was an ill-fated promotion held by the American League's Cleveland Indians during a game against the Texas Rangers at Cleveland Municipal Stadium on June 4, 1974.

The idea behind the promotion was to offer as many eight-ounce (237 mL) cups of Stroh's beer as the fans could drink for just 10¢ apiece, thus increasing ticket sales. However, the stunt also had the effect of slowly turning the calm and orderly baseball fans into a rowdy and raucous crowd devoid of all inhibition. Ultimately, the game was forfeited to Texas on the orders of the home plate umpire because of the crowd's uncontrollable rowdiness, and because the game could not be resumed in a timely manner.

Early in the game, the Rangers took a 5-1 advantage. Meanwhile, throughout the contest, the Indians fans in attendance continually misbehaved. A woman ran out to the Indians' on-deck circle and lifted her shirt, and a naked man sprinted to second base as Grieve hit his second home run. A father and son team got into the act one inning later, running out in the outfield and mooning the bleacherites.^[2] The ugliness escalated when Cleveland's Leron Lee hit a line drive into the stomach of Ferguson Jenkins, dropping the hurler to the ground. The fans in the upper deck of Cleveland Stadium cheered, then chanted, "Hit 'em again! Hit 'em again! Harder! Harder!"

As the game progressed, and the crowd became more inebriated, more fans ran onto the field and caused problems. Mike Hargrove (who would manage the Indians and lead them to the World Series 21 years later), who had come in at mid-game, was the target of hot dogs and spit, and at one point, was very nearly hit with an empty gallon jug of Thunderbird.

The Rangers later argued a call in which Lee was called safe in a close play at third, spiking Jenkins in the process and forcing him to leave the game. Texas' anger enraged fans, who began throwing objects on the field.

In the bottom of the ninth, the Indians managed to rally and tie the game at five runs apiece, but with a crowd that had been consuming as much alcohol as it could for nine innings, the situation finally boiled over. After Texas outfielder Jeff Burroughs violently reacted to a fan stealing his glove and cap, the Texas players, led by manager Billy Martin, charged out to his aid with other members of his team onto the field with bats to defend the players against an avalanche of drunken fans pouring onto the field or hurling bottles from the stands. As soon as they arrived, hundreds of fans poured into the outfield, some armed with knives, chains and portions of stadium seats that they had broken apart. Realizing the Rangers might be in danger of their lives, Ken Aspromonte, the Indians' manager, ordered his players to grab bats and help the Rangers. Fans began throwing steel folding chairs and Cleveland relief pitcher Tom Hilgendorf was hit in the head by one of them. Mike Hargrove, involved in a fight with a fan, had to fight yet another on his way back to the Texas dugout. It was becoming obvious that the game could not continue. Every base was stolen as souvenirs, apparently the bases were kept and never returned and many fans threw a vast array of objects, such as cups, rocks, radio batteries, hot dogs, popcorn containers, and even several chairs. As a result, umpire crew chief Nestor Chylak, realizing that order would not be restored in a timely fashion, forfeited the game to Texas. He, too, was a victim of the fans as one hit him with part of a stadium seat, cutting him in the head.^[3] He also was cut in the hand by a rock.

As Joe Tait and Herb Score called the riot on radio, Herb Score mentioned the lack of police protection and Cleveland's best riot police then came on the scene.