E13: Disco Demolition Night at Comiskey & Mendoza Line Explained

One bad idea can become baseball history, and sometimes it takes the form of a crate full of disco records wired to explode in center field. We go from a quick, colorful detour on the Mendoza Line (baseball’s infamous .200 batting average benchmark) to one of the most chaotic nights ever staged at a ballpark: Disco Demolition Night at Comiskey Park in Chicago. Along the way, we connect the dots between language, fandom, and the kind of promotions that can flip a regular season game into a headline. 

We walk through how disco took over late-1970s pop culture, why the backlash got so loud, and how Chicago DJ Steve Dahl turned that anger into a stunt. Then we dig into the White Sox promotional machine powered by Bill Veeck’s anything-for-a-crowd reputation, and the plan that sounded funny on paper: bring a disco record, pay 98 cents, and watch the pile get blown up between games of a doubleheader. The crowd size, the debris on the field, and the rush that followed turned a marketing gimmick into a safety nightmare and, ultimately, an American League forfeit. 

To put that forfeit in context, we also revisit MLB’s last forfeit overall: the 1995 St. Louis Cardinals vs Los Angeles Dodgers game where a souvenir baseball giveaway helped trigger a rain of hardballs onto the field after disputed calls. If you love baseball history, weird trivia, and the intersection of sports and culture, this story delivers. Subscribe, share the show with a fellow fan, and leave a review. Which promotion do you think was more reckless: exploding records or handing out baseballs?

Email us at fungosandfastballs@gmail.com

Transcript

The Mendoza Line And Its Origin

Jerry 0:00

For today's first pitch, we're breaking out the old baseball dictionary once again, looking into the term the Mendoza line. It's a baseball term when a player's batting average goes below 200. You can even hear it outside sometimes of baseball and other sports, or as a metaphor for, you know, other situations when people are underperforming. For example, as a husband, he's really below the Mendoza line.

Brooke 0:25

Aw Well, you're not talking about you, because babe, you're way higher. You're like Aaron Judge last season. I think he hit a 331.

Jerry 0:34

Oh, I'm touched. I was even out last night and had a beer that was called the Mendoza Line. It was a pretty basic lager with probably the lowest alcohol by volume of the whole set of beers on tap.

Brooke 0:49

Oh, now I get it. That's right, because it's the lowest alcohol volume. That's clever, clever.

Jerry 0:53

Well, the term comes from shortstop Mario Mendoza, who played nine seasons in the majors for the Pirates, Mariners, and Rangers between 1974 and 82. Mendoza was actually a pretty good defensive shortstop. He really wouldn't have lasted nine years in the majors if uh he wasn't one. But the term was clearly created because he wasn't a great hitter. But ironically, Mendoza had a batting average above the Mendoza line with 215 over his career.

Brooke 1:21

Did you say ironically, are you using that correctly?

Jerry 1:25

Well, probably not, I guess. Ever since that Alanis Morrisette song, I really am not sure anymore. So who's responsible for this rather disparaging phrase? Well, it was first popularized when George Brett a conversation with ESPN's Chris Berman. I actually I really miss Chris Berman and his quirky nicknames. I remember some of my favorites, like when he called Bert Bly levin, Bert "be home" Bly levin, or Dave Parker, Dave "Parallel" Parker.

Brooke 1:54

I remember he would call Sammy Sosa, Sammy "say it ain't" Sosa.

Jerry 2:00

That's a good one, too. But Mendoza actually said it probably came a year earlier from one of his Mariner's teammates, either Tom Paciorek or Bruce Bochte. Now that's different from the manager Bruce Bochy. Well, Bruce Bochy deserves his own episode here.

Brooke 2:20

Oh my gosh. With all of the episode ideas you have, we're gonna have to be posting episodes daily to keep up.

Jerry 2:26

Well, I I got the ideas. I'm willing to record them, but I I really don't think our listeners want daily episodes.

Brooke 2:32

Yeah, I don't think so. Let us know though, but you do have a day job.

Jerry 2:35

Well, for now, I mean this thing's gonna take off.

Brooke 2:38

It will.

Jerry 2:40

In nine seasons in the majors, though, Mario Mendoza did hit below his own line five times. After the MLB, he returned to Mexico in 83, played seven seasons for the Mexican League, and he hit a decent average of 291. Now, recently, it should be noted that in the majors, batting average has trended downward over the past 25 years. In 2000, it was 270, and last year is 245. So with that decline, more and more players every season at some point do dip below the Mendoza line. But the term still comes up with announcers and commentators. At first, uh Mario Mendoza wasn't too fond of the phrase, but eventually it came around, didn't mind it so much, even tried to copyright it. But, you know, wouldn't you know someone already got there to it?

Brooke 3:30

Maybe I could use that for my fantasy baseball. It's a cool name, the Mendoza line.

Jerry 3:36

Oh, come on, you should use a more optimistic name. You're gonna win it all this year.

Brooke 3:40

Oh, you give a girl a dream. But before we get too far off base, let's start the episode.

Welcome To Fungos And Fastballs

Disco Backlash Meets Baseball Promotions

Jerry 3:47

Hello and welcome to Fungos and Fastballs, the podcast of baseball history and trivia. I'm your host, Jerry Dynes, and each episode will be a snapshot into America's pastime. Maybe it'll be a player, a tradition, a stadium, a rule, or some random fun aspect of the game. So let's get on to today's topic. Here at Fungos and Fastballs, we discuss not only the players and games, but yeah, we try to capture some of those iconic and yeah, even crazy moments where the sport itself intersects with pop culture, history. And as such, we bring you an iconic day in baseball, disco demolition night. Yeah, in today's episode, we're going to be discussing four-on-the-floor rhythm characteristics of disco music.

Brooke 4:35

Say what now?

Jerry 4:36

You know, I can't discuss disco rhythm.

Brooke 4:39

Well, is this our podcast? I thought there's some baseball here.

Jerry 4:42

I thought, you know, since it's been a while since disco has been popular, people might want to revisit that. But no, no, no. We should discuss baseball. And we are going to discuss. We're going to discuss white o White Sox owner Bill Vec and his promotions. The genesis of who thought destroying disco records in the middle of a double header seemed like a good idea at the time, the day itself, the aftermath, plus another doomed promotion by the Dodgers in 1995. But let's go to disco demolition night, July 12th, 1979, in Comiskey Park in Chicago, which was where the White Sox called home between 1910 and 1990. First to the disco era, uh, bell bottoms, I mean, you know, strobe lights, mirror balls. I love it. A little I will survive, a little chic, lay freak. Brooke, uh, are you a disco fan?

Brooke 5:33

Disco certainly is not dead in the Dynes household. I'm not a huge disco fan, but give me any ABBA and I'm a Dancing Queen.

Jerry 5:40

Is that your favorite song?

Brooke 5:42

No, not my favorite song. Probably my favorite group. I do like a little Donna Summer, and you know my favorite is Who Left That Cake Out in the Rain?

Jerry 5:50

MacArthur Park. MacArthur Park. MacArthur Park. You'll never you'll never find that recipe again.

Brooke 5:56

Never. Now, you're not asking me which version I prefer. You know, we got two out there.

Jerry 5:59

Well, the Richard Harris isn't disco.

Brooke 6:01

It's got its own little quaintness to it.

Jerry 6:03

I like Last Dance, but but let me tell you something. In the summer of 79, not everybody was enchanted with disco. The soundtrack to Saturday Night Fever basically spent 120 weeks on the album charts between 1977 and 1980. And the summer of 79, the number one songs were all disco: Hot Stuff by Donna Summer, Ring My Bell, Good Times by Chic. And, you know, for a lot of reasons, there was backlash. Now, it could be oversaturation, could be that even rock artists like The Rolling Stones and Kiss were releasing disco numbers, Rod Stewart. Many people cite that because disco music comes out of gay and urban culture, that some racism and homophobia probably played a role as well. But whatever it was, I remember specifically being young and disco sucks t-shirts all over the place. Uh I even remember seeing the movie Airplane, and they have that great scene where the airplane is coming down and there's a radio tower, and they say WZAZ in Chicago, where disco lives forever, and the plane hits the tower, and in the theater I was at, everybody cheered.

Brooke 7:13

That's funny.

Jerry 7:15

Well, and a little trivia, Brooke.

Brooke 7:17

Yes, because it is baseball history and trivia.

Steve Dahl And Bill Veeck's Plan

Jerry 7:21

Fans of Airplane will note that WZAZ in Chicago were the directors of Airplane, Zucker, Zo, Zucker, Abrahams, and Zucker. So maybe I should get back to baseball. So into this situation is Shock Jock Chicago DJ Steve Dahl, who had his share of kooky promotions. Over the course of his career, he did a live on-air vasectomy. He told motorists to use Necco wafers on Chicago tollways instead of coins, and there were a few broken toll machines. He had been fired in 1978 by a rival station when it switched from rock to disco. And because of that, and because of just his dislike for the music, he formed an anti-disco army, the Insane Coho Lips. And they had early promotions. They would show up at discos randomly and create havoc. So Dahl's radio station, W L-U-P in Chicago.

Brooke 8:18

And by the way, that's pronounced the loop.

Jerry 8:21

The loop, not LUP. No, loop. Well, that was his new radio station. And they came up with a honey of an idea, and they approached Mike Veeck, who was the promotion director for the Chicago White Sox at the time. Now, if the name Veeck is familiar to you baseball fans, it's because Mike's dad, Bill Ve eck, was the owner of the Chicago White Sox. Brooke, I mean, Bill Veeck is a Hall of Fame owner, and he really needs his own episode.

Brooke 8:52

I was worried you were going to say that. But listeners, be happy to know I bought a new notebook.

Jerry 8:58

So good. So the old notebook's filled. We can come up with new podcast ideas now.

Brooke 9:02

Sending me your suggestions.

The Blast That Forced A Forfeit

Jerry 9:04

Well, even though we're going to do an episode eventually on Veeck, a little information. I mean, he began as a minor league owner back in 1940 and then wound up owning the Cleveland Indians, then the St. Louis Browns before they moved to Baltimore and became the Orioles. And then in the early 60s, the Chicago White Sox, which he sold when he was having health issues, but then bought again in '75. And, you know, just to give you a sense of Bill Veeck , all you'd have to do is know the titles of his autobiographies, Vec as in Rec and The Hustler's Handbook. He had a famous quote: you can draw more people with a losing team plus bread and circuses than with a losing team in a long still silence. So he had some honeys of promotions. He once tried to give away a black Angus bull. He had Grand Stand Manager's Night where fans got to vote on whether there should be bunts or steals. And in 1951, he brought in three foot seven-inch Eddie Goodell for an at-bat in a game. Still the shortest player to ever have an at-bat at baseball. Needless to say, Veeck and Dahl had some, again, not always classy ideas for promotion. So it made sense when the radio station approached promotion director Mike Veeck to say, Hey, in the middle of a double header, why don't we have people bring in their disco records, collect them in a bin, and explode it in the middle of center field between the games? What could go wrong? What could go wrong? So that brings us to one fateful night in Thursday, July 12th, 1979, when there was a Twinight Double Header. Twinight, where the first game is in the late afternoon and the second game is at night, and the White Sox were facing off against the Detroit Tigers. And if you brought your own disco record, it was 98 admiission.

Brooke 11:12

That's because it was the station number, 98 FM. For double oop. Loop. Loop. Like the Chicago Loop.

Jerry 11:20

Yes, like the Chicago Loop. So yeah, bring a disco record. And the plan was to gather it all, as I said, bin at center field and blow them up between the games. The Sox had not had a good season up to then. They were 40 and 46. And Comiskey, you know, it had a capacity of over 44,000, but I mean they would get maybe 12,000, 15,000 at the most. They were really hoping that this would put them maybe at 20,000. And because, hey, they did anticipate bigger crowds, they hired security for 35,000.

Brooke 11:55

Which I heard that the security head just laughed at hit the at the owner, like, yeah, you're gonna get 35.

Jerry 12:01

Yeah, they weren't that would that would have been triple of what they normally get.

Brooke 12:04

Exactly. Well, double, but Jerry's not good at math.

Jerry 12:08

Hey. Well, an estimated 50,000 or more showed up. Some people actually sneaking in, jumping over turnstiles, and the crowd was crazy. And, you know, not all those people were there for the baseball. So already there were challenges at the first game. Some uncollected records were thrown like frisbees from the stands at various times.

Brooke 12:33

Oh, that's scary.

Jerry 12:35

You know, Tigers designated hitter Rusty Staub suggested that teammates wear batting helmets while in the field.

Brooke 12:41

No.

Jerry 12:42

And, you know, the game had to be stopped. This was the first game a few times because liquor bottles, firecrackers, records just all found them way on the field.

Brooke 12:51

Sounds like when the Eagles play the Giants or something.

Jerry 12:54

They're throwing snowballs at St. Nick

Brooke 12:56

Snowballs, exactly.

Jerry 12:58

Well, Detroit won the first game, despite a few stoppages, four to one. And sure enough, at 8: 40 p.m., Steve Dahl comes out between the game. He's in a Jeep with his partner. He's in fatigue, he's an army helmet, and he's leading the crowd and disco sucks. As stuff is thrown at him, he says lovingly. So they gather everything in this bin in center field, and they're blown up. It's blown up. And after that, chaos has ensued. First of all, it tore a hole right in the center field grass.

Brooke 13:32

When I saw it on video, I mean stuff is exploding all over the place. I don't know what their plans for were for cleaning that up were going to be. I mean, just it was a mess everywhere.

Jerry 13:42

I don't know if they had a great plan.

Brooke 13:43

Yeah, I don't think so either.

Jerry 13:44

And they certainly didn't have a great plan when thousands of uh fans or attendees rushed the field. As you can imagine, bases are pulled up, stolen, a batting cage was destroyed, people are climbing the foul poles. It was mass hysteria, cats and dogs living together, as they say in Ghostbuster. You have announcer Harry Carrey on the on the PA system, Bill Veeck urging people to return to their seats. Eventually, police and riot gear come at 9:08. You know, so I mean, that's what uh 30 minutes later almost, and disperse in the crowd, they arrest 39 people. Again, a little trivia as I break in there. You know, actor Michael Clarke Duncan, Brooke.

Brooke 14:30

Yeah, from the Green Mile and Talladega Nights. Yeah, yeah.

Jerry 14:33

Unfortunately, late late actor and uh giant of a man, right? He actually was on the field that night. He was one of the people who rushed there. He he he walked he says he walked away with a free bat.

Brooke 14:45

Good for him.

Jerry 14:46

Although, although the bat wasn't a stadium giveaway. So finally, the police chase everyone up. They're working frantically at cleaning things up. You still got this destroyed center field. Uh, Veeck wanted the second game against the Tigers played. But Tigers manager Sparky Henderson said no. I mean, safety, he could not ensure his team's safety. The field was a mess despite their efforts. So he called American League president Lee McPhail, and they decided initially to postpone the game.

Brooke 15:17

Well, the other issue coming up was they had a 1 p.m. curfew, 1 a.m. curfew, and they didn't feel with cleanup that the game was going to be able to start and finish before 1 a.m.

Jerry 15:27

Yeah, I mean good point. It delayed it delayed everything. Well, Anderson was persistent and actually working with McPhail got the game forfeited because Anderson's point was hey, this wasn't an act of God. This wasn't a you know city restriction. This was the White Sox not providing a good playing environment, field, safety, et cetera. That makes sense. So the Tig so the Tigers won 9-0. Veeck was not happy, Chicago was not happy. And 46 years later, this is still the last American League game forfeited. Needless to say, we haven't had any more blowing up of records. You know?

Brooke 16:15

Well, I guess I guess our music has gotten better plus no more records anymore. That would have been a mess blowing up cassette tapes.

Jerry 16:22

That's right.

Brooke 16:23

With the little real stuff all over the place.

Jerry 16:26

They didn't have they didn't have, you know, uh uh demolition Wang Chung night or uh or Macarena night. You could have blown up those records. Oh god. Although again, no records then.

Brooke 16:38

No, yep.

Jerry 16:39

Well, again, that was the last American League game forfeited, but what was the last Major League Baseball game forfeited in general? Also, as you might imagine, since they try to avoid forfeits, an interesting situation in that. That was August 10th, 1995, in a game with the Cardinals versus the Dodgers. Now, a few words about forfeit in Major League.

Brooke 17:03

Wait, you're just gonna leave me on that? Why was it forfeited?

Jerry 17:06

We're gonna get to it. Oh, okay, sorry. I'm now you go I gotta go look ahead in my notes here.

Brooke 17:11

I'm gonna see.

1995 Dodgers Giveaway Turns Ugly

Jerry 17:12

This is now we're going flashback. You got the hazy screen like on TV. Go for it. Well, forfeits in Major League Baseball were not exactly rare earlier early on in that 19th century. There were probably like three to four forfeits every year on average. In 1884, there were actually 13 forfeits. But in the 20th century, this was not something that the league wanted in their game. So in the 1960s, there was actually no forfeits. Of course, you had this famous American League game here with disco demolition night. But in 1995, Brooke, now here we go. Okay, I'm I'm focused. The Dodgers were in a tight race at that time. One game behind the Rockies to head up the West. Uh both would eventually make the playoffs, and the Dodgers would wind up winning the West. But but this was Hideo Nomo's rookie year. He'd wound up winning Rookie of the Year award that year. And 53,000 fans went to Dodgers Stadium to see Nomo. And at the time, there was a souvenir ball giveaway.

Brooke 18:17

Souvenir, uh, a baseball, I assume, not a beach ball.

Jerry 18:20

No, souvenir balls. Yeah, baseball. Solid, good old solid baseball. What could go wrong? You know, fan, you've probably fans, you've probably been to giveaway days, and you know, there are jerseys and and bobbleheads, and you probably don't remember too many baseball giveaways in the past 30 years, and maybe there's a reason for that. So do tell us more.

Brooke 18:42

You got me on the edge of my chair.

Jerry 18:44

So the Dodgers are behind the Cardinals that day, two to one in the bottom of the eighth with two runners on. Again, tight race with the Rockies for number one in the West. And umpire Jim Quick calls a strike on a check swing by Eric Karro s. This led to words and a batter ejection, and lo and behold, some balls are thrown on the field. Then in the bottom of the night, the Dodgers are coming up again. Quick calls two outside strikes, which led from a hitter's count of 3-0 all of a sudden to full count 3-2. Eventually the batter strikes out, he has words with the batter. He oh excuse me, he has words with the umpire, then manager Tommy Lazorda, uh-oh, always the comest demeanor. Yes, he comes out, he's ejected. Well, souvenir baseballs start raining down on the field. They were given to kids 14 and under that day. But I think the parents may have taken them away from their kids to make a statement. And and so the balls had to be cleaned up. So this led to game delays, Lazorda is ejected. It looked like the game was gonna resume, and then another ball comes down from the bleacher. Well, the umper umpire calls the game and it gets forfeited in favor of the Cardinals.

Brooke 20:06

Oh man.

Jerry 20:07

Interestingly, the Cardinals had a nine-game road trip. That was their only win, the forfeit that that that year. And that was the first forfeit in the National League in 41 years, and still the last forfeit to this day in Major League Baseball.

Brooke 20:22

Wow. Interesting.

Jerry 20:24

So I don't know what the lesson here is, but I'm sure people who design gimmick days and fan giveaways really think about these things now when they come up with these great ideas.

Brooke 20:37

I'm sure they make sure they're not aerodynamic to reach more than like two rows of seats to be thrown.

Jerry 20:43

And bobbleheads are so expensive. No one's throwing those. No one's getting rid of those.

Brooke 20:46

Those going on eBay phones.

Jerry 20:47

And you really can't get much velocity on like the basketball jerseys they're giving out.

Brooke 20:53

Yeah, or the Hello Kitty pocketbooks they're throwing sometimes they have sometimes. Yeah, I I I get it.

Final Trivia And Listener Thanks

Jerry 21:00

Well, a good episode today. Again, looking at a strange moment, but really an iconic moment that is remembered decades later in Major League Baseball history. Thanks always to my producer, Brooke. You're welcome. And shout out especially to my brother Daniel in New Jersey, who assured me he'd be listening. Hey, Daniel. I hope you'll keep listening. Don't forget to like us and subscribe on your podcast platform. Heading back to the locker room, this is Jerry Dynes and Fungos and Fastballs.