the abbreviated reign of “neon” leon spinks

DESPERATION IS THE CRADLE OF BAD IDEAS 145
naked in public, so be it. Such moments were chronicled in the media as a
harmless and good-humored trend called “streaking.”
While the on-deck breast flasher was a catalyst for what came later,
there were hints early on that this would be a game for the record books.
The drinking started well before game time, and Rangers manager Billy
Martin was booed vigorously when he was introduced before the game.
He responded by tipping his cap and blowing kisses to the Cleveland fans.
Even before the first notes of “The Star-Spangled Banner,” Dyer noted, at
least one fi stfight broke out between a vendor and a fan. Firecrackers began
going off before the first pitch. Plus, by the time the woman lifted her
shirt, the visiting Rangers had a lead over the luckless Tribe.
Jerry M. Lewis, a sociology professor at Ohio’s Kent State University
who has studied fan violence, believes “the real problem wasn’t so
much the beer, but that so many people had access to the fi eld because
that’s where the beer trucks were.” Those trucks, loaded with Stroh’s fi nest,
were parked behind the outfield fence, and beer was being dispensed
from them, giving fans unusually convenient fi eld- level access.
In the fourth inning, the Rangers’ designated hitter stroked his
second home run of the game. As he circled the bases, a naked man
sprinted from the stands and slid into second base. Not to be outdone, the
next inning a father and son ran into the outfield, dropped their pants, and
mooned the crowd.
By the sixth inning, though, the frat-house kegger giddiness was
curdling. A few fans threw objects onto the field after a disputed call and
were warned not to do so by the stadium’s public-address announcer.
Others ran onto the field and were subdued by cops, setting a mindless
us-versus-them tone that went well beyond the competing teams.
By the seventh, relief pitchers in the Rangers’ bullpen were being
bombarded by firecrackers so often that the home- plate umpire ordered
them all into the dugout for their protection. At one point, a group of fans
began tearing chunks of padding off the left-field wall to keep as souvenirs.
The groups of trespassers—mostly male—grew larger and soon