Bill Veeck was one of baseball’s great characters and most ambitious owners in terms of doing almost anything to bring in fans. Such as allowing fans to be the manager for a game, giving away live animals, moving the fence in or out based on who they were playing, introducing dog bay boys, and most famously, sending 3 foot 7 eddie gadell up to bat. But the one that tops them all, directed by his son, Mike, is Disco Demolition Night.

In the summer of 1979, disco fever still had a grip on America, but just as many people hated it as loved it. Hoping to tap into that anti-disco rage, Veeck gave the green light to one of the most infamous ideas in baseball history. During a twilight doubleheader against the Detroit Tigers, the White Sox offered admission for just 98 cents, as long as you brought a disco record to be destroyed between games. The 98-cent price was a nod to a local rock station, 97.9 FM, led by DJ Steve Dahl, which was sponsoring the event. The Sox expected maybe 15,000 fans. Instead, over 50,000 showed up—and thousands more were turned away at the gates. The promotion had worked too well. Records piled up quickly, so the staff stopped collecting them leaving frustrated fans with vinyls in hands that they would turn into frisbees.

With fireworks, alcohol, and a rowdy crowd, even the first game—a 4–1 Sox win—barely stayed on track. The umpires almost called it off before the real chaos began. Then came the main event which was the demolition. Between games, a massive crate of disco records was rolled onto the field and blown up in center field. That was the spark. The crowd flooded the field, ripping up the turf, setting small fires, and turning Comiskey Park into a warzone of polyester and smoke. Riot police were called in. Arrests were made, only 39 somehow, and the second game was officially forfeited to Detroit because the field was too damaged to play on, this the last American league game to be forfeited as many see this night as the start of the decline of disco.

Don Drysdale is tied for the most All-Star games started at 5 and innings pitched at 19.1.