View source for Disco Demolition Night

{{Use mdy dates|date=April 2023}}
{{Short description|1979 baseball promotion and riot}}
{{featured article}}
{{Infobox news event
| title = <!-- Title to display, if other than page name -->
| image = Disco Demolition Night.webp
| image_name = 
| image_alt = A color image of a crowd of young adults, mostly white men, walking around a baseball field and cheering. Some are holding signs, but what the signs say is unclear.
| caption = 
| date = July 12, [[1979 Chicago White Sox season|1979]]
| time = 6:00&nbsp;pm [[Central Time Zone|CDT]] and following
| place = [[Comiskey Park]], [[Chicago|Chicago, Illinois]], U.S.
| coordinates = {{Coord|41|49|56|N|87|38|00|W|region:US-IL|display=inline, title}}
| cause = Promotional event: 98[[United States dollar|¢]] admission with a [[disco]] record; discounted admission for teenagers
| participants = [[Steve Dahl]], [[Mike Veeck]], and several thousand attendees
| outcome = Game 2 of Tigers/White Sox doubleheader forfeited to Detroit
| reported death(s) = None
| reported injuries = 0–30
| reported property damage = Damage to the playing field
| suspects = Approximately 39
| charges = Disorderly conduct
}}
{{Infobox baseball game
|year =
|game = Disco Demolition Night
|image = 
|caption =
|visitor = '''[[1979 Detroit Tigers season|Detroit Tigers]]'''
|home = [[1979 Chicago White Sox season|Chicago White Sox]]
|date = July 12, 1979 (first game of a doubleheader)
|venue = [[Comiskey Park]]
|city = Chicago, Illinois
|attendance = 47,495
|umpires = {{unbulleted list
 |[[Home plate|HP]]: [[Dave Phillips (umpire)|Dave Phillips]] (crew chief)
 |[[First base|1B]]: [[Dan Morrison (umpire)|Dan Morrison]]
 |[[Second base|2B]]: [[Dallas Parks]]
 |[[Third base|3B]]: [[Durwood Merrill]]
 }}
|television       = [[WDIV-TV|WDIV]] (Tigers' broadcast)<br>[[WSNS-TV]] (White Sox' broadcast)<ref>{{Cite episode |title=Detroit Tigers vs. Chicago White Sox |series=Chicago White Sox Baseball |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LZaXq338HN4&t=0s |access-date=January 22, 2022 |station=WSNS-TV |location=Chicago, IL |date=July 12, 1979 |minutes=00:00 |language=en}}{{cbignore}}</ref>
|tv_announcers    = '''WDIV''': [[George Kell]], [[Al Kaline]] and Mike Barry <br>'''WSNS-TV''': [[Lorn Brown]], [[Harry Caray]] and [[Jimmy Piersall]]
|radio            = [[WJR]] (Tigers' broadcast)<br>[[WMAQ (AM)|WMAQ]] (White Sox' broadcast)
|radio_announcers = '''WJR''': [[Ernie Harwell]] and [[Paul Carey (broadcaster)|Paul Carey]]<br>'''WMAQ''': Brown, Caray and Piersall
|top1             = 1
|top2             = 1
|top3             = 1
|top4             = 0
|top5             = 0
|top6             = 1
|top7             = 0
|top8             = 0
|top9             = 0
|visitor_r        = 4
|visitor_h        = 9
|visitor_e        = 0
|bot1             = 0
|bot2             = 1
|bot3             = 0
|bot4             = 0
|bot5             = 0
|bot6             = 0
|bot7             = 0
|bot8             = 0
|bot9             = 0
|home_r           = 1
|home_h           = 5
|home_e           = 2
}}

'''Disco Demolition Night''' was a [[Major League Baseball]] (MLB) [[promotional event|promotion]] on Thursday, July 12, 1979, at [[Comiskey Park]] in [[Chicago|Chicago, Illinois]], that ended in a riot. At the climax of the event, a crate filled with [[disco]] records was blown up on the field between games of the [[Doubleheader_(baseball)#Twi-night|twi-night doubleheader]] between the [[1979 Chicago White Sox season|Chicago White Sox]] and the [[1979 Detroit Tigers season|Detroit Tigers]]. Many had come to see the explosion rather than the games and [[Pitch invasion|rushed onto the field]] after the detonation. The playing field was so damaged by the explosion and by the rioters that the White Sox were required to [[forfeit (baseball)|forfeit]] the second game to the Tigers.

In the late 1970s, dance-oriented disco was the most popular music genre in the United States, particularly after being featured in hit films such as ''[[Saturday Night Fever]]'' (1977). However, disco sparked a major backlash from rock music fans—an opposition prominent enough that the White Sox, seeking to fill seats at Comiskey Park during a lackluster season, engaged Chicago [[shock jock]] and anti-disco campaigner [[Steve Dahl]] for the promotion at the July&nbsp;12 doubleheader. Dahl's sponsoring radio station was WLUP (97.9 FM, now [[WCKL (FM)|WCKL]]), so admission was discounted to 98 cents for attendees who turned in a disco record; between games, Dahl was to destroy the collected [[Gramophone record|vinyl]] in an explosion.

White Sox officials had hoped for a crowd of 20,000, about 5,000 more than usual. Instead, at least 50,000—including tens of thousands of Dahl's listeners—packed the stadium, and thousands more continued to sneak in after capacity was reached and gates were closed. Many of the records were not collected by staff and were thrown like [[frisbee|flying disc]]s from the stands. After Dahl blew up the collected records, thousands of fans stormed the field and remained there until dispersed by riot police.

The second game was initially postponed, but was forfeited to the Tigers the next day by order of [[American League]] president [[Lee MacPhail]]. Disco Demolition Night preceded, and may have helped precipitate, the decline of disco in late 1979; some scholars and disco artists have debated whether the event was expressive of [[racism]] and [[homophobia]]<!-- Note: Before deleting the language about racism, please review [[WP:CITELEAD]] and be aware that it is intended merely as a summary of the discussion in the "Cultural significance" section of this article. See article talk page for more details. -->. Disco Demolition Night remains well known as one of the most extreme promotions in MLB history.

== Background ==
{{main|Disco}}
[[Disco]] evolved in the late 1960s in inner-city New York City [[nightclub]]s, where disc jockeys played imported [[dance music]]. Although its roots were in [[African-American music|African-American]] and [[Latin American music|Latin American]] music, and in [[gay culture]], it eventually became mainstream; even white artists better known for more sedate music had disco-influenced hits, such as [[Barry Manilow]]'s "[[Copacabana (song)|Copacabana]]".<ref name="today">{{cite web |last=Sciafani |first=Tony |date=July 10, 2009 |title=When 'Disco Sucks!' echoed around the world |url=https://www.today.com/popculture/when-disco-sucks-echoed-around-world-1C9410502 |access-date=February 14, 2013 |website=[[Today (American TV program)|TODAY]] |publisher=[[NBC]] |archive-date=December 7, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211207065555/https://www.today.com/popculture/when-disco-sucks-echoed-around-world-1C9410502 |url-status=live }}</ref> The release of the hit movie ''[[Saturday Night Fever]]'' in 1977,{{sfn|Young|p=11}} whose star ([[John Travolta]]) and musical performers (the [[Bee Gees]]) presented a heterosexual image, helped popularize disco in the United States. As [[Al Coury]], president of [[RSO Records]] (which had released the bestselling soundtrack album for the film) put it, ''Saturday Night Fever'' "took disco [[Coming out|out of the closet]]".{{sfn|Frank|p=288}}

[[File:Rich Carey, 1977.jpg|thumb|right|upright|A man wearing a "disco sucks" T-shirt in 1977. Backlash against disco music had grown prominent by the end of that year.]]
Some felt disco was too mechanical; ''[[Time (magazine)|Time]]'' magazine deemed it a "diabolical thump-and-shriek".{{sfn|Young|p=11}}<ref name = "Behrens" /> Others hated it for the associated scene, with its emphasis on personal appearance and style of dress.{{sfn|Young|p=11}}<ref name = "Behrens" /> The media emphasized its roots in gay culture. According to historian Gillian Frank, "by the time of the Disco Demolition in Comiskey Park, the media ... cultivated a widespread perception that disco was taking over".{{sfn|Frank|pp=289–290}} Performers who cultivated a gay image, such as the [[Village People]] (described by ''[[Rolling Stone]]'' as "the face of disco"), did nothing to efface these perceptions, and fears that rock music would die out increased after disco albums dominated the [[21st Grammy Awards]] in February 1979.{{sfn|Frank|pp=290–291}}

In 1978, WKTU (now [[WINS-FM]]) in New York, a low-rated rock station, switched to disco and became the most popular station in the country; this led other stations to try to emulate its success.{{sfn|Frank|p=288}} In Chicago, 24-year-old [[Steve Dahl]] was working as a disc jockey for [[American Broadcasting Company|ABC]]-owned radio station WDAI (now [[WLS-FM]]) when he was fired on Christmas Eve 1978 as part of the station's switch from rock to disco. He was hired by rival [[Album-oriented rock|album-rock]] station WLUP. Sensing an incipient anti-disco backlash<ref name = "Behrens" /><ref name="DiscoInferno">{{cite news |date=December 11, 2004 |title=Disco inferno |work=[[The Independent]] |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/disco-inferno-680390.html |access-date=February 13, 2013 |archive-date=September 13, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110913220555/http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/disco-inferno-680390.html |url-status=live }}</ref> and playing off the publicity surrounding his firing (he frequently mocked WDAI's "Disco DAI" slogan on the air as "Disco DIE"), Dahl created a mock organization, the "Insane Coho Lips", an anti-disco army consisting of his listeners.<ref name = "USA" /> According to Andy Behrens of [[ESPN]], Dahl and his broadcast partner [[Garry Meier]] "organized the Cohos around a simple and surprisingly powerful idea: Disco Sucks".<ref name = "Behrens" />

According to Dahl, in 1979, the Cohos were locked in a war "dedicated to the eradication of the dreaded musical disease known as DISCO".{{sfn|Frank|p=297}} In the weeks leading up to Disco Demolition Night, Dahl promoted a number of anti-disco public events, several of which became unruly. When a [[nightclub|{{Sic|hide=y|discotheque}}]] in [[Lynwood, Illinois]], switched from disco to rock in June, Dahl arrived, as did several thousand Cohos, and the police were called. Later that month, Dahl and several thousand Cohos occupied a teen disco in the Chicago suburbs. At the end of June, Dahl urged his listeners to throw marshmallows at a WDAI promotional van at a shopping mall where a teen disco had been built. The Cohos chased the van and driver and cornered them in a park, though the situation ended without violence. On July 1, a near-riot occurred in [[Hanover Park, Illinois]], when hundreds of Cohos could not enter a sold-out promotional event, and fights broke out. Some 50 police officers were needed to control the situation. When disco star [[Van McCoy]] died suddenly on July 6, Dahl marked the occasion by destroying one of his records, "[[The Hustle (song)|The Hustle]]", on the air.{{sfn|Frank|pp=297–298}}
{{quote box | align = left | width = 25em | salign = left
| quote = <poem>
Do ya think I'm disco
Cuz I spend so much time
Blow drying out my hair?
Do ya think I'm disco
Cuz I know the dance steps
Learned them all [[Fred Astaire Dance Studios|at Fred Astaire]]?
</poem>
| source = —{{hair space}}Steve Dahl, "Do Ya Think I'm Disco?" (1979)<ref name = "dahl2014">{{cite news |url=http://www.chicagobusiness.com/article/20140710/OPINION/140709818/disco-demolition-35-years-later-thats-the-way-i-liked-it |last=Dahl |first=Steve |date=July 10, 2014 |title=Disco Demolition 35 years later: That's the way I liked it |website=Chicagobusiness.com |publisher=[[Crain's Chicago Business]] |location=Chicago, Illinois |access-date=July 27, 2014 |archive-date=November 22, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171122122639/http://www.chicagobusiness.com/article/20140710/OPINION/140709818/disco-demolition-35-years-later-thats-the-way-i-liked-it |url-status=live }}</ref>
}}

Dahl and Meier regularly mocked disco records on the radio. Dahl also recorded his own song, "Do Ya Think I'm Disco?", a [[Parody music|parody]] of [[Rod Stewart]]'s disco-oriented hit "[[Da Ya Think I'm Sexy?]]".<ref name = "USA">{{cite news |last=Beaton |first=Rod |title=No anniversary party for disco debacle |newspaper=[[USA Today]] |date=July 12, 2004 |page=C.03 |url=http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/sports/baseball/2004-07-12-disco-demolition-anniversary_x.htm |access-date=February 14, 2013 |archive-date=March 19, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140319011512/http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/sports/baseball/2004-07-12-disco-demolition-anniversary_x.htm |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine |title=WLUP Chicago Reminisces |magazine=[[Billboard (magazine)|Billboard]] |date=April 22, 1989 |volume=101 |issue=16 |page=10}}</ref> The song characterized {{Sic|hide=y|discotheques}} as populated by effeminate men and frigid women. The protagonist, named Tony after Travolta's character in ''Saturday Night Fever'', is unable to attract a woman until he abandons the disco scene, selling his white three-piece suit at a garage sale and melting down his gold chains for a [[Led Zeppelin]] belt buckle.{{sfn|Frank|pp=283–294, 297}}

A number of anti-disco incidents took place elsewhere in the first half of 1979, showing that "the Disco Demolition was not an isolated incident or an aberration." In [[Seattle]], hundreds of rock fans attacked a mobile dance floor, while in [[Portland, Oregon]], a disc jockey destroyed a stack of disco records with a chainsaw as thousands cheered. In New York, a rock DJ played [[Donna Summer]]'s disco hit "[[Hot Stuff (Donna Summer song)|Hot Stuff]]" and received protests from listeners.{{sfn|Frank|p=278}}

=== Baseball ===
Since the 1940s, [[Chicago White Sox]] owner [[Bill Veeck]] had been noted for using promotions to increase fan interest; he stated "you can draw more people with a losing team plus bread and circuses than with a losing team and a long, still silence". His son, [[Mike Veeck]], was the promotions director for the White Sox in 1979. Mike wrote in a letter to a fan before the season that team management intended to make sure that whether the White Sox won or lost, the fans would have fun.{{sfn|Young|p=12}}

Early in the [[1979 Chicago White Sox season|1979 season]], a game between the White Sox and the visiting [[1979 Detroit Tigers season|Tigers]] scheduled for Wednesday, May&nbsp;2, was rained out. Officials rescheduled it as part of a [[doubleheader (baseball)|twi-night doubleheader]] on Thursday, July&nbsp;12.<ref name="History">{{cite web |date=November 16, 2009|title=Disco is dealt death blow by fans of Chicago White Sox |url=http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/disco-is-dealt-death-blow-by-fans-of-the-chicago-white-sox |access-date=February 13, 2013 |website=[[The History Channel]]|publisher=|archive-date=March 11, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130311060642/http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/disco-is-dealt-death-blow-by-fans-of-the-chicago-white-sox|url-status=live}}</ref> Already scheduled for the evening of July&nbsp;12 was a promotion aimed at teenagers, who could purchase tickets at half the regular price.{{sfn|Young|p=12}}

The White Sox had a "Disco Night" at Comiskey Park in [[1977 Chicago White Sox season|1977]]; At a WLUP Promotion Meeting, Schwartz mentioned that the White Sox were looking to do a promotion with the station. The station had already done two successful events at local Chicago-area nightclubs with overflow crowds.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nwitimes.com/news/local/lynwood-got-sneak-peak-at-disco-demolition/article_aef046f4-3acc-58a1-aa38-437769476c3b.html |title=Lynwood got sneak peak [sic] at Disco Demolition |last=Harvey |date=July 11, 2004 |url-access=subscription}}</ref> When Schwartz mentioned the White Sox were looking for a promotion, Promotion Director Dave Logan suggested it might be time to take Steve Dahl's event to a larger venue.<ref>PBS program [https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/films/war-disco/ "American Experience: The War On Disco"]</ref> The matter had also been brought up early in the 1979 season when Schwartz told [[Mike Veeck]] of Dahl and his plans to blow up a crate of disco records while live on the air from a shopping mall. Dahl was asked if he would be interested in blowing up records at Comiskey Park on July&nbsp;12. Since the radio frequency of WLUP was 97.9, the promotion for July 12, "Disco Demolition Night" (in addition to the offer for teenagers) was that anyone who brought a disco record to the ballpark would be admitted for 98 cents. Dahl was to blow up the collected records between games of the doubleheader.{{sfn|Young|p=12}}

== Event ==
[[File:Old comiskey park.jpg|thumb|right|Comiskey Park in 1990]] In the weeks before the event, Dahl invited his listeners to bring records they wanted to see destroyed to Comiskey Park.{{sfn|Frank|p=276}} He feared that the promotion would fail to draw people to the ballpark and that he would be humiliated. The previous night's attendance had been 15,520,<ref name = "Behrens" /> and Comiskey Park had a capacity of 44,492.<ref>{{cite book |title=The Sporting News Baseball Guide |year=1979 |publisher=The Sporting News Company |page=11 |location=St. Louis}}</ref> The White Sox were not having a good year, and were {{win-loss record|w=40|l=46}}&nbsp;going into the July&nbsp;12 doubleheader.<ref name = "Behrens" /> The White Sox and WLUP hoped for a crowd of 20,000,<ref name="History" /> and [[Mike Veeck]] hired enough security for 35,000.{{sfn|Dickson|p=314}}

Owner Bill Veeck was concerned the promotion might become a disaster and checked himself out of the hospital, where he had been undergoing tests.{{sfn|Dickson|p=314}} His fears were substantiated when he saw the people walking towards the ballpark that afternoon; many carried signs that described disco in profane terms.<ref name = "Behrens" />{{sfn|Young|p=12}}

The doubleheader sold out, leaving at least 20,000 people outside the ballpark.{{sfn|Young|p=12}} Some leapt [[turnstile]]s, climbed fences, and entered through open windows.{{sfn|Young|p=13}} The attendance was officially reported as 47,795,<ref name="NYT">{{cite news |author=LaPointe |first=Joe |date=July 4, 2009 |title=The Night Disco Went Up in Smoke |newspaper=[[The New York Times]] |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/05/sports/baseball/05disco.html |access-date=July 5, 2009 |archive-date=August 29, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110829103136/http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/05/sports/baseball/05disco.html |url-status=live }}</ref> though Bill Veeck estimated that there were anywhere from 50,000 to 55,000 in the park—easily the largest crowd of his second stint as White Sox owner.<ref name="Youngstown"/> The Chicago Police Department closed off-ramps from the [[Dan Ryan Expressway]] near the stadium.<ref name="Behrens">{{cite web |last=Behrens |first=Andy |date=July 12, 2009 |title=Disco demolition: Bell-bottoms be gone! |url=http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page3/story?page=behrens/040809 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100504172447/http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page3/story?page=behrens%2F040809 |archive-date=May 4, 2010 |access-date=February 13, 2013 |work=ESPN Chicago |publisher=[[ESPN]]}}</ref> Attendees were supposed to deposit their records into a large box, some {{convert|4|by|6|by|5|ft}} tall; once the box was overflowing, many people brought their discs to their seats.<ref name = "Postcards" />

The first game was to begin at 6:00&nbsp;pm [[Central Time Zone|CDT]], with the second game to follow.<ref>{{cite web |date=July 12, 1979 |title=Baseball |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=KL88AAAAIBAJ&dq=schedule&pg=1491%2C4524494 |access-date=February 16, 2012 |location=(Maine) |newspaper=[[Bangor Daily News]] |archive-date=August 15, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210815123544/https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=KL88AAAAIBAJ&dq=schedule&pg=1491%2C4524494 |url-status=live }}</ref> Lorelei, a model who did public appearances for WLUP and who was popular in Chicago that summer for her sexually provocative poses in the station's advertisements, threw out the [[Ceremonial first pitch|first pitch]].{{sfn|Frank|p=277}}<ref name = "lor" /> As the first game began, Mike Veeck received word that thousands of people were trying to get into the park without tickets and sent his security personnel to the stadium gates to stop them. This left the field unattended, and fans began throwing the uncollected disco [[LP record|LPs]] and [[45rpm single|singles]] from the stands. Tigers [[designated hitter]] [[Rusty Staub]] remembered that the records would slice through the air, and land sticking out of the ground. He urged teammates to wear batting helmets when playing their positions, "It wasn't just one, it was many. Oh, God almighty, I've never seen anything so dangerous in my life."{{sfn|Dickson|p=315}} Attendees also threw firecrackers, empty liquor bottles, and lighters onto the field. The game was stopped several times because of the rain of foreign objects.{{sfn|Young|p=12}}

Dozens of hand-painted banners with such slogans as "Disco sucks" were hung from the ballpark's seating decks.{{sfn|Frank|p=277}} White Sox broadcaster [[Harry Caray]] saw groups of music fans wandering the stands. Others sat intently in their seats, awaiting the explosion.{{sfn|Fingers|p=144}} Mike Veeck recalled an odor of [[Cannabis (drug)|marijuana]] in the grandstand and said of the attendees, "This is the [[Woodstock]] they never had."{{sfn|Dickson|p=314}} The odor permeated the press box, which Caray and his broadcast partner, [[Jimmy Piersall]], commented on over the air.<ref name = "Postcards" /> The crowds outside the stadium also threw records, or gathered them and burned them in bonfires.{{sfn|Dickson|p=315}} 

Detroit won the first game, 4–1.<ref name = "Behrens" />

== Explosion ==
[[File:Garry Meier.jpg|thumb|right|200px|Garry Meier]] At 8:40, Dahl, dressed in army fatigues and a helmet,{{sfn|Frank|p=277}} emerged onto the playing surface together with Meier and Lorelei. They circled the field in a [[Jeep CJ|Jeep]], showered (according to Dahl, lovingly) by his troops with firecrackers and beer, then proceeded to [[Baseball field#outfield|center field]] where the box containing the records awaited, rigged with explosives. Dahl and Meier warmed up the crowd, leading attendees in a chant of "disco sucks." Lorelei recalled that the view from center field was surreal. On the [[Pitcher's mound|mound]], White Sox pitcher [[Ken Kravec]], scheduled to start the second game, began to warm up. Other White Sox, in the [[Dugout (baseball)|dugout]] and wearing [[batting helmet]]s, looked out upon the scene. Fans who felt events were getting out of control and who wished to leave the ballpark had difficulty doing so; in an effort to deny the intruders entry, security had padlocked all but one gate.<ref name = "Behrens" />{{sfn|Young|p=13}}

Dahl told the crowd:

{{quote|
This is now officially the world's largest anti-disco rally! Now listen—we took all the disco records you brought tonight, we got 'em in a giant box, and we're gonna blow 'em up ''reeeeeeal goooood''.<ref name = "Postcards">{{cite news |url=http://www.chicagoreader.com/chicago/postcards-from-disco-demolition-night/Content?oid=1148642 |title=Postcards from Disco Demolition Night |newspaper=Chicago Reader |last=Costello |first=Brian |date=July 9, 2009 |access-date=February 14, 2013 |archive-date=May 10, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130510122339/http://www.chicagoreader.com/chicago/postcards-from-disco-demolition-night/Content?oid=1148642 |url-status=live }}</ref>
}}

Dahl set off the explosives, destroying the records and tearing a large hole in the outfield grass.{{sfn|Fingers|p=144}} With most of the security personnel still watching the gates per [[Mike Veeck]]'s orders, there was almost no one guarding the playing surface.<ref name=NYT/> Soon, the first of 5,000 to 7,000 attendees [[Pitch invasion|rushed onto the field]], causing Kravec to flee the mound and join his teammates in a barricaded clubhouse. Some climbed the foul poles, while others set records on fire or ripped up the grass. The [[batting cage]] was destroyed, and the bases were pulled up and stolen. Among those taking to the field was 21-year-old aspiring actor [[Michael Clarke Duncan]]; during the melee, Duncan slid into third base, had a silver belt buckle stolen,<ref name="st099">{{cite news |last=Zwecker |first=Bill |date=September 28, 2006 |title=Love may have bloomed again on set for 'Garden State' star |newspaper=[[Chicago Sun-Times]] |url=http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-1642647.html |url-status=dead |url-access=subscription |access-date=March 7, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130520075037/http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-1642647.html |archive-date=May 20, 2013}}</ref> and went home with a bat from the dugout.<ref name="ct909">{{cite news |last=Caldarelli |first=Adam |date=May 20, 2006 |title=From the Cubicle |newspaper=[[Chicago Tribune]] |url=http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/cs-060520cubicle,0,7421730,print.column |url-status=dead |access-date=February 16, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130523105634/http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/cs-060520cubicle,0,7421730,print.column |archive-date=May 23, 2013}}</ref> As Bill Veeck stood with a microphone near where home plate had been, begging people to return to the stands, a [[bonfire]] raged in center field.<ref name = "Behrens" /><ref name = "History" />{{sfn|Young|p=13}}{{sfn|Dickson|pp=315–316}}
[[File:Disco Demolition Night.jpeg|thumb|Disco Demolition Night]]
Years later, Lorelei remembered that she had been waving to the crowd when she was grabbed by two of the bodyguards who had accompanied the Jeep, who placed her back in the vehicle. The party was unable to return to home plate because of the rowdy fans, so the Jeep was driven out of the stadium and through the surrounding streets, to the delight of the many Cohos outside the stadium, who recognized the occupants. They were driven to the front of the stadium, ushered back inside, and taken up to the press room where they had spent most of the first game.<ref name="lor">{{cite web |last=Bova |first=George |title=Flashing Back with Disco Demolition's Lorelei |url=http://www.whitesoxinteractive.com/rwas/index.php?category=11&id=2300 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20030902201444/http://www.whitesoxinteractive.com/rwas/index.php?category=11&id=2300 |archive-date=September 2, 2003 |access-date=February 15, 2013 |website=White Sox Interactive |publisher=}}</ref>

Caray unsuccessfully attempted to restore order via the public address system. The scoreboard, flashing "PLEASE RETURN TO YOUR SEATS", was ignored, as was the playing of "[[Take Me Out to the Ball Game]]". Some attendees danced in circles around the burning vinyl shards.<ref name = "Postcards" /> Dahl offered his help to get the rowdy fans to leave, but it was declined.<ref name="kansas">{{cite news |date=July 13, 1989 |title=Disco Demolition embarrassed Sox |page=5D |newspaper=[[Lawrence Journal-World]] |publisher=[[Associated Press]] |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=X5EzAAAAIBAJ&dq=disco%20demolition%20night&pg=4190%2C3517956 |access-date=February 15, 2013 |archive-date=August 18, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210818165816/https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=X5EzAAAAIBAJ&dq=disco%20demolition%20night&pg=4190%2C3517956 |url-status=live }}</ref>

At 9:08&nbsp;pm,{{sfn|Frank|p=278}} Chicago police in [[riot gear]] arrived, to the applause of the baseball fans remaining in the stands. Those on the field hastily dispersed upon seeing the police. Thirty-nine people were arrested for disorderly conduct; estimates of injuries to those at the event range from none to over thirty.{{sfn|Young|p=13}}

Veeck wanted the teams to play the second game once order was restored. However, the field was so badly torn up that umpiring crew chief [[Dave Phillips (umpire)|Dave Phillips]] felt that it was still not playable, even after White Sox groundskeepers spent an hour clearing away debris. Tigers manager [[Sparky Anderson]] refused to allow his players to take the field in any event due to safety concerns. Phillips called American League president [[Lee MacPhail]], who postponed the second game to Sunday after hearing a report on conditions. Anderson, however, demanded that the game be [[forfeit (baseball)|forfeited]] to the Tigers. He argued that under baseball's rules, a game can only be postponed due to an [[act of God]], and that, as the home team, the White Sox were responsible for field conditions. The next day, MacPhail forfeited the second game to the Tigers 9–0. In a ruling that largely upheld Anderson's arguments, MacPhail stated that the White Sox had failed to provide acceptable playing conditions.<ref name="Behrens"/><ref name="Youngstown">{{cite news |date=July 13, 1979 |title=Disco riot rocks, rolls Chisox park |page=18 |newspaper=[[Youngstown Vindicator]] |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=QkBKAAAAIBAJ&dq=disco%20demolition%20night%20act%20of%20god%20postponement&pg=1397%2C4873831 |access-date=February 14, 2013 |archive-date=May 14, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220514023453/https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=QkBKAAAAIBAJ&dq=disco%20demolition%20night%20act%20of%20god%20postponement&pg=1397%2C4873831 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="Graves"/><ref>* {{Cite news |date=1979-07-14 |title=Pfister ousts Tim Gullikson |url=https://www.genealogybank.com/newspaper-clippings/title/nrbdvlhzopuapwemkeloiwsawhzhrkli_ip-10-166-46-107_1743734118095 |access-date=2025-04-04 |work=[[Milwaukee Sentinel]] |page=3, part 2 |via=[[GenealogyBank.com]]}}
* {{cite news |last=Dozer |first=Richard |date=July 14, 1979 |title=Sox forced to forfeit to Tigers |url=http://archives.chicagotribune.com/1979/07/14/page/210/article/sox-forced-to-forfeit-to-tigers |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170801080117/http://archives.chicagotribune.com/1979/07/14/page/210/article/sox-forced-to-forfeit-to-tigers/ |archive-date=August 1, 2017 |access-date=June 15, 2017 |work=[[Chicago Tribune]] |page=1, sec. 2}}</ref>

==Aftermath==
[[File:Steve Dahl.jpg|thumb|right|Dahl in 2008]]
The day after the event, Dahl began his regular morning broadcast by reading the indignant headlines in the local papers. He mocked the coverage, saying: "I think for the most part everything was wonderful. Some maniac Cohos got wild, went down on the field. Which you shouldn't have done. Bad little Cohos." Tigers manager Anderson said of the events: "Beer and baseball go together, they have for years. But I think those kids were doing things other than beer."<ref name = "Behrens" /> Columnist [[David Israel]] of the ''[[Chicago Tribune]]'' said on July 12 that he was not surprised by the events, writing: "It would have happened any place 50,000 teenagers got together on a sultry summer night with beer and reefer." White Sox pitcher [[Rich Wortham]], a Texan, said: "This wouldn't have happened if they had [[Country music|country and western]] night."{{sfn|Young|p=15}}

Although Bill Veeck took much of the public criticism for the fiasco, his son [[Mike Veeck]] suffered repercussions as the front-office promoter. Mike remained with the White Sox until late 1980 when he resigned; his father sold the team to [[Jerry Reinsdorf]] soon afterward. He was unable to find another job in baseball for some time and claimed that he had been [[blackballing|blackballed]]. For several years, he worked for a [[jai-alai]] [[Fronton (court)|fronton]] in Florida, battling alcoholism.{{sfn|Dickson|p=317}} As Mike said: "The second that first guy shimmied down the outfield wall, I knew my life was over!"{{sfn|Fingers|p=144}} Mike Veeck has since become the owner of minor league baseball teams.<ref>{{cite news |title=How I did it: Mike Veeck |last=Veeck |first=Mike |url=http://www.inc.com/magazine/20050401/how-i-did-it.html |newspaper=[[Inc. (magazine)|Inc]] |date=April 1, 2005 |access-date=February 16, 2013 |archive-date=May 16, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130516131807/http://www.inc.com/magazine/20050401/how-i-did-it.html |url-status=live }}</ref> In July 2014, the [[Charleston RiverDogs]], of whom Veeck is president, held a promotion involving the destruction of [[Justin Bieber]] and [[Miley Cyrus]] merchandise.<ref>
*{{cite news |last=Bonesteel |first=Matt |date=July 16, 2014 |title=Charleston RiverDogs will destroy music of Justin Bieber, Miley Cyrus in Disco Demolition Night redux |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/early-lead/wp/2014/07/16/charleston-riverdogs-will-destroy-music-of-justin-bieber-miley-cyrus-in-disco-demolition-night-redux/ |access-date=July 19, 2014 |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]] |archive-date=August 11, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140811004058/http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/early-lead/wp/2014/07/16/charleston-riverdogs-will-destroy-music-of-justin-bieber-miley-cyrus-in-disco-demolition-night-redux/ |url-status=live }}
*{{cite web |last1=Schwartz |first1=Nick |date=July 20, 2014 |title=A minor league team destroyed Justin Bieber and Miley Cyrus music in a postgame explosion |url=http://ftw.usatoday.com/2014/07/a-minor-league-team-destroyed-justin-bieber-and-miley-cyrus-music-in-a-postgame-explosion |access-date=September 15, 2014 |website=[[USA Today|For The Win: USA Today Sports]] |publisher=[[Gannett Company]] |archive-date=August 6, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140806212005/http://ftw.usatoday.com/2014/07/a-minor-league-team-destroyed-justin-bieber-and-miley-cyrus-music-in-a-postgame-explosion |url-status=live }}
*{{cite web |last1=Nati |first1=Michelle |date=July 20, 2014 |title=Charleston River Dogs Host Disco Demolition 2: Justin Bieber & Miley Cyrus Music Destroyed At Baseball Game (VIDEO) |url=http://www.mstarz.com/articles/33977/20140720/charleston-river-dogs-host-disco-demolition-2-justin-bieber-miley-cyrus-music-destroyed-at-baseball-game-video.htm |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140723190447/http://www.mstarz.com/articles/33977/20140720/charleston-river-dogs-host-disco-demolition-2-justin-bieber-miley-cyrus-music-destroyed-at-baseball-game-video.htm |archive-date=July 23, 2014 |access-date=September 15, 2014 |website=Mstars News }}</ref> Dahl is still a radio personality in Chicago and also releases [[podcasting|podcasts]].<ref>{{cite news |last=Channick |first=Robert |date=August 5, 2012 |title=Steve Dahl's pay podcast marks 1st anniversary |newspaper=[[Chicago Tribune]] |url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/2012/08/05/steve-dahls-pay-podcast-marks-1st-anniversary/ |access-date=February 16, 2013 |archive-date=December 25, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121225045931/http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2012-08-05/business/ct-biz-0805-dahl-blogging-20120805_1_steve-dahl-chicago-radio-garry-meier |url-status=live }}</ref>

=== Cultural significance ===
The popularity of disco declined significantly in late 1979 and 1980. Many disco artists carried on, but record companies began labeling their recordings as dance music.<ref name="today" /> Dahl stated in a 2004 interview that by 1979 disco was "probably on its way out. But I think Disco Demolition Night hastened its demise."<ref>{{cite web |date=July 12, 2004 |title='Countdown with Keith Olbermann' Complete Transcript for July 12, 2004 |url=https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna5429592 |access-date=February 15, 2013 |work=[[NBC News]] |archive-date=September 24, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200924003428/http://www.nbcnews.com/id/5429592 |url-status=live }}</ref> According to Frank, "the Disco Demolition triggered a nationwide expression of anger against disco that caused disco to recede quickly from the American cultural landscape".{{sfn|Frank|p=302}} Episode 3 of the 2024 [[PBS]] series ''Disco: Soundtrack of a Revolution'' notes that disco's popularity had already entered a general decline due in part to the public's negative perception of the scene's elitism and excesses, with many radio stations in the process of changing back from a Disco to a Rock format.<ref name="pbs04">{{cite episode |title=Stayin' Alive |series=Disco: Soundtrack of a Revolution |number=3 |time=22:20-30:02 |url=https://www.pbs.org/video/stayin-alive-wvvwry/ |access-date=9 July 2024}}</ref>

''[[Rolling Stone]]'' critic [[Dave Marsh]] described Disco Demolition Night as "your most paranoid fantasy about where the ethnic cleansing of the rock radio could ultimately lead".<ref name="today" /> Marsh was one who, at the time, deemed the event an expression of [[bigotry]], writing in a year-end 1979 feature that "white males, eighteen to thirty-four are the most likely to see disco as the product of homosexuals, blacks, and Latins, and therefore they're the most likely to respond to appeals to wipe out such threats to their security. It goes almost without saying that such appeals are racist and sexist, but broadcasting has never been an especially civil-libertarian medium."<ref>{{cite magazine |last=Marsh |first=Dave |magazine=[[Rolling Stone]] |title=The flip sides of '79 |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/features/the-flip-sides-of-79-19791227 |date=December 22, 1979 |page=28 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151116022705/https://www.rollingstone.com/music/features/the-flip-sides-of-79-19791227 |archive-date=November 16, 2015}}</ref>

[[Nile Rodgers]], producer and guitarist for the disco-era band [[Chic (band)|Chic]], likened the event to [[Nazi book burnings|Nazi book burning]].<ref name="DiscoInferno" /> [[Gloria Gaynor]], who had a huge disco hit with "[[I Will Survive]]", stated, "I've always believed it was an economic decision—an idea created by someone whose economic bottom line was being adversely affected by the popularity of disco music. So they got a mob mentality going."<ref name="today" /> [[Harry Wayne Casey]], singer for the disco act [[KC and the Sunshine Band]], did not believe Disco Demolition Night was discriminatory and felt that Dahl was simply an "idiot".<ref name="Behrens" />

[[University of East London]] professor Tim Lawrence wrote that the event was the culmination of the overproduction of disco, the investment by major record companies in music their heterosexual white executives did not like, and the "disco sucks" campaign, which he argued was homophobic, sexist and racist.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Lawrence |first=Tim |year=2011 |title=Disco and the Queering of the Dance Floor |journal=Cultural Studies |volume=25 |issue=2 |pages=230–243|doi=10.1080/09502386.2011.535989 }}</ref> Dahl denies that prejudice was his motivation for the event: "The worst thing is people calling Disco Demolition homophobic or racist. It just wasn't&nbsp;... We weren't thinking like that."<ref name="Behrens" /> In a 2014 op-ed for ''[[Crain's Chicago Business]]'', Dahl defended the event as "a romp, not of major cultural significance".<ref name=":02">{{Cite news |last=Dahl |first=Steve |date=July 10, 2014 |title=Disco Demolition 35 years later: That's the way I liked it |work=[[Crain's Chicago Business]] |url=http://www.chicagobusiness.com/article/20140710/OPINION/140709818/disco-demolition-35-years-later-thats-the-way-i-liked-it |access-date=April 30, 2017 |archive-date=November 22, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171122122639/http://www.chicagobusiness.com/article/20140710/OPINION/140709818/disco-demolition-35-years-later-thats-the-way-i-liked-it |url-status=live }}</ref> He wrote that it had been "reframed" as prejudiced by a 1996 [[VH1]] documentary about the 1970s, in a move he described as "a cheap shot made without exploration".<ref name=":02" />

In response to Dahl's op-ed, [[WMAQ-TV]] political journalist Mark W. Anderson, who attended Disco Demolition at the age of 15, described the fear that white neighborhoods would be taken over by blacks and the anxiety around shifting pop culture trends. He wrote: {{quote|The chance to yell "disco sucks" meant more than simply a musical style choice. It was a chance to push back on a whole set of social dynamics that lay just beneath the surface of a minor battle between a DJ and a radio station that decided to change formats. More importantly, it was a chance for a whole lot of people to say they didn't like the way the world was changing around them, or who they saw as the potential victors in a cultural and demographic war.<ref name=":1">{{cite news |url=http://www.nbcchicago.com/blogs/ward-room/Mists-of-Time-Obscure-Disco-Demolition-Meaning-266767341.html |title=Time Obscures Meaning of Disco Demolition: Saturday is the 35th Anniversary of the infamous Disco Demolition Night |last=Anderson |first=Mark W. |date=July 11, 2014 |access-date=July 16, 2017 |publisher=[[WMAQ-TV]] |location=Chicago, Illinois |website=[[NBC Chicago]] |archive-date=July 18, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170718132548/http://www.nbcchicago.com/blogs/ward-room/Mists-of-Time-Obscure-Disco-Demolition-Meaning-266767341.html |url-status=live }}</ref>}}

Historian [[Joshua M. Zeitz]] noted that the demographic group attending the riots swung wildly in the 1980 presidential primaries and [[1980 United States presidential election|election]], first supporting liberal [[Ted Kennedy]] in the Democratic primary, then the conservative Republican nominee [[Ronald Reagan]] in the general election, both times opposing President [[Jimmy Carter]]. Zeitz argued: "Viewed in this light, Disco Demolition Night supports an altogether different interpretation of the 1970s as a decade that saw ordinary Americans gravitate to radical [[grassroots]] alternatives, both left and right, out of frustration with the political center."{{sfn|Zeitz|p=674}}

The unplayed second game remains the last American League game to be forfeited.<ref name="lytle">{{cite book |last=Lytle |first=Ken |title=The Little Book of Big F*#k Ups: 220 of History's Most-Regrettable Moments |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2-SrRW5l74IC |date=April 15, 2011 |location=Adams, Mass. |publisher=Adams Media |isbn=978-1-4405-1252-0 |page=154}}</ref> The last [[National League (baseball)|National League]] game to be forfeited was on August 10, 1995, when a baseball giveaway promotion at [[Dodger Stadium]] went awry, forcing the [[Los Angeles Dodgers]] to concede the game to the [[St. Louis Cardinals]].<ref name="snyder365">{{cite book |last=Snyder |first=John |title=365 Oddball Days in Dodgers History |location=Cincinnati |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mmZO7XSc7i4C |date=March 16, 2010 |page=10 |publisher=Clerisy Press |isbn=978-1-57860-452-4 |access-date=November 26, 2020 |archive-date=July 12, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230712080022/https://books.google.com/books?id=mmZO7XSc7i4C |url-status=live }}</ref> According to baseball analyst Jeremiah Graves, "To this day Disco Demolition Night stands in infamy as one of the most ill-advised promotions of all time, but arguably one of the most successful as 30 years later we're all still talking about it."<ref name="Graves">{{cite web |last=Graves |first=Jeremiah |work=[[Bleacher Report]] |date=July 12, 2009 |title=30 years later: Disco Demolition Night |access-date=February 14, 2013 |url=http://bleacherreport.com/articles/216590-30-years-later-disco-demolition-night |archive-date=October 29, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131029223708/http://bleacherreport.com/articles/216590-30-years-later-disco-demolition-night |url-status=live }}</ref>

== Game results ==
=== Game 1 ===
{{Linescore
|Date=July 12, 1979
|Time=5:40{{nbsp}}pm ([[Central Time Zone|CDT]])
|Location=[[Comiskey Park]] in Chicago, Illinois<ref name="LineScore">{{cite web |url=https://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/CHA/CHA197907121.shtml |work=[[Baseball-Reference.com]] |date=July 12, 1979 |title=Detroit Tigers at Chicago White Sox Box Score, July 12, 1979 |access-date=January 22, 2022 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100510164013/http://www.baseball-reference.com:80/boxes/CHA/CHA197907121.shtml |archive-date=May 10, 2010}}</ref>
|Road='''Detroit Tigers'''|RoadAbr=[[Detroit tigers|DET]]
|R1=1|R2=1|R3=1|R4=0|R5=0|R6=1|R7=0|R8=0|R9=0|RR=4|RH=9|RE=0
|Home=Chicago White Sox|HomeAbr=[[Chicago White Sox|CHW]]
|H1=0|H2=1|H3=0|H4=0|H5=0|H6=0|H7=0|H8=0|H9=0|HR=1|HH=5|HE=2
|RSP=|HSP=
|WP=[[Pat Underwood]] (4–0)|LP=[[Fred Howard (baseball)|Fred Howard]] (1–4)|SV=[[Aurelio López]] (5)
|RoadHR=None |HomeHR=None
|Attendance = 47,795
|}}

====Box score====
{{col-begin}}
{{col-break}}
{|class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders" border="2"
!scope="col"|Detroit<ref name="LineScore"/>
!scope="col"|[[At bat|AB]]
!scope="col"|[[Run (baseball)|R]]
!scope="col"|[[Hit (baseball)|H]]
!scope="col"|[[Run batted in|RBI]]
!scope="col"|[[Base on balls|BB]]
!scope="col"|[[Strikeout|SO]]
!scope="col"|[[Batting average (baseball)|AVG]]
|-
!scope="row"|{{sortname|Ron|LeFlore}}, [[Center fielder|CF]]
|5
|0
|2
|0
|0
|0
|.298
|-
!scope="row"|{{sortname|Lou|Whitaker}}, [[Second baseman|2B]]
|4
|1
|0
|0
|1
|0
|.295
|-
!scope="row"|{{sortname|Rusty|Staub}}, [[Designated hitter|DH]]
|3
|1
|1
|0
|1
|1
|.229
|-
!scope="row"|{{sortname|Jason|Thompson|dab=first baseman, born 1954}}, [[First baseman|1B]]
|4
|0
|0
|0
|0
|3
|.266
|-
!scope="row"|{{sortname|Champ|Summers}}, [[Right fielder|RF]]
|3
|1
|2
|0
|1
|0
|.277
|-
!scope="row"|{{sortname|Jerry|Morales}}, [[Left fielder|LF]]
|4
|1
|2
|1
|0
|0
|.236
|-
!scope="row"|{{sortname|Lance|Parrish}}, [[Catcher|C]]
|4
|0
|1
|1
|0
|1
|.275
|-
!scope="row"|{{sortname|Tom|Brookens}}, [[Third baseman|3B]]
|4
|0
|1
|1
|0
|0
|.364
|-
!scope="row"|{{sortname|Alan|Trammell}}, [[Shortstop|SS]]
|4
|0
|0
|0
|0
|0
|.276
|- class="sortbottom"
!scope="row"|'''Team totals'''
|35
|4
|9
|3
|3
|5
|.257
|}

{|class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders" border="2"
!scope="col"|Detroit<ref name="LineScore"/>
!scope="col"|[[Innings pitched|IP]]
!scope="col"|[[Hits allowed|H]]
!scope="col"|[[Runs (baseball)|R]]
!scope="col"|[[Earned runs|ER]]
!scope="col"|[[Base on balls|BB]]
!scope="col"|[[Strikeout|SO]]
!scope="col"|[[Home runs allowed|HR]]
!scope="col"|[[Earned run average|ERA]]
|-
!scope="row"|{{sortname|Pat|Underwood}} ([[Win (baseball)|W]], 4–0)
|{{frac|7|2|3}}
|5
|1
|1
|2
|3
|0
|3.43
|-
!scope="row"|{{sortname|Aurelio|López}} ([[Save (baseball)|S]], 5)
|{{frac|1|1|3}}
|0
|0
|0
|0
|2
|0
|3.00
|- class="sortbottom"
!scope="row"|'''Team totals'''
|9
|5
|1
|1
|2
|5
|0
|1.00
|}

{{col-break|gap=1em}}
{|class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders" border="2"
!Chicago<ref name="LineScore"/>
![[At bat|AB]]
![[Run (baseball)|R]]
![[Hit (baseball)|H]]
![[Run batted in|RBI]]
![[Base on balls|BB]]
![[Strikeout|SO]]
![[Batting average (baseball)|AVG]]
|-
!scope="row"|{{sortname|Alan|Bannister}}, [[Second baseman|2B]]
|4
|0
|1
|0
|0
|0
|.327
|-
!scope="row"|{{sortname|Junior|Moore}}, [[Left fielder|LF]]
|4
|0
|1
|0
|0
|0
|.270
|-
!scope="row"|{{sortname|Chet|Lemon}}, [[Center fielder|CF]]
|3
|0
|1
|0
|1
|0
|.302
|-
!scope="row"|{{sortname|Lamar|Johnson|Lamar Johnson (baseball)}}, [[First baseman|1B]]
|3
|0
|0
|0
|1
|1
|.296
|-
!scope="row"|{{sortname|Wayne|Nordhagen}}, [[Designated hitter|DH]]
|3
|0
|0
|0
|0
|0
|.261
|-
!scope="row"|&nbsp;&nbsp;{{sortname|Jorge|Orta}}, [[Pinch hitter|PH]]-[[Designated hitter|DH]]
|1
|0
|0
|0
|0
|0
|.227
|-
!scope="row"|{{sortname|Rusty|Torres}}, [[Right fielder|RF]]
|3
|1
|1
|0
|0
|0
|.288
|-
!scope="row"|&nbsp;&nbsp;{{sortname|Claudell|Washington}}, [[Pinch hitter|PH]]
|1
|0
|0
|0
|0
|1
|.278
|-
!scope="row"|{{sortname|Jim|Morrison|dab=baseball}}, [[Third baseman|3B]]
|4
|0
|2
|0
|0
|3
|.233
|-
!scope="row"|{{sortname|Greg|Pryor}}, [[Shortstop|SS]]
|3
|0
|1
|1
|0
|0
|.286
|-
!scope="row"|{{sortname|Mike|Colbern}}, [[Catcher|C]]
|3
|0
|0
|0
|0
|0
|.261
|- class="sortbottom"
!scope="row"|'''Team totals'''
|32
|1
|5
|1
|2
|5
|.156
|}
{|class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders" border="2"
!scope="col"|Chicago<ref name="LineScore"/>
!scope="col"|[[Innings pitched|IP]]
!scope="col"|[[Hits allowed|H]]
!scope="col"|[[Runs (baseball)|R]]
!scope="col"|[[Earned runs|ER]]
!scope="col"|[[Base on balls|BB]]
!scope="col"|[[Strikeout|SO]]
!scope="col"|[[Home runs allowed|HR]]
!scope="col"|[[Earned run average|ERA]]
|-
!scope="row"|{{sortname|Fred|Howard|dab=baseball}} ([[Loss (baseball)|L]], 1–4)
|{{frac|5|1|3}}
|6
|4
|2
|2
|4
|0
|3.67
|-
!scope="row"|{{sortname|Ed|Farmer}}
|{{frac|3|2|3}}
|3
|0
|0
|1
|1
|0
|4.94
|-
!scope="row"|'''Team totals'''
|9
|9
|4
|2
|3
|5
|0
|2.00
|}
{{col-end}}

Game 2 forfeited to Detroit, 9–0.

==See also==
{{Portal|Baseball|Chicago|Illinois|Radio}}
* [[Hooliganism]]
* [[Post-disco]]
* [[Ten Cent Beer Night]]
* ''[[The Last Days of Disco]]'' - a 1998 film about the end of the disco era

==Notes==
{{Reflist}}

==References==
*{{cite book |last1=Dahl |first1=Steve |author-link1=Steve Dahl |last2=Hoekstra |first2=Dave |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3GMBswEACAAJ |title=Disco Demolition: The Night Disco Died |date=August 2016 |isbn=978-1-9404-3075-1 |publisher=Curbside Splendor Publishing |location=Chicago, Illinois |others=Foreword by [[Bob Odenkirk]] and photographs provided by Paul Natkin}}
*{{cite book |last=Dickson |title=Bill Veeck: Baseball's Greatest Maverick |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cDlqpKMu6kcC |isbn=978-0-8027-1778-8 |year=2012 |location=New York |publisher=Walker Publishing Co., Inc |ref={{sfnRef|Dickson}} |first=Paul}}
*{{cite book |last=Fingers |title=Rollie's Follies: A Hall of Fame Revue of Baseball Stories and Stats Lists and Lore |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QQ1YkONXsycC |isbn=978-1-57860-335-0 |year=2008 |location=Cincinnati |publisher=Clerisy Press |ref={{sfnRef|Fingers}} |first=Rollie}}
*{{cite journal |last=Frank |first=Gillian |title=Discophobia: Antigay Prejudice and the 1979 Backlash against Disco |journal=Journal of the History of Sexuality |date=May 2007 |volume=16 |issue=2 |jstor=30114235 |pages=276–306 |ref={{sfnRef|Frank}} |doi=10.1353/sex.2007.0050 |pmid=19244671 |s2cid=36702649}}
*{{cite journal |last=Young |first=Christopher J. |title='When Fans Wanted to Rock, the Baseball Stopped': Sports, Promotions, and the Demolition of Disco on Chicago's South Side |journal=The Baseball Research Journal |date=Summer 2009 |volume=38 |issue=1 |pages=11–16 |ref={{sfnRef|Young}}}}
*{{cite journal |last=Zeitz |first=J. |title=Rejecting the center: Radical grassroots politics in the 1970s—second-wave feminism as a case study |journal=Journal of Contemporary History |date=October 2008 |volume=43 |issue=4 |jstor=40543229 |pages=673–678 |ref={{sfnRef|Zeitz}} |doi=10.1177/0022009408095422 |s2cid=153550017}}

==External links==
*[http://whitesoxinteractive.com/History&Glory/DiscoDemolition.htm Whitesoxinteractive.com's Disco Demolition story page] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191102130812/http://whitesoxinteractive.com/History%26Glory/DiscoDemolition.htm |date=November 2, 2019 }}
*[http://www.fuzzymemories.tv/index.php?c=4548 WBBM-TV news report, July 13, 1979] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140503104738/http://www.fuzzymemories.tv/index.php?c=4548 |date=May 3, 2014 }}
*[https://www.mlb.com/news/disco-demolition-night-chicago-comiskey-park MLB Network Remembers] at MLB.com
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20120606052319/http://www.outernetweb.com/focal/disco/headlines/index.html Disco Demolition Night News Headlines]
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20120709004135/http://www.outernetweb.com/focal/disco/coholips/index.html More about the Insane Coho Lips]
*[https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/films/war-disco/ The War on Disco] on ''[[American Experience]]''

{{Sporting fiascos}}
{{Chicago White Sox}}
{{Detroit Tigers}}
{{Authority control}}

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