Tonight’s episode of Comedy Central’s Drunk History is going to look at one of the more infamous promotions in MLB history. Disco Demolition Night at the old Comiskey Park in Chicago happened on July 12, 1979 and was the brainchild of DJ Steve Dahl and the Chicago White Sox’s promotions director Mike Veeck. It happened in between the doubleheader between the White Sox and the Detroit Tigers when a bunch of disco records were blown up on the field.
It led to a bunch of fans emptying the stands, storming the field, tearing up the turf and the result left the field in such bad shape that the White Sox had to forfeit the second game. The whole thing was witnessed by Harry Caray and Jimmy Piersall and aired on WSNS TV. It was televised throughout Chicago and surrounding areas through the White Sox Television Network.
If you’ve never seen the video footage and only heard about it, here’s Jeremy Schaap of ESPN looking back at the promotion:
Tonight’s Drunk History will have Colin Hanks playing Dahl and a drunk Bob Odenkirk telling the story of Disco Demolition. Any time you have Drunk History recounting one of the more interesting sports stories, it’s worth checking out.
The show airs on Comedy Central tonight at 10:30 p.m. ET/PT.
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About Ken Fang
Ken has been covering the sports media in earnest at his own site, Fang's Bites since May 2007 and at Awful Announcing since March 2013.
He provides a unique perspective having been an award-winning radio news reporter in Providence and having worked in local television.
Fang celebrates the four Boston Red Sox World Championships in the 21st Century, but continues to be a long-suffering Cleveland Browns fan.