The calamity was created as a result of a rivalry between Chicago radio stations. Popular disc jockey Steve Dahl had been fired from WDAI when they switched their mandate from rock and roll to dance-hall disco. He was quickly hired by WLUP, where he went about creating his own personal smear campaign against the genre which had cost him his position. Dahl and his broadcast partner, Gary Meier, along Mike Veeck, the son of White Sox owner Bill Veeck, hatched a plan which would allow fans to wage musical war.

Attendees, they proposed, would turn in their unwanted disco records and, in exchange for a $.98 fee, get to see the collective refuse blown up smack dab in the middle of Comiskey Park.

The team was hoping to sell perhaps 12,000 tickets to the Thursday night affair. But when 90,000 people showed up at the gates of the 52,000-seat stadium, fans began scaling the walls in an attempt to get inside.

One can imagine the wonderful smells of baseball – grass, dirt, leather and pine tar – mingling with the fetid scents of stale beer and marijuana smoke. It must have been an amazing sight – a giant crate in the middle of the outfield, filled with records and rigged to explode.

The demolition itself was slated to take place between the first and second games of a twi-night doubleheader. But midway through the first game, it was apparent that this would be no ordinary evening at the ballpark. Several fans had discovered that, much like the Frisbee they loved to toss at home, vinyl records could fly a great distance when thrown correctly.

Somehow, they managed to get through the first game. Then, out to center field drove Dahl, wearing combat fatigues and an army cap. When the bomb finally went off courtesy of the rogue radio DJ’s, the crowd quickly reached full throat.

Without adequate security, facility personnel were forced to rely on the masses to police themselves and behave in an orderly fashion.

It was a major miscalculation on the part of the promoters. Fans surged onto the field, stealing the bases and tearing up chunks of the outfield grass. They set fires and incited scuffles with one another, prompting then-White Sox broadcaster Harry Caray to appeal to fans over the loudspeaker.

Finally, when it was clear to all that the night was lost, the Chicago Police moved in and evicted the rioters.

Mike Veeck, the son of the team’s owner and the major brains behind the promotion, was blacklisted from the game for much of his life following the Disco Demolition debacle. As he would later say, “The second that first guy shimmied down the outfield wall, I knew my life was over!”

- Taylor Maxwell

When Ebbets Field opened, Ebbets proudly showed reporters the park’s amazing structure, quality and comfort. Ebetts was especially proud of the dressing rooms and offices.

To booster his claim that his ballpark was the most comfortable, Ebbets purchased thousands of umbrellas and stored them at the park for fans to use in rainy weather. Known as the “Holiday King” Ebbets was one of the first owners to embrace the concept of special days, including “Orphans Day”. Ebbets Field hat it’s share of devoted fans. There was the soft-ball wannabe and the Ebbets Field regular, Hilda Chester, who after having an heart attack and was advised by her doctors to stop shouting so loud at the games, so she banged her frying pan instead. Hilda Chester’s banging could only be matched by the Brooklyn Sym-Phony, a group of fans who brought anything that would make noise, playing classics like “Three Blind Mice”. The Brooklyn Sym-Phony played “Three Blind Mice” when they thought an umpire was being unfair. The Broklyn Dodgers also held “Music Depreciation Day”, in which all fans who donated a music instrument at the game got in for free.

The Brooklyn Dodgers broke the racial barrier in 1947 by signing Jackie Robinson to a contract. On April 15, Robinson played his first game in the majors at Ebbets Field. In Robinson’s first year, the Dodgers shattered the single-game attendance record at every National League team they faced. In 1949, Ebbets hosted it’s first All-star game with the American League winning 11-7. However, the 1949 All-star game marked am important day in baseball historoy because it was the first midsummer classic to allow Black players to participate.

The Brooklyn Dodgers saw only one World Series title pass through Brooklyn, but it came against there most hated rival, the New York Yankees in 1955. Johnny Podres ended the Brooklyn Dodgers’ long struggle for the crown.

Walter O’Malley became Brooklyn Dodgers sole owner in 1950 and after seeing how poorly maintained Ebbets Field had become, he decided to find another home for his Dodgers. Despite O’Malley’s vision and drive, bumped heads with in the urban planning king, Robert Moses. After months of negotiations, Moses gave O’Malley an ultimatum, either stay at Ebbets or the city will find a park. O’Malley was furious and decided to look elsewhere.

It just so happened that Los Angeles was looking for a baseball team and was extremely interested in bringing the Dodgers to California. Los Angeles had what O’Malley needed; a new ballpark in a desirable place. On September 24, 1957, the Brooklyn Dodgers played their last game at Ebbets Field and beat the Pirates 2-0 in front of only a handful of fans. When “Dem Bums” left Brooklyn, it signaled the end of baseball in Brooklyn and the end of an era, in which Brooklyn fans never truly recovered from.

- John A. Roberts

Well, I’m not drunk, but I do have an interesting story to tell. It’s a tale which revolves around that man himself who, for more than twenty years, umpired baseball games with only one eye to his credit.

Now retired, Max makes his living as the general manager of the Cincinnati Steam, who play in the Great Lakes Summer Collegiate League.

“I love everything about the game,” McCleary told Sports Illustrated. “God sets things up in a crazy manner, and we can’t always understand why… But I am a living testimonial that you don’t need two eyes to umpire.”

The career-defining event occurred in 1977 during a blizzard in Cincinnati, when his girlfriend at the time slipped on a patch of ice. As Max leaned down to help her, he was struck in the head by the tip of her pointed boot.

His right eye, it seems, died a chivalrous death.

Undeterred by the loss of vision, Max made his way back into umping after only two years. He’s earned a reputation on the minor league and college circuits as a man who can dish it out as well as take it.

Just ask Joe Charboneau, the one-time manager of Pennsylvania’s Washington Wild Things. He once asked the ump if, after the grounds crew was finished dragging the field and replacing the bases during the fifth inning, he’d like them to Windex his prosthetic eye.

“Get with the 20th cetnury. They’re plastic now,” replied McCleary, before removing the false eye and throwing it at the mocking coach.

Joe Charboneau, for his part, promptly ducked out of the way before bending down and vomiting.

- Taylor Maxwell

Don’t get me wrong – Costas, Michaels and crew have done an excellent job on the broadcast end of things. In fact, I don’t think there’s a network better equipped to take on such a massive project.

But I digress. The reason I’m thinking about blunders is… Well, because I’m a blundering sort of person. That, and they’re always fun to read about. So here, without further ado, are a few of the funniest gaffes in Olympic history.

Weigh-In Whoopsee!

After a tough loss during the opening round of the 1936 Olympic boxing competition in Berlin, lightweight Thomas Hamilton-Brown needed to soothe his troubled soul. So, what would you do if you were a disappointed Olympic boxer? If you answered, “Eating binge”, then you’d be correct. The day after his loss, it was discovered that there had been a scoring error, and that the dejected Hamilton-Brown had actually won the fight. Unfortunately, his gastric gaffe had added another five pounds to his physique. Unable to make the proper weight, he lost shot at gold.

Raqueteering

Sigrid Fick and Gunnar Setterwall were enjoying a great run during the 1912 Stockholm summer games. That was, until their match for the gold. With a shot at the top prize in mixed-doubles on the line, Fick accidentally smashed her partner full-on in the face with her racquet. The official Olympic report, in the manner of journalistic understatement common to the time, put it as follows: “This little accident put Setterwall off his game, for his play fell off tremendously.”

Restless in Rome

I can imagine the excitement of the people of Suriname, waiting to watch Wym Essajas, their country’s first Olympic athlete, compete in Rome’s 1960 summer games. Essajas, a runner, was unfortunately given the wrong starting time prior to his 800-meter competition. He slept through the entire thing.

There are many more interesting moments in the history of the Olympics. Stay tuned for part two!

- Taylor Maxwell

But level of superstitions practiced by the athletes we idolize often put our paltry rituals to shame.

Consider the case of Kevin Rhomberg, one of the most superstitious players in the history of Major League Baseball. In a rather Newtonian compulsion, he felt that whenever someone touched him, he must touch them back. This led to some awkward situations after being tagged out by an opposing basemen. He’d often wait for the end of an inning, after which he’d chase down and touch the man who’d tagged him out. Rhomberg also refused to make right runs when on the field, because base runners only turn left. If a maneuver required that he move to his right, he would turn a full left circle to get himself pointed in the right direction.

Then there’s the Dallas Mavericks’ Jason Terry. In college, Terry had taken to wearing his game shorts to bed on the night before competing. Once he reached the NBA, he’d switched from wearing his own team’s colors to sleeping in those of his next opponent. This required that he develop an underground network of trainers and athletic managers throughout the country, who would provide him with his illicit sleepwear.

Not all superstitions inspire comfort, however. Take, for example, the pre-game ritual practiced by Jacksonville Jaguars defensive end John Henderson. Before each game, he requires assistant team trainer Joe Sheehan to slap him across the face as hard as he can. Check out the video here. If a 6-foot-7 334-pounder asked you to strike him, would you do it? It must work. Henderson has made the Pro Bowl several times since requesting a smack on the mush.

And some are just plain gross. Look at the case of Moises Alou. The accomplished big league slugger is one of a few players throughout the majors to eschew batting gloves in favor of a barehanded approach. But what sets Alou apart from his peers is his particular method of skin-care. In an attempt to harden the skin on his gripping surface, the outfielder urinates on his hands several times throughout the season.

And I thought changing my shirt in the middle of a game made me weird.

- Taylor Maxwell

Yes, Spring Training 2010 is upon us, my WannaBe Brethren. Baseball is less than a month and a half away. With the approach of each club’s mandatory workouts, we’re getting closer and closer to some of the best months on the American sporting calender.

More than any other, baseball is a game driven by history. It’s been called, “The Haunted Game”, a name which I find to be particularly apt. In no other game will you find the heroes of today compared and competing so closely with the legends of seasons gone by. It’s sport fueled by tradition, by century-spanning passion, and by stories.

So here, without further ado, are some of the biggest storylines to watch in this year’s run toward the World Series. On thing’s for sure, it’ll be a season like no other.

Capable Hands
Seattle, thanks in large part to general manager Jack Zduriencik, has put together a roster focusing almost exclusively on defense and run-prevention. This is not a new strategy, but it’s one that the Mariners are seeking to take to the next level. Despite their AL-low offensive output in 2009, the team managed to finish with a respectable record. Add in a rotation which include Felix Hernandez and Cliff Lee, and you’ve got a possible recipe for success.

Yankee Repeat?
Brian Cashman made some of the best moves in the entire market this offseason, including the addition of Curtis Granderson. With their impressive starting rotation still in place, it’s hard not to pick the Yanks to make yet another October run. Things will have to go very, very badly for the club not to make it to playoff time. Also, be sure to keep an eye on the Derek Jeter situation. Mr. Yankee is in the final year of his contract, and has stated publicly that he has no interest in playing anywhere else. Will the club share his sentiment?

All Eyes On Mark
We all know about the McGwire’s steroid use. And with Big Mac back in the game, he’ll have to field more questions than ever regarding his checkered baseball past. Can he find a way to redeem himself and save his shot at the Hall of Fame? Or will he finally crack, and let slip a few incriminating words? It’ll be interesting to see McGwire back in the company of Tony LaRussa, who has managed some of the most steroid-laden rosters in memory. Canseco, McGwire, Ankiel, and others – Is one of baseball’s best all-time skippers a steroid enabler? We may find out this season

The mayhem started during the 1976 post-seaon when the Yankees played the Kansas City Royals for the rights to play in the World Series. Near midnight on October 14, 1976, Chris Chambless hit a home run that would change his life and the identity of the New York Yankees.

In the bottom of 9th inning the fifth game of the American League Championship Series Chris Chambliss came up to bat. He hit the first pitch thrown by Royals reliever Mark Littel just over the right field center fence. The crowed went crazy as thousands of fans rushed on to the field.

Chris Chambliss hit the home run to send the Yankees to the World Series, but he also exercised a decade worth of demons and officially ended the darkest days in Yankee history.

Before Chambliss’ ball landed in the stands, fans spilled onto the field. By the time Chambliss rounded first base, it was already a full-blown riot. A happy riot, but a riot nothing the less.

Chambliss was knocked down near second base. He stormed through the crowd and gave a few fans a couple of elbows just to reach third base. ‘It was almost a panic situation, trying to get away from the fans.” Third base was a mob scene, but Chris was able to plow through the madness and make it into the dugout and into the clubhouse, where his teammates were partying, spraying champagne and exchanging hugs and high fives.

A few minutes after reaching the dugout, Chambliss headed back onto the field with security to touch home plate. He wanted to make sure the Royals did not complain about him not touching it. Chambliss was wearing uniform pants and a baseball undershirt. He put on a jacket, walked down the hallway, while being escorted by two cops. The cops locked hands with Chambliss and walked onto the field, were dozens of fans were still on the diamond, drinking and celebrating the Yankees trip to the World Series.

Chambliss’ homerun rocketed the Yankees into a new era and no one appreciated it more than Roy White. Roy White was a left fielder who had been with the team for 11 years, longer than anyone else on the Yankees current roster. Roy White was a part of the team when the Yankees in dismal last place. “It was one of the happiest moments I’ve ever had as a ballplayer”. White signed with the Yankees in 1971 when he was just seventeen years old. Playing along side of Mickey Mantle and Whitey Ford, White just knew he was going to play for a championship and soon. “When you sign with the Yankees, you think, I’m going to be in the World Series every year.”

It didn’t happen quite that way for White and the rest of the Yankees. The Yankees hit rock bottom during White’s rookie year in 1966, finishing last and 26 1/2 games behind first place team.

After the abysmal finish of 1966, the Yankees re-tooled their club. The drafted the hard-hitting Bobby Murcer, who was tauted as the next Mickey Mantle. In 1970, hard-nose catcher Thurmon Munson won the Rookie of the Year Award, and would become one of the the Yankees most recognizable player. Munson also became the club’s first team captain since Lou Gerhig.

Even though the Yankees were on their way to restoring their championship swagger, things would get even crazier. In Munson’s third season, two Yankee left-handed pitchers, Fritz Peterson and Mike Kekich decided to trade wives. This did not go well with military style owner George Steinbrenner, who bought the ball club from CBS in 1973 for $8.7 million.

- John A. Roberts

With only six winning seasons in their entire history, LA’s perennial “other team” reigns supreme as the absolute worst.

The franchise, initially known as the Buffalo Braves, has been a loser since its very inception. They joined the NBA just prior to the 1970-71 season, along with the Portland Trailblazers and the Cleveland Cavaliers. Things did not get off to a good start for the Braves. In their first draft, they passed on future hall-of-famer and hometown favorite Calvin Murphy. As most expansion teams do, the squad finished with a poor record. 22-60 was the best they could muster.

They finished their second year with the exact same record, after replacing their head coach one game into the season. The Braves would do nothing truly noteworthy until the 1973-74 season, which saw them making their first playoff appearance.

Unfortunately for Buffalo, their opponent was none other than the Boston Celtics. The Braves would lose the series, though they did manage to go six games.

The Clippers eventually moved to San Diego prior to the 1978-79 season, where they would enjoy a winning record of 43-39. They would ultimately fare no better there, however. Continued blunders in the front office resulted in poor player moves, prompting a lack of interest from the fans. The team was purchased by Los Angeles attorney Donald Sterling, who saw potential in a team drawing only 4,500 spectators per game. The Clippers moved to their new owner’s hometown in 1984.

The relocation maneuver didn’t seem to work the second time, either. There have been a few playoff appearances since, but the overall picture remains the same.

The bottom line is this: The Clippers have never been to the NBA Finals. They’ve also never won either a conference or division title.

To be a Clippers fan is truly one of the hardest ordeals in sports. For sheer level of continued disappointment, I’d place them only behind the followers of the Chicago Cubs in their appetite for punishment.

- Taylor Maxwell

Dominique Wilkins played for the Atlanta Hawks. The Atlanta Hawks was never a real contender for an NBA championship title, but Dominique Wilkins always gave basketball fans something to be excited about. The Human Highlight Film provided an incredible show and scored more points than anybody in Atlanta Hawks history. The Human Highlight Film would dunk on people so hard, it looked scary. His opponents could either either duck or simply get out the way. Not only did he dunk on people with ease, he would “run clinics” executing reverse lay-ups on less fortunate opponents.

Dominique Wilkins was born In Paris, France. He went to high school in the United States at Washington High, where he led his team to 3 consecutive State Championships. Wilkins played college hoops in Georgia where he was named SEC Player of the Year Award as a junior.

After Dominique Wilkins’ junior year in college, he was drafted by the Utah Jazz, was traded to the Hawks because of financial problems facing the Jazz’s franchise.

Dominique Wilkins earned is reputation as the “Human Highlight Film” early in his NBA career. Wilkins captured the league’s scoring title in 1985, when he averaged just over 30 points per game. Wilkins’ trademark dunk was a powerful one or two handed windmill, two dunks that would win him the Slam Dunk Contest in 1985 and 1990.

Dominique retired after 11 great years in the NBA. He’s the Hawks all-time leading scorer with more than 23,000 points. On January 13,2001 Wilkins became one of four Hawks to have their jersey retired.

When Wilkins got airborne, you’d better watch out because the way he approached dunking the ball was like a freight train coming full speed. Also, his dunks in the Slam Dunk Competition were legendary and memorable, which is why his nickname “Human Highlight Film” is so popular among those who watched him play.

- John A. Roberts

But there is one man who, through his shenanigans, is keeping baseball tradition alive. His name is Mike Lowell, and he’s the last, best practitioner of the “Hidden Ball Trick.”

The trick is exactly what its name suggests. It’s a deceptive play in which the runner on base is fooled as to the location of the ball, and is then tagged out by a nearby defender. Most often, this involves one of the basemen making a fake throw back to the pitcher who, for the play to be legal, must be positioned off of the mound.

According to multiple sources, there have been fewer than 300 successful instances of the Hidden Ball Trick in the recorded history of the Major Leagues. Considering that the game has been around for over a century, with each team playing more than 100 games, it’s an astonishingly low number.

One of the earliest known practitioners of the trick was Bill Coughlin, a third baseman who played for the Washington Senators and Detroit Tigers in a career which spanned nine years (1899-1908). While there is no way to verify his claim, Coughlin was said to have been responsible for seven successful executions of the Hidden Ball Trick. His most high-profile exhibition came in Game Two of the 1907 World Series, when he caught Jimmy Slagle of the Chicago Cubs. It is the only recorded instance of the trick in World Series History.

But back to modern times. Mike Lowell, currently a third baseman in the Boston Red Sox organization, has been responsible for two of the last three Hidden Ball Tricks in the majors. The first came against the Expos’ Brian Schneider on September 15, 2004. His most recent came a year later, on August 10, 2005 against the Arizona Diamondbacks. Check the link for a look at the video. Lowell, then a member of the Florida Marlins, managed to dupe Luis Terrero with a little help from reliever Todd Jones. The play saved the game for the Marlins, and Lowell was once again a hero.

It’s innovation and traditions like this that make baseball truly one of the most entertaining sports in the world. While it may possess neither the raw power of football nor the showmanship of basketball, it has some of the most finesse and deception-based gameplay available.

And it comes, in large part, thanks to heroes of the game like Mike Lowell.

- Taylor Maxwell