Tom Kirvan
Legal News, Editor-in-Chief
The ill-fated Astroworld Festival, that drew more than 50,000 fans to Houston for an appearance by rap star Travis Scott, ended when a surge resulted in the deaths of eight concert-goers and the hospitalization of 13 others.
In a sense, the tragedy had been building for months, according to law enforcement officials in Houston, who feared the combination of a mega-star, a pent-up crowd, and planned pyrotechnics had combustible potential.
And indeed it did, proving horribly reminiscent of a stampede at a 1979 concert by The Who in Cincinnati that claimed the lives of 11 people.
The chaos that ensued that day served as a grim reminder of a near-death experience a college friend and I had at a 1972 American League playoff between the Tigers and Oakland A’s at Tiger Stadium.
The Tigers and A’s had engaged in a heated playoff battle, spiced by a bat-throwing incident in game two when Detroit pitcher Larin Lagrow hit Oakland star shortstop Campy Campaneris on the ankle with an errant pitch.
Campaneris took umbrage at being beaned, flinging his bat at Lagrow in a wayward attempt to settle the score.
His toss, which sparked a benches-clearing brawl, had long-term playoff consequences for the shortstop, who was booted from the game and unceremoniously bounced from the rest of the series for unsportsmanlike conduct. It also drew the ire of Tiger manager Billy Martin, who called Campaneris “as gutless as any player who ever put on a uniform.”
So the Tigers entered game four down 2-1 in the best-of-five series. The game was a see-saw affair that was tied 1-1 after nine innings, thanks to a solo home run by Tiger second baseman Dick McAuliffe and similar shot by Oakland’s Mike Epstein off Detroit ace Mickey Lolich.
In the 10th inning, as we watched from the front row, lower deck in left field, the A’s struck for two runs for a 3-1 lead.
The two-run deficit only seemed to fuel the Tiger Stadium frenzy. The noise reached ear-splitting proportions when the Tigers opened the bottom of the 10th with singles by McAuliffe and Al Kaline, followed by a walk to Gates Brown.
Suddenly, the Tigers had given fans reason for hope.
An Oakland error helped push across Detroit’s first run in the inning, narrowing the score to 3-2 as the bases remained loaded with Tiger slugger Norm Cash due up. Cash worked Oakland pitcher Dave Hamilton for a walk, forcing in the tying run and sending fans into delirium.
A cascade of fans from the left field upper deck seats had made their way down to our lower deck section, filling the aisles in standing-room-only fashion as excitement built.
A few minutes later, Jim Northrup came through again, driving in the winning run with a single, setting off an explosion of fans storming the field.
Right over our backs.
Almost as soon as the winning run crossed the plate, my friend and I were pinned against a chain-link fence separating our seats from the playing field. What should have been a time of joyous celebration, suddenly became a life-and-death struggle as we tried to ward off a seemingly endless surge of fans climbing over a mangled-fence onto the field.
Our only hope was to duck under our seats, using them as a shield against a mob of drunken celebrants that cared little for their Tiger brethren.
Somehow, we survived, thanks to a pair of seats that served as shelter.
That experience should have ended my life-long love of the Tigers, but inexplicably it did not, which says plenty about the grip that baseball has on my sports-watching soul.
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