On Aug. 10, 1995, Major League Baseball saw something that hadn’t been experienced since 1979, and the Los Angeles Dodgers franchise hadn’t seen since 1916, as they were forced to forfeit a game.
Taking on the St. Louis Cardinals on “Ball Day” at Dodger Stadium, fans began throwing their souvenirs onto the field after disagreeing with a call by home plate umpire Jim Quick. That was not the root of the sudden forfeit, however.
That occurred in the ninth inning when Eric Karros and Raul Mondesi were ejected for arguing with Quick over questionable strike calls. Fans began hurling baseballs onto the field for a third time.
The forfeit was called with Dodgers trailing 2-1 with one out in the ninth inning. The chance to earn a comeback victory in the midst of a pennant race never came to fruition.
Dodgers manager Tommy Lasorda said at the time that he had never seen anything like it and he was disappointed in the fans that decided to throw the balls onto the field, costing his team a game.
Umpire Bob Davidson pointed his blame elsewhere though, as he put the responsibility on Lasorda for inciting the crowd by waving his arms. Lasorda refuted that claim, explaining that he was just trying to find out from Quick why his players were tossed from the game.
Luckily, the loss did not affect the Dodgers too much, as they still went on to win the division. That was the peak of their success, though, as the Dodgers were swept by the Cincinnati Reds in the National League Division Series.
The infamous incident at Dodger Stadium in 1995 was the last forfeit in an MLB game to date.
