The Night Baseball Lost Control
Some moments define cities. Some moments define sports. And some moments — the truly infamous ones — define what happens when ambition, chaos, and thousands of witnesses collide. This is Infamous Moments: narrative nonfiction that gives sports history's most unforgettable nights the full story they deserve.
Buy Ten Cent Beer Night
Beyond the Headlines, Beyond Wikipedia
The Series
Infamous Moments tells the full stories behind the nights that shaped franchises, broke hearts, and became legend.
Every sports city has them — the moments that live in collective memory, passed down through generations of fans. The crushing defeats. The chaotic spectacles. The nights when everything went wrong in the most spectacular way possible.
These stories deserve more than a box score or a highlight reel. They deserve context, characters, and the kind of narrative depth that brings you back to the stadium, back to that exact moment when history tilted sideways.
Infamous Moments begins with Cleveland — a city that knows heartbreak better than most — but this is just the beginning. Every franchise has its defining disasters. Every city has its infamous nights. This series will tell those stories, one unforgettable moment at a time.
Book One
Now Available
Ten Cent Beer Night: The Night Baseball Lost Its Mind in Cleveland
June 4, 1974. Cleveland Municipal Stadium. What started as a desperate promotional gimmick — ten-cent beers, unlimited refills — ended as one of the most chaotic nights in baseball history. Fans stormed the field. Players grabbed bats for self-defense. The umpires forfeited the game. And the baseball world watched in disbelief as Cleveland became synonymous with everything that could go wrong.
This is the full story of that night: the front-office desperation that led to the promotion, the escalating tension between Cleveland and Texas, the moment the crowd became a mob, and the aftermath that still echoes fifty years later. It's a story about a struggling franchise, a divided city, and the thin line between fandom and chaos.
June 4, 1974
The date Cleveland baseball became infamous
Cleveland Municipal Stadium
Where 25,000 fans witnessed chaos
Indians vs. Rangers
A rivalry that exploded into a riot
About the Author
William Trowbridge is a Westlake, Ohio-based author and lifelong Cleveland sports fan dedicated to giving the most infamous moments in sports history the narrative treatment they deserve. His work combines meticulous research with compelling storytelling, bringing readers back to the stadiums, the tension, and the heartbreak that defined these unforgettable nights.
Ten Cent Beer Night is the first book in the Infamous Moments series, with more Cleveland sports tragedies — and stories from other cities — in development.
For Media & Press
A Story Worth Covering
Local Author, National Story
William Trowbridge is a Westlake, Ohio-based author documenting Cleveland's most infamous sports moments with narrative depth and historical rigor.
50th Anniversary Relevance
June 4, 2024 marked fifty years since Ten Cent Beer Night — a milestone that reignited national interest in one of baseball's wildest nights.
Series Concept
Infamous Moments is launching as a multi-book series exploring the sports moments that defined cities, franchises, and fan identities.
Review copies available upon request. For interview requests, media inquiries, or review copies, contact press@infamousmoments.com.
What's Next: More Infamous Moments
Ten Cent Beer Night is just the beginning. Cleveland's sports history is filled with moments that still haunt the city's collective memory — and the Infamous Moments series will tell those stories.
1
In Production
The Drive: 98 Yards That Broke Cleveland's Heart — January 11, 1987. John Elway. The AFC Championship Game. The 98-yard march that crushed Cleveland's Super Bowl dreams.
2
In Development
The Fumble — Earnest Byner's goal-line fumble in the 1988 AFC Championship. Another year. Another heartbreak. Another moment Cleveland can't forget.
3
In Development
Red Right 88 — The frozen field. Brian Sipe's interception. The 1981 playoff game that still stings four decades later.
4
Beyond Cleveland
Every city has its infamous moments. This series will expand to tell those stories — the nights that defined franchises, broke cities, and became legend.
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Ready to Dive In?
For Readers
Start with Ten Cent Beer Night — the story that launched the series and captured one of baseball's most chaotic nights.
For Media
Interested in covering the series, interviewing the author, or requesting a review copy? We'd love to hear from you.
Infamous Moments — Because some stories are too good to stay buried in box scores.