When good ideas go bad

File this under Promotions Gone Wrong as tonight marks the 44th anniversary of “Disco Demolition Night” at Chicago’s Comiskey Park.

The brainchild of Chicago area disc jockey Steve Dahl and Mike Veeck, the son of White Sox owner and master promoter Bill Veeck, calls for fans to be admitted into the park for only 98 cents and a disco record that will be destroyed.

The records then are collected on the field to be, quite literally, blown up between games of the White Sox’s doubleheader that night against the Detroit Tigers, who win the first game 4-1.

The idea, though, goes awry when 5,000 or so fans who spill onto the field refuse to go back to the stands, despite pleas from Bill Veeck to the crowd of 47,795.

After waiting 76 minutes for order to be restored – it never is – the umpires declare the second game a forfeit, giving the Tigers an easy win for just, well, Stayin’ Alive during the promotion.