The Grandstand Managers Association

Check out my official Grandstand Managers Association membership card for 1973. I still have one from '72, and I'm sure I had them in the years before that. The Grandstand Managers idea was the brainchild of the late Hal Lebovitz, the legendary columnist for the Cleveland Plain Dealer. The name was borrowed, I believe, from a famous promotion by Bill Veeck when he owned the St. Louis Browns in the 1950s. All you had to do was send in a coupon that appeared in the PD, and you received your membership card and a general admission ticket for an Indians' game. Hey, tickets were expensive back then -- a whopping $2 for a general admission seat! But we loved it.

This was in old Cleveland Stadium, of course -- the home of the Tribe until they moved to Jacobs Field in 1994. What a cavernous place to watch a ball game. But it was the only stadium most of us knew back in those days -- certainly was for me. It's the only place I saw a major league game until I lived in Southern California in the late '70s and early '80s and took in games at Dodger Stadium and Anaheim Stadium.

I also came across a scorecard from an Indians doubleheader on July 12, 1970. They lost both games to the Red Sox, 6-2 and 8-2. Vada Pinson had a big day for the Tribe, going 2-for-5 in the first game and 3-for-5 in the second. But there wasn't much else to shout about. Tony Horton homered for Cleveland in game one, and Ted Uhlaender followed suit in the nightcap. Carl Yaztrzemski had a hit in each game for Boston.

More significant, to me, were my notes for game two. Remember, I was 13 at the time: "In the first inning Lasher hit Tony C. Yaz went to 2nd. Tony C. charged Lasher, exchanged punches. Both benches emptied. Tempers flared, Tony C. ejected, replaced by Fiore who went to 1st. Yaz to left field, Billy C. to right."

"Tempers flared?" Who did I think I was, Red Smith?

Of course, "Tony C." was Tony Conigliaro, who had an understandably short fuse when it came to beanballs, having been seriously injured when he was struck in the eye by a pitch from the Angels' Jack Hamilton in 1967. Conigliaro, a rising star at the time of that beaning, never achieved the level of stardom that was originally expected of him. So when Fred Lasher nailed him, out to the mound he went.

By the way -- "Billy C." was, of course, Billy Conigliaro, Tony's brother.

And now for some lighthearted fun -- some selected concession prices as listed in that program:

Beer .50
Soft Drink .25
Coffee .20
Peanuts .25
Popcorn .25
Pizza Slice .30
Hot Dogs .40
Hamburger .50

And so on. This was also a time when you could buy cigarettes in the stadium for 60 cents, and a cigar for 15 cents. Smoking was, of course, permitted everywhere.

Reading those prices confirmed one thing: If the Indians ever have a "turn back the clock to 1970" night at Progressive Field, with prices to match, I'm there.