A (presumably) drunken fan smacked Kreuter in the back, and took his hat. The amazing thing is that something like that had never happened before. The players in the bullpen are literally sitting with their backs to the audience, right up against the first row of the stands. It was incredibly easy to reach over and take Kreuter’s hat.
But Kreuter didn’t take too kindly to that kind of behavior. He jumped into the stands and went after the fan to get his hat back. That started a melee unlike any seen in Wrigley Field before or since. The fight wasn’t fan on fan. It wasn’t Dodger on Cub. It was Dodger and Cub against the fans.
Before it was over, Kreuter had his hat back, the Friendly Confines (and probably the idiot with the hat) had a black eye, and more fans were kicked out of Wrigley Field in one game than in any other game in the stadium’s long and storied history.
