Washington Post, August 12th 1995

 The Los Angeles Dodgers were left to wonder why unruly fans at Dodger Stadium weren't warned that the game might be forfeited if they didn't stop throwing souvenir baseballs onto the field.

With one out in the last of the ninth inning and the St. Louis Cardinals leading 2-1 Thursday night, the decision was made to stop the game after some in the sellout crowd of 53,361 on Ball Night littered the field with balls for the third time.

"We gave them three chances. Three strikes and you're out," said umpire Bob Davidson.

The forfeit was the first in the majors since July 12, 1979, when the second game of a doubleheader between the Detroit Tigers and Chicago White Sox was called off after a raucous anti-disco promotion left the field unplayable. The last forfeit in the National League was July 18, 1954 -- Philadelphia at St. Louis. The last forfeit by the Dodgers was July 18, 1916.

Dodgers General Manager Fred Claire said he plans to speak with the league office about the matter.

"This was totally out of the realm of anything I've heard of," Claire said. "I just think it was uncalled for, totally unjustified. It's sad when you impact a pennant race like that."

The loss left the Dodgers one game behind first-place Colorado in the NL West.

Davidson and fellow umpires Jim Quick, Bill Hohn and Larry Poncino were unanimous concerning the decision. They were also in agreement that Dodgers Manager Tom Lasorda was to blame.

"The Cardinals were reluctant to go out on the field," Quick said. "I tried to give them {the fans} every opportunity. {St. Louis's Brian} Jordan was in center field and I saw a ball just miss him. It was thrown real hard. For the safety of us and the players, that was enough."

The game was delayed for about six minutes in the top of the seventh when fans started throwing baseballs onto the field. It happened again in the ninth after Dodgers outfielder Raul Mondesi and Lasorda were ejected by Quick after Mondesi struck out.

Just before the inning began, Eric Karros, who had been called out on strikes with two runners on base to end the eighth, was ejected by Quick.

The umpires ordered the Cardinals to leave the field while the balls were being picked up. After a delay of some five minutes, the Cardinals went back on the field and a few more balls were thrown. That's when the umpires called the game.

"This whole thing was Tom Lasorda's fault," Davidson said. "He instigated the crowd, waving his arms. He has himself to blame, absolutely. He knows he's to blame. They're going to blame us, that's fine. It {the decision to call the forfeit} was 100 percent correct."

Lasorda was furious when told the umpires blamed him.

"How did I instigate it? I was talking to Jim Quick. All I was asking was why he threw my players out," he said. "We didn't throw the balls. Who made them throw the balls the first time?"