May 24, 1964: The Lima Football Disaster

May 24, 1964: What is believed to be the world's greatest sporting disaster takes place, in Lima, the capital of Peru.

The setting was a soccer game, a qualifying match for the 1964 Olympics, set for Tokyo, Japan. The national teams of Peru and Argentina were playing at the Estadio Nacional (National Stadium). The stadium, which opened in 1952, seated 53,000, and was sold out.

In the 84th minute, Argentina led, 1-0, when Peru appeared to have scored. But the referee disallowed the goal. Angry fans charged the pitch. The police fired tear gas canisters, and the fans turned around and headed for the exits.

Rather than standard gates, the stadium had solid corrugated steel shutters at the bottom of tunnels that connected the street level, via several flights of steps, to the seating areas above. These shutters were closed, as they normally were at every game. Panicked spectators moving down the enclosed stairways pressed those in the lead against the closed shutters, but this was not visible to the crowd pushing down the stairwells from behind. The shutters finally burst outward as a result of pressure from the crush of bodies inside.

Officially, the death toll was 328. This makes it, probably, the deadliest occurrence ever connected with a sporting event on planet Earth. I say, "Probably," because the death toll from the Luzhniki Disaster in Moscow in 1982 is still in dispute: Officially, it is 66, but one estimate had it as high as 340.

No one who stayed inside the Nacional died, although there were over 500 non-fatal injuries. Out in the streets, fans rioted, damaging cars and storefronts. But Argentina's 1-0 lead stood.

Argentina advanced to the Olympics, but were eliminated in the Group Stage. Hungary defeated Czechoslovakia for the Gold Medal.

The Peruvian government decided to convert the stadium to all-seater, reducing capacity to 42,000. A 2011 renovation returned capacity to 53,000.

There is no memorial to the victims at the stadium.

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May 24, 1964 was a Sunday. These baseball games were played:

* The New York Yankees split a doubleheader with the Los Angeles Angels at Yankee Stadium. The Angels won the opener, 3-0. On his way to the Cy Young Award, Dean Chance pitched a 3-hit shutout, outpitching Jim Bouton. The Yankees won the nightcap, 8-5. Mickey Mantle and Clete Boyer hit home runs. Over the 2 games, Mantle went 3-for-7 with a home run, a walk, and an RBI; while Roger Maris went 2-for-7 with a walk and an RBI.

* The New York Mets lost to the Houston Colt .45s, 5-0 at Colt Stadium in Houston. Bob Bruce pitched a 4-hit shutout, striking out 10 and walking none. The Colts became the Houston Astros the next season.

* The Boston Red Sox swept a doubleheader from the Kansas City Athletics, 6-2 and 3-1 at Fenway Park in Boston. Carl Yastrzemski went 1-for-5 with a home run, 2 walks and an RBI.

* The Baltimore Orioles swept a doubleheader from the Minnesota Twins, 2-0 and 7-6 at Memorial Stadium in Baltimore. Robin Roberts pitched a 5-hit shutout in the opener. In the nightcap, the O's led 4-1 after 7 innings, but the Twins came back, and led 6-4 going to the bottom of the 9th. But the O's scored 3 runs, including a home run by Jerry Adair, and the winning run was scored on a sacrifice fly by Luis Aparicio. Brooks Robinson went 1-for-6 with a walk and an RBI sacrifice fly. Harmon Killebrew went 1-for-7 with a home run and 2 RBIs.

* The Detroit Tigers beat the Cleveland Indians, 7-5-at Cleveland Municipal Stadium. Al Kaline went 3-for-5 with a home run and 2 RBIs.

* The Cincinnati Reds swept a doubleheader from the Chicago Cubs, 6-5 and 12-4 at Crosley Field in Cincinnati. Frank Robinson went 1-for-4 with 3 walks and 2 RBIs. Pete Rose went 4-for-9 with a walk and 3 RBIs. Ernie Banks went 3-for-6 with a home run and an RBI. 

* The Washington Senators beat the Chicago White Sox, 3-0 at Comiskey Park in Chicago. Buster Narum pitched a 6-hit shutout.

* The Milwaukee Braves swept a doubleheader from the St. Louis Cardinals, 7-4 and 10-0 at Milwaukee County Stadium. In the 2nd game, Denny Lemaster pitched a 3-hit shutout, striking out 10 and walking none. Joe Torre supported him with 2 home runs. Over the 2 games, Hank Aaron went 3-for-8 with a home run, a walk and an RBI.

* The Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Philadelphia Phillies, 3-0 at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles. Joe Moeller had a 1-hit shutout going into the 7th inning, but allowed 2 hits. Dodger manager Walter Alston brought Sandy Koufax in to relieve, and he allowed just 1 baserunner, a single, the rest of the way.

* And the Pittsburgh Pirates swept a doubleheader from the San Francisco Giants, 3-0 and 5-3 at Candlestick Park in San Francisco. Bob Veale pitched a 2-hit shutout in the 1st game. Roberto Clemente went 3-for-8 with a walk and an RBI. Willie Mays went 1-for-5 with 3 walks.