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Just like sports in the outside world, there were times when inmates got heated while playing sports in Alcatraz. There were instances where fights broke out, and a race riot nearly started during one of the softball games when a white inmate said some racist comments to a Black inmate, per the National Park Service. However, prison guards were always on standby to maintain peace.
For some inmates, playing softball was a way to escape prison life, if only for a couple of hours. Many prisoners were also avid fans of baseball and on October 4, 1955, the inmates weren't denied the chance to listen to Game 7 of the World Series. Radio jacks were placed in the inmates' cells so they could listen to the commentary during the game. Game 7 ended with the Brooklyn Dodgers winning against the New York Yankees, 2-0, according to Baseball-Reference, and shouts of celebrating inmates disrupted the otherwise quiet cell house.
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