The wave, also generally known as
the 'Mexican wave' outside of the US, was the brain-child of the
longest continuously active professional cheerleader, Krazy
George Henderson. It made its national debut on October 15, 1981
in a playoff game between the Oakland Athletics and the New York
Yankees, which the Yankees won 4-0.
Krazy George’s claim is easily verified by the Major League
Baseball archives. As the wave was something not seen before,
with nearly all 47,000 in attendance participating, players and
the announcers were amazed. Video of this first documented wave,
including Krazy George leading it, made it onto the Oakland A’s
highlight video for the season.
Of this first documented wave, Krazy George states, “I started
with three sections and it went about five or six sections down.
I did it again and it went 11 and then all the way around. Joe
Garigiola was in the broadcast booth yelling at his cameramen to
get that thing. Of course, no one knew what it was.”
It is generally called the 'Mexican wave' outside of the United
States due to the 1986 FIFA World Cup in Mexico, where the rest
of the world was first introduced to the wave. Krazy George
invented the move, but not 'the wave', or the 'Mexican wave'
name.