TBNL: Frank Saucier passes; ESPN cries poor; MASN dispute resolved

Outlandish promotions were common for longtime owner Bill Veeck. The man knew how to bring attention to his team. Many of his efforts have remained memorable.

• Veeck attempted to purchase the Philadelphia Athletics in 1942, allegedly telling some he intended to fill the team with players from the Negro Leagues, before the National League sold the club elsewhere.

• Veeck purchased the Indians in 1946 and a year later signed Larry Doby, the first black player in the American League. The following year Veeck signed Satchell Paige to join him.

• Veeck was forced to sell his stake in the Indians following a divorce from his first wife in 1949. Two years later, he purchased a share of the St. Louis Browns. That August, Eddie Gaedel made his lone MLB appearance.

• Following Anheuser-Busch’s purchase of the Cardinals in 1953, Veeck sold his stake in the Browns and they were moved to Baltimore to become the Orioles. Veeck bought into the White Sox ownership group just five years later.

• Veeck added the “exploding scoreboard” at Comiskey Park which shot fireworks in the air anytime a White Sox player homered.

• Veeck was also the only MLB owner to testify in favor of Curt Flood during his landmark court case that paved the way for free agency.

• He was the one who suggested Harry Carry sing “Take Me Out to the Ball Game” during the seventh inning stretch during games. The tradition became one of Carry’s calling cards and followed him to Wrigley when he left the White Sox for the Cubs broadcasting job in 1982.

• One of Veeck’s final promotional efforts was the famous Disco Demolition Night, when thousands of fans destroyed disco records on the field between games of a doubleheader. The field was so damaged the second game had to be forfeited.

Buried in that list is Eddie Gaedel — the diminutive 3’7” entertainer who Veeck had hired purely as a promotional stunt. The Browns and Cardinals were scheduled to play a doubleheader on August 19, 1951. To celebrate the American League’s 50th anniversary, Gaedel popped out of a paper mache cake in between games wearing a Browns uniform.

Veeck added Gaedel to the Browns roster before the second game. When the team came to bat in the bottom of the first inning, Gaedel stepped out of the dugout to pinch hit for Frank Saucier. Gaedel walked on four pitches and was promptly replaced by a pinch runner, Jim Delsing.

American League president Will Harridge called Veeck’s actions a “mockery of the game” and voided Gaedel’s contract the next day.

Frank Saucier, the man Gaedel pinch hit for, passed away on Monday. He was 98.

Despite posting respectable numbers over three minor league seasons, Saucier’s MLB career totaled just 18 plate appearances between July and September for the 1951 Browns. He collected one hit, a double.

ESPN really didn’t want to pay for MLB rights

MLB and ESPN effectively ended their longstanding partnership a few weeks ago when they failed to agree on a revised broadcast rights agreement. ESPN, which has maintained exclusive rights to Sunday Night Baseball since the 1990s, was seeking to reduce the annual rights fees it pays the league. Under the current agreement, which began in 2022, ESPN paid MLB $550M annually to broadcast Sunday night games, the Home Run Derby, and the Wild Card games. 

Jared Diamond and Isabella Simonetti of the Wall Street Journal reported Sunday that ESPN wanted to reduce that fee to $200M. Such a reduction would have meant ESPN paid less for MLB than it does for the NHL ($400M) or the UFC ($300M).

The league balked at the request, citing the increasingly diminished coverage the sport receives on the network. Instead, it will reportedly explore other avenues to replace the ESPN broadcasts, which will end after this season, with Netflix and Amazon among the potential options.

Orioles, Nationals finally end MASN dispute

Sticking to TV rights for a moment, the long legal battle between the Orioles and Nationals over MASN has finally reached an end. The dispute has existed since the network was first established in 2005, nearly two decades ago.

The two clubs technically share ownership of the network, but as compensation for the Orioles allowing the Nationals to move into their geographic territory that split has been far from balanced. The league agreed to tie the Nationals’ broadcast rights to the network, while giving Baltimore a substantial piece of ownership. Even after years of adjustments, the Orioles still maintain more than a three-to-one stake in the network.

The imbalance in MASN ownership has long been a contentious subject for the Nationals, who have argued they should be able to shop their broadcast rights themselves in order to seek a more financially beneficial deal. Now, they can, as the agreement reached between the two sides allows the Nationals to explore new broadcast opportunities beginning with the 2026 season.

While likely not an immediate consideration, it should be noted that the team’s uncertain broadcast future has played a role in the Lerner family’s efforts to sell the team. With the possibility of finding a new deal, it raises the question of whether the Lerners may explore a sale again in the future.

A potential new TV deal could provide the Nationals with an increase in revenue. The team is also exploring the sale of stadium naming rights and jersey sponsorship, according to Brett Knight at Forbes. Washington is the only team in the league without an agreement in place for either category. Knight suggests the new partnerships could bring another $20M in potential revenues.

Elsewhere, around the sport …

• According to a report from Japan’s Sponichi Annex, the Chinese Taipei team was fined $20,000 by MLB after they were found to be using unauthorized electronic devices in the dugout during WBC Qualifiers last week. Teams are permitted to use tablets supplied by the league (incl. data furnished by the league that is typically on at least a half-inning delay rather than in real time).

• Japan’s Iwate Prefecture is known for producing some of the country’s most talented players over the years — it’s the birthplace of Shohei Ohtani, Yusei Kikuchi, Roki Sasaki, and Rintaro Sasaki, among others. Wildfire damage has destroyed more than 5,000 acres of forest since Wednesday and so far has displaced more than 1,000 people, per the Associated Press. Roki Sasaki, who was just signed by the Dodgers in January, reportedly donated more than 10M Yen (roughly $67K USD) and bedding for more than 500 people, according to a report from the Fuji News Network.

• The idea of moving Jose Altuve from second base to left field seemed like a longshot way for the Astros to squeeze Alex Bregman back into the lineup, but now it appears the team is serious about the move. Manager Joe Espada told reporters on Monday that he wasn’t crazy about moving the team’s longest tenured player back-and-forth between positions so Altuve will primarily work in left field moving forward. Brendan Rodgers and Mauricio Dubon figure to be Houston’s best options at second base.

Ken Rosenthal puts foot in mouth

Ken Rosenthal has regularly been among the best reporters in the game, but Monday was a tough day — as he was summarily thrashed on social media after making an ill-advised comment on Fair Territory in support of Pete Rose’s potential reinstatement and Hall of Fame consideration. Baseball fans and other members of the media were not kind in response, despite the universal respect he holds throughout the industry.

Reinstating Rose would be a colossal waste of time, as I wrote Sunday.

Meanwhile, Rosenthal published a phenomenal story at The Athletic about the friendship that grew from a chance meeting between a then-21-year-old Dee Strange-Gordon and a 7-year-old Kristian Campbell (now one of the game’s top prospects). Stuff like this I always find fun to read.