Good evening. This is Dead Legends. The daily newsletter for hardcore baseball fans who love learning about all the weird stories this game has to offer.

Let’s dive in.

Today’s story is about one of the greatest mascots of all time.

In the world of sports mascots, there are few characters as iconic and beloved as the San Diego Chicken.

With his goofy antics, feathered costume, and boundless energy, the Chicken has been entertaining fans for decades.

The man behind the beak, Ted Giannoulas, has a fascinating story of his own.

Giannoulas' journey as the Chicken began out of nowhere in ‘74.

He was a student at San Diego State University, and he was hanging around the local student-run radio station, KRC, the day before Spring Break started.

A rep from the local radio station, KGB, showed up looking for an intern to help with a promotion they were running.

Ted tells the story perfectly:

That simple gig turned into an entire career.

After handing out Easter eggs at the zoo, Ted decided he’d take his talents to the ballpark.

He called up the Padres and asked if they would allow him to get into the stadium for free if he wore his chicken suit to the game.

They agreed, with the stipulation that they’d also get a plug on the air.

A legend was born.

The chicken was pretty much a hit with fans from day one.

Giannoulas would go section to section and fool around with the fans; people absolutely loved it.

So much so, that Ted Turner, the owner of the Braves at the time, offered to trade the Padres a backup catcher in exchange for the chicken in ‘78.

Of course, the Padres had to admit at that point that they didn’t own the rights to the chicken, and more so, that they didn’t even employ him.

At that point, Turner flew out Giannoulas to try and make a deal with him.

He offered Ted $50,000 per year to come to Atlanta.

When that offer was declined, Turner doubled it to $100,000.

Keep in mind that this was in ‘78, and the Braves’ top-paid player, Phil Niekro was only earning $302,500 annually.

The radio station caught wind of this offer and upped Ted’s salary from basically minimum wage to $50,000 per year.

By this point, Giannoulas was a staple at Padres games.

Even Tony Gwynn said he loved going to the ballpark and watching the chicken during his years as a student at SDSU.

In May of ‘79, Ted had a falling out with KGB and was abruptly fired.

The dispute between him and the station stemmed from control over the character and marketing rights.

According to Ted, the manufacturer approached KGB to buy the copyrights so they could start making more costumes and other merchandise around the chicken, but the station didn’t want to buy the rights.

So Giannoulas bought them himself.

Shortly after, the station filed a lawsuit against him.

With thousands of dollars in legal fees looming over him, Ted hatched a master plan.

He went to Ballard Smith, the Padres president at the time, and asked for $10,000 to fight the battle, but Smith did him one better.

They created a promotion called “The Grand Hatching” where Ted would pop out of a styrofoam egg.

The Padres agreed to pay Ted an attendance-based bonus of $1.50 for every fan that showed up above their average attendance - around $18,000.

Giannoulas had his mom sew up a new costume, and he went to work marketing the event through a series of media interviews.

On the night of June 29th, the promotion drew a sold out crowd at Jack Murphy Stadium.

More than 40,000 baseball fans showed up to witness the rebirth of the San Diego Chicken.

It’s one of those things you have to see to believe.

San Diego cut Ted a check for more than $43,000 and that gave him the juice he needed to fight his battle in court.

Ultimately, Giannoulas beat the radio station and went on to become a legend.

Here’s a few career highlights:

• Featured on the Baseball Bunch with Johnny Bench and Pete Rose

• The Sporting News named him one of the 100 most powerful people in sports for the twentieth century.

• The New York Times has characterized him as “perhaps the most influential sports mascot in history.”

Ted just turned 70 in August.

His days of making 200+ appearances a year are definitely over, but his imprint on the game will be felt forever.

BASEBALL TRIVIA

Look for the answer in the bottom of this email!

STRANGE NAMES

If you're just joining us, we play this game every day where we try to find the weirdest names throughout baseball history.

Why? Don't ask us, it's just something we like to do.

If you've been rocking with us for awhile now, you know what time it is.

Today's winner is:

Squiz threw 5.1 innings in the big leagues and got absolutely shelled.

He played for Connie Mack’s Philadelphia A’s in 1915, which was one of their worst seasons ever.

Matter of fact, it was one of the most brutal seasons in the history of Major League baseball.

THE DEAD LEGENDS ARCHIVE

If you like this story, check out some of our past favorites:

• The Collision: This guy is the reason we have padded outfield walls

• The Spy: Catcher becomes an international spy during WWII

• The Casino: Hall of Famers get banned for doing meet-and-greets

BASEBALL TRIVIA ANSWER: Ken Griffey Jr. (3)