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Good evening. This is Dead Legends. The daily newsletter that loves baseball as much as Tommy Lasorda hated the Phillie Phanatic.

Let’s dive in.

Today’s story is about one of the most classless things a team owner has ever done to his players.

You’ve probably heard of Ray Kroc.

He catapulted McDonald's from a modest operation in Southern California to the global leader in the fast-food industry.

They even made a movie about his story - which is a pretty solid watch in my opinion.

Kroc also single-handedly saved the Padres franchise.

Let me explain.

The San Diego Padres were founded by an entrepreneur named C. Arnholt Smith in ‘69.

They were an absolute dumpster fire for the first five years, and by ‘73, Smith was looking for a way to unload the franchise.

A banker from DC was going to buy the team and move them - the deal was unanimously approved by the National League owners.

It was so far along, that Topps even printed a bunch of cards anticipating the team’s relocation.

But at the eleventh hour, the City of San Diego filed a lawsuit which stipulated that the new owner of the team would be responsible for paying the Padres lease through ‘89.

Kind of a deal breaker.

Kroc was on his yacht reading about the story (as ultra-rich folk do) and he decided he wanted to buy the team.