Here’s how San Diego Chicken dodged becoming the Atlanta Chicken.
The Major League Baseball trade deadline was Aug. 1 and the San Diego Padres made some trades, but sometimes the best trades are the trades you don’t make.
The history of San Diego sports would look very different, and be a lot less fun, if 45 years ago the Padres would have accepted a trade offer for an icon.
"I'm the San Diego Chicken and they tried to trade me."
That's what the San Diego Famous Chicken said when he recently stopped by the NBC 7 studios to rehash the story.
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"It's hard to believe that at one time my neck was on the trading block, the Chicken said.
Wait a second, hold up ... the famous San Diego Chicken was almost traded?
"Yeah, it was wild," said the Chicken.
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Before we get to the trade, let’s set the scene. In the mid-1970s, the Chicken was at Padres games and many local sporting events. He was drawing huge crowds with his unique, entertaining antics. He was funny and a true one-of-kind because across the nation few teams had mascots. None interacted with fans, except the Chicken.
"I'm kind of like the Godfather of feathers, for mascots I blazed a whole new territory," he said.
That territory was the in the stands with fans or on the field with players, umpires of referees.
Then in 1978 the Chicken, soaring in popularity, drew the attention of another Major League Baseball team. Ted Turner, owner of the Atlanta Braves, called Padres President Ballard Smith and offered to trade a backup catcher to the Padres.
"Smith said, 'Who would you like in return? What player?' And Ted Turner said, 'I don't want a player, I want the Chicken!' Ballard Smith was incredulous, he says, 'Believe it or not, he's not even our employee, we don't even pay him, he's just a kid from a rock'n'roll station who shows up for our games," the Chicken explained.
It was true, at the time he was just a promotional bird for KGB radio. When Turner found out the Chicken was essentially a free agent, he invited him to an Atlanta Braves home game, sat with the Chicken in the stands and made an offer.
"During the game, he takes out his business card and writes on it for my pal Ted Giannoulas, $50,000 a year. He turns to me and says that's our contract right there, you start tomorrow, we'll send for your things."
The Chicken, whose real name is Ted Giannoulas, still has the business card with Turner’s handwritten offer.
"It’s a keepsake. I'll have it forever, needless to say," he said.
The Chicken went back home to San Diego to think about the offer, which included TV Shows, films and international appearances. Then things got wild.
"While I was thinking about the offer, the offer doubled to $100,00! To put that in perspective if I was a player at the time, I'd be paid in the top 2% of all players," the Chicken said.
Big money and big-time news: The offer eventually leaked to the media. Local tv stations and newspapers covered the Chicken's potential move.
"The way people were framing it, it would be the equivalent of selling the Coronado Bridge to another city. It's just not fathomable," he said.
The Chicken's potential departure also generated an enormous outpouring of support. School kids in Chula Vista wrote the Chicken letters pleading with him to stay. People all over San Diego showed the chicken lots of love and appreciation.
"It was a groundswell of emotion from all of San Diego. I couldn't believe it, I was taken aback, it gave me the perspective to think things out because I was ready to go, but the outpouring of emotion from San Diego fans made me rethink things ... it changed my mind."
It changed the Chicken's mind and it changed history. The Chicken didn’t go to Atlanta, he stayed in San Diego and his career re-hatched, then reached global success. San Diego has lost a lot in pro sports but we didn’t lose the Chicken and that’s thanks to you... the San Diego sports fans.
"For me, I honestly believe that I was put on the map by the laughter of San Diego fans. If you think about these great fans of San Diego, didn't laugh it would be a non-entity, but they loved it as crazy and as stupid as it is, it's a guy in a chicken suit, and they said he's one of us and they embraced me and took me in like family. There's an old adage, 'Don't laugh, it only encourages him,' and I say, 'Yes it does,' ... and the San Diego fans encouraged me with their laughter," he said.
