Why John McNamara must hate English Leather Cologne

The date that immediately jumped out at me when I looked at the 1977 Padres Schedule SpastikMooss sent me was May 28 - English Leather Cologne Jacket Night. A jacket sponsored by a cologne company - very 1970s. I looked around the internet but couldn't find a picture of it. Their print ads were quite raunchy though.

To my surprise, the weirdest-sounding promotion of the season was also the biggest day of the Padres' disappointing 1977 season. The Padres actually won the game that day, nearly blowing an eighth inning 6-0 lead against Houston, squeaking by for a 6-5 win. However, they were still only 20-28, and Padres management decided to make a change, dumping manager John McNamara and hiring Cubs coach Alvin Dark.

According to the Associated Press, Dark who was fired as Oakland manager in 1975 for saying owner Charles O. Finley would go to hell if he didn't start believing in Jesus, was a bit sorry to leave the Cubs, saying "You hate to leave a club that's going so good." (At the time they were in first place with a 27-14 record; they would end up 81-81.)

The weirdest moment of Dark's departure from Chicago was when, according to the Chicago Tribune, Dark "was out the door and headed for San Diego when a nude Bruce Sutter, headed for the shower, sent somebody after him."

Unfortunately the article is not free, so it's up to your imagination as to what happened next. Was Sutter really nude, or was he actually wearing Interwoven socks and English Leather?

Amazingly, the cheapest English Leather ($4.50) cost more than the most expensive Padres ticket ($4.25).