“It took a then unheard of multiyear contract offer to induce the former (1921-23) Braves outfielder back to Boston.  St. Louis owner Sam Breadon was unable to match the Braves’ overture to his manager and reluctantly admitted, ‘I can’t stand in his way and I can’t afford to give him that type of contract.’  What Breadon was referring to was a reported base salary of $35,000 a season with incentive bonuses for placing fourth ($5,000), third ($10,000), second ($15,000) and first ($20,000).”

The Wigwam Needed an Upgrade too! 

In addition to the roster enhancements, management now turned its attention to Braves Field. It was definitely in need of a facelift. They allotted $500,000 for renovations: Light towers were installed, as the team prepared to inaugurate night baseball. The outfield fence was upgraded, and shrubbery was planted in the right-field pavilion. The Braves’ uniforms also received an upgrade, as a reflective, satin night-game uni was introduced. They added the now-classic tomahawk insignia to both the day and nighttime uniforms.

Here Comes the Paint!

The annual Braves-Red Sox pre-season City Series was held on April 12-14 at Fenway Park. It ended with the Red Sox taking two out of three and drubbing the Braves in the final game 19-5 before 33,279 fans, the largest crowd in the history of the event. The Braves’ home opener was now just two days away. To get the park ready, the Braves decided the reserved grandstand seats needed a fresh coat of emerald green paint. Time was of the essence if it was to be completed for the Opener…

Yes…the geniuses in charge of getting Braves Field ready for Opening Day didn’t allow sufficient time for the emerald green paint to completely dry! The frosty, early-spring weather in Boston didn’t help. And just to make things worse— although it’s hard for us to imagine—back in the Forties, the usual attire for men at ball games was business suits and ties; while women usually came adorned in dresses. With the day’s chilly weather, plenty of the die-hard fans were clad in topcoats and furs.

Wet paint plus suit, ties, and dresses leads to…what? A disaster, that’s what! And so, shortly after settling into their seats to partake of the Opening Day festivities, many fans discovered to their dismay funny “green streaks” running down the backside of their clothes!

Irate Braves fans immediately flooded the team’s administration office located at the park’s main entrance. The overwhelmed staff, completely unprepared for such a calamity, could only offer simple cleaning fluid as a solution, but they soon ran out. Scores of unhappy fans left the ballpark with an unwanted emerald green paint “souvenir.”

Bob Brady describes what happened next:

“The Braves front office reacted quickly to the first-game fiasco. An advertisement was placed in local newspapers [see below] the next day with the heading, “An Apology to Braves Fans.” In print, the club promised full reimbursement of cleaning costs to all of those in attendance suffering from stained clothing. Fans were reassured that those sections of the grandstand with undried paint would be closed off for the season’s second game.”

Management opened up a “paint account” to reimburse fans with damaged clothing. Two attorneys were retained to review the claims. All told about 13,000 requests were received, including some dubious ones from such faraway places as Florida and California. The Braves ended up forking out about $6,000 to settle the claims, ranging from a low of $1.50 to a high of $50.

All’s Forgiven!

Despite the rather inauspicious start to the 1946 season, all was eventually forgiven as attendance increased to a club-record 969,673. They even improved in the standings, up to fourth place, going 81-72, 15 1/2 games behind the pennant-winning Cardinals. The Redbirds then beat the Braves’ cross-town rivals, the Red Sox, in the exciting 1946 World Series. Just two years later, 1948, the Tribe, behind “Spahn and Sain and pray for rain,” were in the World Series themselves, their first appearance in the Fall Classic since 1914.