Is it game over for the legendary Cactus League hangout that famed sportswriter Roger Angell once called ‘‘the best baseball restaurant in the land?’’
The Pink Pony, a Scottsdale landmark for nearly 70 years, has closed for the third time in seven years.
According to a post on its Facebook page:
We would like to thank all of our patrons of the Pink Pony over the past few years and the many years before it. We were sad to close the doors, but the historic Pink Pony will live on in legend.
Claudia Ogden opened The Pink Pony on the southwest corner of Scottsdale Road and Main Street in 1947. The following year, Ogden sold it to Charlie Briley, who ran it for the next 50 years.
In 1955, Briley and other Scottsdale businessmen donated $56,000 to build Scottsdale Stadium so the city could join the fledgling Cactus League.
The Pony quickly became a favorite destination of ballplayers, baseball executives, and fans. Regulars included Ty Cobb, Dizzy Dean, Willie Mays, Ted Williams, Mickey Mantle, and Sandy Koufax, to name just a few.
If you want to get an idea of what The Pony was like in its three-decade-long heyday, read this amazing 1986 account in Sports Illustrated.
In 1970, The Pony moved two buildings south to its present location, and in 2004 it was added to Scottsdale’s Historic Register.
Briley passed away in 2002, and his widow decided to close the steakhouse and bar in 2009. Local businessmen Danny Little and Tim Smith bought and reopened it in 2011, but closed it again in 2013.
Northern Arizona restaurateur Mark Shugure was the latest to try to revive The Pony, reopening it in 2014 and transforming it into more of a modern contemporary American restaurant.
The question now: Is anyone else willing to step up to the plate?
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