(The following story appeared on the front page of the June 10, 2015 St. Louis Post-Dispatch. The Browns are finally front-page news, 61 years after their last season).
by Jack Witthaus of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch staff
ST. LOUIS • Emmett McAuliffe remembers exchanging baseball cards with an older kid in Creve Coeur in the 1960s and happening upon one from the Browns.
He couldn’t believe it. There was another baseball team in St. Louis besides the Cardinals? Immediately, the team’s colors, losing tendencies and elf logo mystified him.
Now, McAuliffe, [an officer in the St. Louis Browns Fan Club,] collects hats and other gear from the Browns. On Monday, he donned a milky white Browns jersey and a bow tie as he told stories about the team’s history.
McAuliffe was among dozens gathered Monday night around the Tiny Bar on Locust Street to witness the self-proclaimed “world’s tiniest parade” to honor the 90th birthday of former Browns player Eddie Gaedel.
The parade featured a Smart car, a float in a child-size wagon pulled by child, a toy dog, a one-man band and the world’s smallest horse, Thumbelina. Led by Mayor Francis Slay, the 1/8th-block-long parade started and ended in minutes. Attendees broke into applause when the parade halted at the entrance of the Tiny Bar.
Parade organizer Aaron Perlut — a founding partner of Elasticity, a digital marketing and public relations firm at 1010 Locust Street — helped open the Tiny Bar on May 27. Perlut said the 250-square-foot establishment is used to celebrate the “little guy” in a world that often cherishes huge things.
At 3 feet, 7 inches, Gaedel was the shortest Major League Baseball player ever to record an at-bat. During his August 1951 debut, Gaedel walked on four straight pitches. Then-Browns owner Bill Veeck signed Gaedel as a part of a stunt. Gaedel died in 1961 at the age of 36.
A large Gaedel mural greets guests who enter the Tiny Bar, and his name is part of the bar’s Wi-Fi password. “He’s the patron saint,” Perlut said.
Although the city issued a permit for Monday’s little celebration, Cindy Riordan, executive assistant to the director of streets, said the streets department didn’t call the “tiny parade” a parade for permit purposes. Due to the small size, the parade was dubbed a “special event.” Riordan said people who apply for parade permits generally do not ask to hold parades less than a block long.
“It’s definitely the smallest one anyone’s called a parade,” she said, noting that it might have been the shortest one in St. Louis history.
Travis Sheridan operated the 2010 yellow Smart car that was in the parade. He said he liked the atmosphere of the event. Music played while attendees milled around and ate birthday cake.
Sheridan said St. Louis might have an inferiority complex, but it shouldn’t see itself as little. Small events like Monday’s parade make Sheridan, a friend of Perlut’s, optimistic about the future of the
city that he moved to about three years ago.
“People doing tiny things can have a big impact for St. Louis,” Sheridan said.
by Jack Witthaus of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch staff
ST. LOUIS • Emmett McAuliffe remembers exchanging baseball cards with an older kid in Creve Coeur in the 1960s and happening upon one from the Browns.
He couldn’t believe it. There was another baseball team in St. Louis besides the Cardinals? Immediately, the team’s colors, losing tendencies and elf logo mystified him.
Now, McAuliffe, [an officer in the St. Louis Browns Fan Club,] collects hats and other gear from the Browns. On Monday, he donned a milky white Browns jersey and a bow tie as he told stories about the team’s history.
McAuliffe was among dozens gathered Monday night around the Tiny Bar on Locust Street to witness the self-proclaimed “world’s tiniest parade” to honor the 90th birthday of former Browns player Eddie Gaedel.
The parade featured a Smart car, a float in a child-size wagon pulled by child, a toy dog, a one-man band and the world’s smallest horse, Thumbelina. Led by Mayor Francis Slay, the 1/8th-block-long parade started and ended in minutes. Attendees broke into applause when the parade halted at the entrance of the Tiny Bar.
 |
| Mayor Slay leads the tiny parade |
At 3 feet, 7 inches, Gaedel was the shortest Major League Baseball player ever to record an at-bat. During his August 1951 debut, Gaedel walked on four straight pitches. Then-Browns owner Bill Veeck signed Gaedel as a part of a stunt. Gaedel died in 1961 at the age of 36.
A large Gaedel mural greets guests who enter the Tiny Bar, and his name is part of the bar’s Wi-Fi password. “He’s the patron saint,” Perlut said.
Although the city issued a permit for Monday’s little celebration, Cindy Riordan, executive assistant to the director of streets, said the streets department didn’t call the “tiny parade” a parade for permit purposes. Due to the small size, the parade was dubbed a “special event.” Riordan said people who apply for parade permits generally do not ask to hold parades less than a block long.“It’s definitely the smallest one anyone’s called a parade,” she said, noting that it might have been the shortest one in St. Louis history.
Travis Sheridan operated the 2010 yellow Smart car that was in the parade. He said he liked the atmosphere of the event. Music played while attendees milled around and ate birthday cake.
Sheridan said St. Louis might have an inferiority complex, but it shouldn’t see itself as little. Small events like Monday’s parade make Sheridan, a friend of Perlut’s, optimistic about the future of the
city that he moved to about three years ago.
“People doing tiny things can have a big impact for St. Louis,” Sheridan said.
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