The Pink Pony saddles up for sale

Say it ain’t so, Gwen, to paraphrase one of the most famous baseball-related quotes regarding one of its saddest events.

Fans recall traditions at the Pony

But the heartfelt plea of a young baseball fan delivered to Shoeless Joe Jackson, who had been accused of throwing a World Series, seems a fitting phrase to describe the impending sale of the Pink Pony, Scottsdale’s 60-year-old watering hole for baseball greats and those who just enjoy basking in the glory of the game.

It’s probable that Jackson and his teammates never supped at “The Pony” as regulars affectionately refer to the Scottsdale restaurant, but later generations of equally famous baseball greats — Dizzy Dean, Mickey Mantle, Ted Williams, Barry Bonds, to name a few — have all dined there.

In 1986, Sports Illustrated dubbed The Pony “the most popular hangout for baseball people in the civilized world.”

But after running the place alone since her husband Charlie’s death six years ago, and nurturing Charlie and his beloved business for 15 years before that, Gwen Briley said it’s time to let go.

“I’d like to be able to travel,” Briley said. “You can’t do that when you own the place. It owns you.”

Still, it’s not easy, she said.

“I start bawling every time I talk about it,” she said. “It’s been a very hard decision.”

Briley said she won’t sell unless the buyer agrees to keep the place as is — a haven for Scottsdale’s baseball fans and receptacle of its colorful local history.

She thinks she has found just such a buyer, although the deal isn’t done yet, she said.

Briley has had other offers from people who just wanted the building and its choice downtown Scottsdale location. She turned them down.

That’s a relief to Rick Kidder, president and CEO of the Scottsdale Area Chamber of Commerce.

“The Pink Pony is one of Scottsdale’s cultural icons,” Kidder said. “You think of the history of our city, the beginning of spring training here, the beginnings of tourism — the Pink Pony is as Scottsdale as you can get. Like Cavalliere’s (blacksmith shop), it’s part of the culture and character of Scottsdale.”

In fact, Charlie Briley, who ran the Pink Pony for its original owner for two years before buying it from her for $50,000 in 1950, is largely credited with bringing spring training to Scottsdale.

A huge baseball fan, Briley had befriended Dizzy Dean, who used to hang out at The Pony and talked it up to other baseball greats who started dining there as well, during Phoenix’s fledgling spring training startup years. The Scottsdale restaurant soon became a known haven for small-ball aficionados.

In 1955, Briley and nine other local businessmen pooled together $56,000 to build Scottsdale Stadium and lure the Baltimore Orioles to train in the city.

Another famous baseball-loving restaurateur, Don Carson, remembers sneaking away from classes at nearby Scottsdale High School to gawk at Dean and the other baseball greats who held court at the steakhouse.

Carson, whose own restaurant Don & Charlie’s also has become a hangout for the baseball set, said it’s difficult to think of The Pony without a Briley at the helm, chatting with customers.

“I’m very sad to hear Gwen is selling it,” Carson said. “Charlie ran a wonderful place, and Gwen picked up the slack. It has been such a tradition for so many years.”

The Pink Pony actually started cooking in 1948 on the corner of Scottsdale Road and Main Street but moved to its current spot at 3831 N. Scottsdale Road in 1970 when Charlie Briley had trouble with his landlord.

Gwen met Charlie shortly after the big move, and they married in 1973.

“Charlie said I’d be a lady of leisure, but I’ve never worked so hard,” she said.

But she’s not complaining. “I’ve met so many wonderful people — Mickey Mantle, Ted Williams, Sandy Koufax, Billy McCovey, Fergie Jenkins,” Briley said.