San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom enjoyed some ribs from Arlington, Texas, last week as he cashed in on a World Series bet between the two cities, then ribbed his fellow mayor today after discovering that photos of the feast had been leaked to a celebrity gossip website.
Newsom and Arlington Mayor Robert Cluck made a friendly wager in October prior to the World Series between the Giants and Texas Rangers in which the losing mayor would have to travel to the winning city and don the winning team’s jersey, and also send a gift of signature local foods.
After San Francisco won the series on Nov. 1, Newsom and his staff awaited their spoils, and they finally arrived on Friday in the form of a feast from the Texas-based Spring Creek Barbeque restaurant chain.
Newsom’s office sent photos of the mayor chowing down on barbecued ribs to Cluck’s office in a thank-you e-mail later that day. On Monday, the images mysteriously appeared on the gossip site TMZ.
“The pictures leaked, and it wasn’t by our office,” Newsom said.
Cluck’s assistant Angie Summers said she does not know who forwarded the photos.
The move was just the latest wager paid off by the mayor of a city whose team lost to the Giants during their magical postseason run, which ended in the team’s first World Series title since moving to San Francisco in 1958.
Newsom also won bets with Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter, who was supposed to wear a Giants cap for a full day, and Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed, who had agreed to raise a Giants flag over Atlanta’s City Hall.
He said, however, that those mayors were strategic in how they made good on their bets.
“It was really a rout, those poor mayors,” Newsom said. “They all paid off, but I’m a little disappointed.”
He said that although a Giants flag flew at Atlanta City Hall following the Giants’ victory over the Braves, the city put it up on a windless day when it would be barely visible to passersby.
Nutter wore his cap, but Newsom thinks he didn’t wear it the whole day.
“I’m onto these mayors,” he said. “You just can’t trust politicians.”
Cluck is scheduled to travel to San Francisco on Wednesday and will meet with Newsom at City Hall to settle the last part of the bet.
Summers said the mayors are tentatively planning to coach a baseball game between two teams of the Junior Giants, a youth baseball program of the San Francisco Giants Community Fund.
Cluck will have to don a Giants jersey during the event.
Newsom said he was going to be a stickler on the terms of the bet after the recent hijinks.
“There’s going to be heavy scrutiny to make sure he pays up,” he said.
Dan McMenamin, Bay City News
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