The left arm of a mannequin portraying former SF Seals skipper / 17 year big league veteran Lefty O’Doul was stolen from the San Francisco eatery by a trio of pranksters some 3 years ago ; on Tuesday, writes the SF Examiner’s Scott Ostler, the arm was found inside a package opened by O’Doul’s waitress Darlene Sularski.
Besides the arm, the white box – big enough to hold an old-fashioned 19-inch TV – included a letter, a dozen snapshots and a barrelful of Styrofoam peanuts.
The letter was from “Lefty’s Left Arm” and opened “Dear Bar Patrons of Lefty O’Doul’s.” It recalled the plane flight to Des Moines in an overhead bin and its “reservations about the weather.”
The arm then listed some of its adventures, including participating in a 12,000-cyclist bike race across Iowa, sledding and touring the state Capitol. Somewhere along the line, it put on a yellow bracelet from Livestrong, cycling champion Lance Armstrong’s cancer foundation.
To judge from the photos, though, the arm was usually involved in harassing the friends of its captors, who used it to grope anyone within arm’s reach.
The letter included a handwritten note: “We felt it was time for Lefty to return home. He will be missed but long remembered! Lefty’s friends.”
Sularski quickly handed the package to O’Doul’s owner Nick Bovis, saying, “I’m not dealing with this.”
Bovis, whose family bought O’Doul’s in 1998, said Tuesday he plans to insure the left arm for $1 million, and to hold a reattachment ceremony. Although Bovis now markets a Bloody Mary mix based on O’Doul’s recently rediscovered secret recipe, this job might require a screwdriver.