FASHIONISTA – December 1, 2017

The Magazine for the Jet Set

Sue Beckley to Play Ball? Socialite Might Purchase Ball Club

By Lora Snively (Exclusive)

 
[NEW YORK] – It’s rare that the worlds of the baseball elite and the social register intermingle, but socialite Sue Beckley is rumored to be in the front running for the purchase of the Charleston Statesmen of the PEBA. For Beckley, a successful Broadway investor, this would be her first venture into the world of sports. She certainly has the millions to pull it off.

“Sue Beckley doesn’t have the temperament to run a baseball club,” an anonymous patron of fashion told us. “It’s lunacy. The only thing good about it is that Sue Beckley will fall on her face!”

One of Beckley’s close friends sent a private Twitter message to Roland Lee at the New York Post and it was enough to send rumor mills in full spin down at the sports page AND on Broadway! Variety ran a column on Beckley’s prospective purchase and Sports Illustrated added its own paragraph.

“Sue adores Charleston,” the tweet said, “and she’s thinking of moving down South so that she can be with her new baseball club.”

FASHIONISTA grabbed the ear of a dear friend at the PEBA front office who confirmed that talks were ON! Indeed, Hurricane Sue might end up owning a pro baseball team. The cost of the franchise would be in the hundreds of millions, but money would be no problem for the heiress, whose part of the Beckley fortune was left to her by her deceased father Tripp (who died when Sue was but a baby).

Our friend said, “Some of the PEBA owners are a little wary, but Beckley has stepped up with the cash and her bona fides are really good. She was sweet when she spoke to them – well, sweet enough anyway.”

That would be a first for Hurricane Sue, whose temperament is a thing of wonder and a terror to behold, as can be attested to by her household staff, artisans everywhere, taxi cab drivers, fashion designers, and anyone who has had the misfortune to get on her bad side. As a debutante, legend has it that she bit her escort when he spent too much time talking to another deb. They say that the tempers of angry managers, entitled players, and drunken fans can be quite frightening in baseball; but FASHIONISTA will put their money on the Manhattan heiress!

It’s a certainty that Beckley would never be able to run the club. (“I don’t think she’s even seen a game,” our man at PEBA whispered.) But the rumors have gotten to the “who” stage!

A little birdie told us that José Macías of the Mérida Adelantados of the Mexican League is being considered for the General Manager position under a Beckley regime. Trent Harmon of AAA Worcester is also on the imaginary short list of candidates. It is unclear, however, who will end up pulling the switches and pressing the buttons in Charleston. FASHIONISTA was unable to get in touch with either José or Trent (call us!) but we are beyond the “I’d like a team” stage.

Rumor also tells us that Beckley has filled out an application to join the Hunt Club in Charleston. The Hunt Club is one of the most elite private country clubs in the South, with admission rumored to cost over a million dollars. Baseball or not, is Hurricane Sue is moving down South?