Bill Veeck introduced several innovations while he owned the White Sox. To name a few: the exploding scoreboard, a shower in the left field stands, compressed air home plate cleaner, a ball basket for umpires, etc. I can’t seem to find a comprehensive list of all of them. Anyone know of such a list?
Have you read his autobiography, Veeck as in Wreck? He also wrote 30 Tons A Day about his time running the Suffolk Downs racetrack.
I used to own that, got it from my Dad. It was a good read, but I read it in the 80s. I recall it being humorous and informative.
Also as this is about Baseball, off to the The Game Room.
Yes, both books were good reads. If my TBR pile weren’t already out of control I’d get them from the library.
I just picked up “Our Team” by Luke Epplin, which follows the 1947-49 Cleveland Indians from the integration of the American League through their World Series championship. It focuses on Veeck, Larry Doby, Bob Feller and Satchel Paige.
He had a lot of good ideas. 10-cent beer night was not one of them.
Was Veeck involved in that promotion? IIRC, that was in Cleveland, in 1974. I don’t think Veeck was part of that franchise at that time.
Veeck had disco demolition night a few years later when he was owner of the White Sox, which also resulted in a forfeiture by the home team,
Wasn’t he also the one who signed a two-foot-tall player, so the pitchers wouldn’t be able to hit his strike zone?
You are correct. Although he was involved in other beer giveaways. Per Wikipedia:
“While Veeck’s promotions were generally successful in drawing crowds, later iterations of cheap beer events in baseball, such as the infamous “10 Cent Beer Night” with the Cleveland Indians in 1974, resulted in chaos and forfeits, contrasting with Veeck’s more controlled giveaways.”
The man’s name was Eddie Gaedel, and he was 3 feet 7 inches tall. He batted once and walked on four pitches.
Unknown if it was apocryphal or not but supposedly Veeck told Eddie he had snipers aiming at him to shoot if he swung at a pitch.
For what?
Showering.
It’s been a long time since I read “Veeck as in Wreck” but ISTR Veeck himself made that claim in the book. That doesn’t mean it was true of course. Bill Veeck had a way of embellishing a story exceeded only by my dear, departed grandfather.