I miss Bill Veeck...from Larry Doby, to Satchel Paige, to Max Patkin, the shorts, exploding scoreboards, adding the surnames to jerseys, to having Harry Caray sing "Take Me Out To The Ballgame", to "Disco Demolition Night"...MLB stole his ideas...but lost sight of the fun that was supposed to accompany it.
His son, Mike, seemed to be following tradition with the Devil Rays when he had a Mike Marshall student pitch for the team briefly, but Mike went to the minors to run a few teams before leaving the game, which is baseball's loss. He was a promotion artist just like his dad, "Sport Shirt" Bill.
The fact is : Bill Veeck was not only good for sports, but for society. Veeck grew up watching his father become president of the Chicago Cubs. His dad got the job due to being a local sports writer who had written about what he'd do differently if he ran the Cubs.
The team's owner, William Wrigley Jr. liked the ideas and hired him. Veeck worked as a vendor, ticket seller, junior groundskeeper, and club treasurer for the Cubs. In 1937, Veeck planted the ivy that is still on the outfield wall at Wrigley Field and was part of the construction of the hand-operated center field scoreboard still used today.
Bill Veeck is the last owner in the MLB to purchase a franchise without his own fortunes. In 1941, Veeck left Chicago and purchased the Milwaukee Brewers with former Cubs star and manager Charlie Grimm.
After winning three pennants in five years, Veeck sold the Brewers for a hefty profit. In 1942, he acquired backing to purchase the Philadelphia Phillies and planned to stock the club with stars from the Negro Leagues.
Commissioner Kenesaw Mountain Landis vetoed the sale and arranged for the league to take over the team. Veeck then joined the military.
In 1946, Veeck returned and bought the Cleveland Indians. He then signed Hall of Famer Larry Doby to break the American League's "color barrier."
He followed that by signing legendary Hall of Fame pitcher Satchell Paige. He then moved the Indians to Municipal Stadium, where the fun began. He installed moving fences in the outfield. He'd move them in for his team, and far away for opponents.
The commissioner then made a rule to have fences stay at fixed positions. Veeck wasn't done. He wanted to move the Indians to Los Angeles, but decided against the idea after negotiations.
Veeck then hired the "Clown Prince of Baseball" Max Patkin to be a first-base coach. Patkin was a fan favorite, but not of baseball's front office.
Veeck cared about the Indian fans so much, that when he was contemplating a trade of Hall of Famer Lou Boudreau, the fans protested so much that Veeck went to every bar in Cleveland to assure fans he would not make the deal.
It turned out to be a good move, because Boudreau batted .355 and led the Indians to a World Series victory. When it became obvious that the Indians wouldn't repeat the following season, Veeck buried the teams pennant flag.
He sold the team at the end of that year, due to the fact his getting divorced had strapped him financially so much, he was unable to run the team.
Veeck did return to own a team just 2 years later in 1951. He bought the Saint Louis Browns. Sportsmans Park was owned by the Browns, but their tenants, the Cardinals, were the fan favorites.
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