Word: veeck
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...status as baseball's alternative anthem, thanks to Hall of Fame broadcaster Harry Caray, then an announcer at Comiskey Park, home of the Chicago White Sox. Sitting in his booth, Caray would often sing "Take Me Out to the Ball Game" with nearby fans. One day, then-owner Bill Veeck noticed the impromptu choir. The following game, he outfitted Caray's booth with a secret microphone, and a tradition was born. Caray eventually moved to Wrigley Field with the Chicago Cubs, bringing his seventh-inning singing with him; today, the tradition happens in almost every ballpark. "Take...
...Veeck, who died last week of a heart attack at 71, was easily the most colorful baseball man never to play the game. A happy rebel against "the simple pieties of baseball," Veeck limped along on an artificial leg, dreaming up outrageous stunts to lure fans to the ball park. He installed the first exploding Scoreboard, moved the fences at Cleveland's Municipal Stadium in and out depending on the strength of visiting teams, and once gave away six pigeons to an elegant fan simply "to answer the burning question of how a dignified man would hold...
...Veeck, who genially described himself as a hustler and publicity hound, owned major league teams four times: the Browns, the Cleveland Indians and the Chicago White Sox (twice). His usual approach was to buy a rundown franchise, spruce up the ball park, then operate the team on the cheap while raising cash through promotions. Veeck had firm theories on how to promote. If you want to give away 50,000 beers, he once said, give them all to one fan--it will generate far more interest and conversation...
...Veeck bought the minor league Milwaukee Brewers. He put on morning games for night workers, staged pig races and handed out outlandish door prizes, including a swaybacked horse. He installed a chicken-wire screen above the rightfield fence to turn opponent home runs into singles, then rolled it out of the way when the home team came up. The practice was banned after one day. In Cleveland he offered nursery care during games and staged a night honoring a fan who had written to ask why ballplayers always get the free cars and prizes. When the Indians started...
...Veeck's flair and zest almost eclipsed his reputation as a shrewd baseball man who managed to build contenders on low budgets. He predicted that his tombstone would inevitably bear the message HE SENT A MIDGET UP TO BAT. Once he asked that the epitaph be cleaned up a bit to read, more piously, HE HELPED THE LITTLE MAN. --By John...