Word: veeck
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Dates: during 1970-1979
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...Veeck climbed out from behind his desk to consider the park. Corridors were bright with posters schoolchildren had painted. The Scoreboard in center, which now includes not only rockets but tapes of triumphal music, was primed...
...Milwaukee, which helped home-team hitters, and he put fireworks in the Cleveland Scoreboard to salute home-team home runs. He sent a midget to bat in St. Louis, and offered live lobsters as gate prizes to his fans. Critics said he turned baseball into a circus. Replied Veeck: Was there anything wrong with the circus...
...then, when he recovered, it took a decade for him to buy his way back. Establishing a foothold in Chicago last year, he worked 15-hour stints day after day. Still, the Sox finished last. They also drew indifferently, and baseball's anticircus bloc began sounding elegies for Veeck. "I'd never suggested," Bill Veeck said, "that promotion by itself attracts fans. Winning draws fans. Winning plus promotion sets attendance records. Promoting with a last-place team, which is what we had to do last year, is only slightly more difficult than running a benefit for Mr. Nixon...
...infield glowed a natural green (Veeck ripped out artificial grass last spring). The infield brusher, a hopelessly complex machine that parodies overmechanization, glowed in luminescent pastels. "The place looks good," Veeck announced. "It's easier to turn fans off than on. A clean park doesn't bring in fans, but a dirty park keeps them away...
Back in his office, he talked trade with two executives and checked out the new scorecard. On page 5, Veeck informs White Sox fans, "If your beer is flat, call Millie Johnson, if the washrooms aren't up to par, call David Schaffer. If you'd like a tryout, give C.V. Davis a call. We don't have a complaint department, but we do have people...