Article Bill and Mike Veeck Baseball Showmen
Type: Sports
Summary: Father and son Bill and Mike Veeck revolutionized baseball with their wild and wacky stunts.
Posted by: Elliot Feldman
Between 1946 and 1979, Bill Veeck owned the Cleveland Indians, the St. Louis Browns, and the Chicago White Sox (twice). But Veeck was best known for bringing promotional showmanship and wild stadium stunts to professional baseball, changing the sport forever.
Like father like son, Mike Veeck brought his own brand of showmanship to baseball, as a partner with comedian Bill Murray and Wall Street lawyer Marv Goldklang in a group of minor league franchises that include the St. Paul Saints, the Charleston RiverDogs, the Fort Myers Miracle, and the Hudson Valley Renegades.
Bill Veeck
On first view, Bill Veeck was someone to be immediately noticed. He walked on a wooden leg with a built-in ashtray. But it was his stadium promotions that put him in the sports history books.
Cleveland Indians
As the owner of the Cleveland Indians, Veeck once went from bar to bar in downtown Cleveland to apologize to fans for even thinking about trading the team’s popular shortstop Lou Boudreau.
When a Cleveland fan named Joe Earley criticized him for honoring everyone but the average baseball fan, Veeck staged a “Good Old Joe Earley Night” especially for the complaining fan.
St. Louis Browns
In 1951, as owner of the St. Louis Browns, Veeck staged a special celebration to honor the American League’s 50th anniversary. During the doubleheader game break, he brought a giant birthday cake onto the field at Sportsman’s Park. Eddie Gaedel, a 3’7” midget popped out of the cake dressed in a Browns uniform with the number “1/8” on it. At the bottom of the first inning of the second game, Gaedel was sent to the plate to pinch hit. Detroit Tigers pitcher Bob Cain walked the midget.
In another classic St. Louis Browns stunt, Veeck sponsored a “Grandstand Managers’ Day” where St. Louis fans “managed” the team during a game by voting on game play decisions. This was done by passing out “yes” or “no” placards to each fan. On the field, Browns publicity director Bob Fischel would hold up placards with proposed plays, including “Steal”, “Bunt”, and “Change pitchers.” The fans would then respond with a “yes” or “no.”
Chicago White Sox
In 1979, with help from his son Mike, one of Veeck’s stunts backfired. At “Disco Demolition Night” at Comiskey Park, fans were to show up with disco albums that would be put in a funeral pyre on the field and then exploded during a break between doubleheader games. Chicago radio stations helped promote this event with such success, that an estimated 100,000 people mobbed the stadium. All hell broke loose when thousands of fans jumped onto the baseball field and engaged in a full-scale melee with police. The disturbance was so extreme that the White Sox had to forfeit the second game of the doubleheader.
Mike Veeck
According to Mike Veeck, the Disco Demolition Night was all his doing. The incident was such an embarrassment to the baseball establishment that his father eventually had to sell the team and Mike himself wound up persona non grata in professional baseball.
Minor League
After several lean years, Mike Veeck redeemed his reputation by joining the St. Paul Saints minor league team as a partner, continuing the Veeck showmanship tradition. In the nineties, he brought his promotional skills to other minor league teams.
Some of his most notorious stunts have included locking fans out of the stadium in order to set a record for lowest game attendance. He even had Bill Murray twirl a baton and lead a high school marching band onto the field. Thanks to his efforts, St. Paul Saints fans can get neck massages in the stands. And, at a Charleston RiverDogs game, fans were given souvenir inflatable bats emblazoned with the Viagra logo.
Through Veeck’s efforts and outrageous stunts, minor league game attendance skyrocketed and minor league baseball itself has become a $500 million business.
References
- “Baseball’s Showman”, Nick Acocella, ESPN,
- “Bill Veeck”, Mike Brewster, Business Week
- “Veeck Family Values”, Dick Whitford, Fortune
- “How I did it”, Alan Schwarz, INC.
- “Not just peanuts”, Alan Schwarz, MSNBC
- http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,799233,00.html?iid=chix-sphere
- http://www.baseballlibrary.com/ballplayers/player.php?name=eddie_gaedel_1925
