Customer Reviews

Bill Veeck: A Baseball Legend

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If you enjoyed reading Bill Veeck's Autobiography, Veeck As In Wreck, then this book is a must-read. The author does a great job of filling in the gaps that Veeck left in his own work because of modesty, embarassment or both. A very well researched work.

Baseball fans loved Bill Veeck. The other baseball owners were not very fond of him. One must keep in mind that the fans pay the bills in baseball. As a result, Veeck is an important man in the history of baseball. Gerald Eskenazi takes on the task of documenting the life of the baseball legend. While his writing is redundant at times, he gives an effective overview of Veeck's life.

Veeck is known as the man who sent a midget up to bat for the St. Louis Browns. He is credited as the innovator of the exploding scoreboard that shoots fireworks after a homerun. It was during his second ownership of the White Sox that Disco Demolition Night occurred. Veeck also had several other promotions for the common man. All of these incidents are documented in the book. In addition, the book discusses Veeck bringing in the second African-American baseball player, Lary Doby. Doby would also become the second black manager in baseball for Veeck. He also brought in the first African-American pitcher, the aging Satchell Paige for several tenures. Eskenazi discusses these and other incidents during his successful tenures as the owner of the Indians, Browns, and White Sox. Other little known facts are discussed such as how Veeck almost had a hand in moving the White Sox to Denver.

I found this book to be informative and not nearly as over the top as some of the stories Veeck would like us to believe about him. For example, he failed as a father to the children of his first marriage. Obviously, this is something he did not talk about a lot. Because Eskanazi has little reason to exaggerate or obscure the story, it has a level of authenticity. This out of print book is worth reading for old school baseball fans.

This insightful and concise biography of baseball maverick Bill Veeck (1914-1986) is worth a look. Veeck was a part of baseball for seven decades, and his innovations include the outfield vines in Wrigley Field, exploding scoreboards (the first in Old Comiskey Park), and a midget named Eddie Gaedel who walked on four pitches. The author describes Veeck's long career, beginning when his father ran the Chicago Cubs in the 1920's, and Veeck's purchase of the minor-league Milwaukee Brewers in 1941. After the war he bought and ran the Cleveland Indians (1946-1949), St. Louis Browns (today's Baltimore Orioles) from 1951-1953, and the Chicago White Sox from 1959-1961 and again from 1975-1981. Readers get an inside look at Veeck's popular ideas, offbeat personality, and opposition to baseball's power structure. Readers also see his partying lifestyle, famous peg leg, nine children, and family problems. Veeck wasn't always successful, and some say he was a bit anachronistic in his final stint as White Sox owner - where his rent-a-player strategy and Disco Demolition didn't cut it. Still, he increased baseball fun, put the fans first, and left many with smiles on their faces. When Veeck passed away the loss was felt by fans, players, even those stuffy owners that opposed him.

I enjoyed sportswriter Gerald Eskenazi's nicely readable style, but might have preferred a more indepth look. Still, this is an interesting book, as was his biography of Leo Durocher, and several of his other sports writings.