Full Name: William Veeck, Jr.
Profession: MLB Team Owner and Promoter
Biography: Son of long-time president of the Chicago Cubs, Bill Veeck, Jr. was brought up on baseball. He worked for his father, even contributing the idea of planting ivy on the walls of Wrigley Field.
Veeck, Jr would go on to own, alone or partnerships, a series of baseball teams - the minor league Milwaukee Brewers (1940-45), and major league Cleveland Indians (1946-51), St. Louis Browns (1951-53), and Chicago White Sox (1960-61 and 1975-81).
His innovative promotional skills were sometimes famous ("Grandstand Manager's Day") and sometimes infamous ("Disco Demolition Night").
He was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1991.
Born: February 9, 1914
Birthplace: Chicago, Illinois, USA
Generation: Greatest Generation
Chinese Zodiac: Tiger
Star Sign: Aquarius
Died: January 2, 1986 (aged 71)
Cause of Death: Lung cancer
Articles and Photos
Historical Events
- 1946-06-21 Bill Veeck buys MLB baseball team Cleveland Indians for $2.2 million
- 1947-03-01 MLB Cleveland Indians owner Bill Veeck sets up spring training camp in racially tolerant Phoenix, AZ in anticipation of signing team's first black players; Larry Doby is first acquisition later in the season
- 1949-05-27 MLB Cleveland Indians start 12-17, owner Bill Veeck arranges a "Second Opening Day"
- 1949-09-23 MLB Cleveland Indians owner Bill Veeck holds funeral services to bury 1948 pennant
- 1949-11-21 Bill Veeck sells MLB Cleveland Indians for $22 million, to fund his divorce settlement
- 1951-07-02 Bill Veeck buys MLB St Louis Browns from Bill & Charlie DeWitt; after 1953 season sells franchise to Clarence Miles, who move team Baltimore (Orioles)
- 1951-08-19 Bill Veeck (St. Louis Browns) sends Eddie Gaedel, a 3'7" little person, to pinch-hit; he walked on four pitches.
- 1951-08-24 Bill Veeck's MLB St. Louis Browns hold "Grandstand Manager's Day" - coaches hold up placards for fans to vote on strategy options; Browns defeat visiting A's, 5-3
- 1953-01-31 MLB New York Yankees, Cleveland Indians, & Boston Red Sox retaliate against St. Louis Browns Bill Veeck for trying to relocate the team, scheduling the Browns to play afternoon games to avoid sharing TV revenues
- 1953-03-16 AL rejects St Louis Browns owner Bill Veeck's request to move his team to Baltimore
- 1953-03-17 Bill Veeck says he will sell his 80% of St Louis Browns for $2,475M
- 1953-10-07 Bill Veeck tells St. Louis Browns stockholders he faces bankruptcy unless they drop their suit to block his move to Baltimore, they comply
- 1959-03-10 Dorothy Comiskey Rigney, sells her 54% share of MLB Chicago White Sox to Bill Veeck, for a reported $27M
- 1960-04-12 MLB Chicago White Sox owner Bill Veeck debuts "Exploding Scoreboard" at Chicago's Comiskey Park
- 1975-12-16 Bill Veeck buys 80% of MLB Chicago White Sox from John Allyn
- 1980-08-22 Bill Veeck agrees to sell MLB Chicago White Sox to Eddie DeBartolo Sr for $20,000,000, AL owners block the sale
- 1991-02-26 Bill Veeck & Tony Lazzeri elected to Baseball Hall of Fame
- 1991-07-21 Ferguson Jenkins, Gaylord Perry, Rod Carew, Tony Lazzeri, and Bill Veeck, Jr are inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York
Brooks Robinson
Casey Stengel
Connie Mack
Dale Murphy
Gil Hodges
Willie Stargell