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6 unusual facts about Bill Veeck


Bob Cain

On August 19, 1951, St. Louis Browns owner Bill Veeck put the 3 foot, 7 inch Eddie Gaedel into the game with instructions to hold his bat on his shoulder and not swing.

Charlie Powell

After High School, Charlie was recruited by Notre Dame and UCLA to play football, St. Louis Browns baseball owner Bill Veeck, who had acquired the legendary pitcher Satchel Paige from the Cleveland Indians, signed the power-hitting outfielder to a professional baseball contract.

Curse of the Black Sox

The Comiskeys were very conservative spenders (which many hypothesize to be the reason the Black Sox scandal even occurred) and it was not until 1958 that the family gave up majority ownership to Bill Veeck, who was an innovative marketer but lacked sufficient resources to compete with wealthier teams.

Earl Battey

Realizing they had a logjam at catcher with the veteran, and still productive, Lollar, the impressive rookie Romano, and the still-valuable-as-a-defensive-backup Battey, White Sox owner and general manager Bill Veeck would solve his problem in two deals that would show immediate dividends for the White Sox, but would be long term disasters.

Orval Grove

Most notably, White Sox manager Ted Lyons and Cleveland Indians president Bill Veeck discussed trading him for Indians pitcher Steve Gromek, but the deal was nixed when they could not come to an agreement.

William Veeck, Sr.

Veeck was also the father of Bill Veeck, who is best known for his time at the reins of the Chicago White Sox and Cleveland Indians, and for sending the midget Eddie Gaedel to bat while owning the St. Louis Browns.


Call and Post

Reporter Cleveland Jackson communicated extensively with Indians owner and team president Bill Veeck before Doby was signed by the Indians in 1947.

George Case

During that season, new Indians owner Bill Veeck staged one of his famous promotions, matching Case against Jesse Owens in a 100-yard race which Owens won.

P. Patrick McKernan

Pat garnered national publicity for trying out a female baseball player during the early 1970s, and Bill Veeck once stated that if he were to have another major league team, that Mr. McKernan would be the man he would hire to run the team due to his promotional abilities.


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