Bill Veeck was one of the most fascinating figures in baseball history. Veeck owned a number of baseball teams over his long career. He was a shameless promoter who changed the way that our American pastime is presented.
Paul Dickson is one of our leading baseball scribes. The author has written dozens of books on a wide variety of subjects. This one, his 64th book, is also his first biography. In this interview Paul Dickson details many of Veeck's numerous accomplishments. Did you know that it was Veeck who came up with the brilliant notion of planting the ivy that still graces the walls of Wrigley Field in Chicago?
It was Veeck who broke the color line in the American League when he signed Larry Doby to a major league contract to play for the Cleveland Indians. His wacky promotions are the stuff of legend. When you attended a
game in Cleveland or Chicago or Milwaukee or Saint Louis and Bill Veeck was in charge you might walk away with a thousand cans of beer or a thousand silver dollars frozen in a block of ice. Heck, you might even win a cow! Bill Veeck made it fun to go the ballpark.
