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William Louis Veeck Jr. (/ˈvɛk/ VECK; February 9, 1914 – January 2, 1986), also known as "Sport Shirt Bill",[1] was an American Major League Baseball franchise owner and promoter. Veeck was at various times the owner of the Cleveland Indians, St. Louis Browns and Chicago White Sox. As owner and team president of the Indians in 1947, Veeck signed Larry Doby, thus beginning the integration of the American League, and the following year won a World Series title as Cleveland's owner/president.

Veeck was the last owner to purchase a baseball franchise without an independent fortune, and is responsible for many innovations and contributions to baseball.

Unable to compete in the new era of salary escalation ignited by arbitration and free agency, Veeck sold his ownership interests after the 1980 Chicago White Sox season. He was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1991.

Bill Veeck was born on February 9, 1914, in Chicago, Illinois. While Veeck was growing up in Hinsdale, Illinois, his father, William Veeck Sr., became president of the Chicago Cubs. Veeck Sr. was a local sports writer who wrote numerous columns about how he would run the Cubs differently, and the team's owner, William Wrigley Jr., took him up on the implied offer. While growing up, the younger Veeck worked as a popcorn vendor for the Cubs and also as a part-time concession salesman for the crosstown Chicago White Sox. Later, in 1937, he came up with the idea of planting ivy on the walls of Wrigley Field.[3] Veeck attended Phillips Academy in Andover, Massachusetts. In 1933, when his father died, Veeck left Kenyon College and eventually became club treasurer for the Cubs. In 1935, he married his first wife, Eleanor.

Finding himself no longer able to financially compete in the free agent era, Veeck sold the White Sox in January 1981, albeit not without controversy, as his first choice in Edward J. DeBartolo Sr. (owner of the Pittsburgh Penguins) was rejected by a league vote (eight votes in favor with ten required to pass). Veeck, with his second choice, sold the team to Jerry Reinsdorf (and partner Eddie Einhorn) for $20 million. When Einhorn stated his desire to make the White Sox a "high-class operation", Veeck publicly transferred his allegiance back to the Chicago Cubs, the team his father had operated in his youth (at any rate, when the White Sox won the 2005 World Series, the Veeck family received championship rings from the organization). Veeck retired to his home in Chicago but in summer could often be found in the Wrigley Field bleachers. Veeck also wrote occasional articles for magazines and newspapers, usually opining on the overall state of baseball.

Veeck had been a heavy smoker and drinker until 1980. In 1984, Veeck underwent two operations for lung cancer. Two years later, on the day after New Year's Day, 1986, he died at the age of 71 from cancer. He was elected five years later to the Baseball Hall of Fame.

When he died at age 71, he was survived by his wife, Mary Frances, and eight of his nine children. Two of the surviving children, Peter and Ellen, were from his first marriage, and the others (Mike, Marya, Greg, Lisa, Julie and Chris) were from his second marriage. He was predeceased by his eldest child, William III, who died in 1985. His body was cremated. Mike Veeck became owner of the independent minor-league St. Paul Saints and still is a partner in the team. The younger Veeck and co-owner actor Bill Murray emulated many of Bill Veeck's promotional stunts with the Saints. Greg Veeck earned a Ph.D. at University of Georgia in 1988 and is a geography professor at Western Michigan University focusing on urban geology and East Asia.

Courtesy-wikipedia
- Bill Veeck

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