 "The coolest owner ever." | 2009-02-04 |
| - Reviewed By bbohner |
| Bill Veeck was a true maverick before that term got tossed around by crazed hockey moms/ vp wannabee's. Anyway... the story of this man who was known for sending a midget to bat in the majors and, later in life, the disco demolition fiasco in Chicago, was more than those events. He was the kind of guy who "got it" about pro sports. He knew that the fan should come first and that this should be fun. Aftert reading this, you'll want to give the rest of the owners, agents and prima donna athletes a copy in hope that they too will "see the light". The book is his autobiography of sorts that tells more about his philosophy about the game and business than it does about the facts of his life. A fun read, essential for baseball fans, about the coolest owner ever. A hall of fame read, from a hall of famer. |
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| "A Larger Than Life Baseball Story" | 2009-01-15 |
| - Reviewed By User: AAR6JL1XDM51R |
When John McCain ran for President in 2008 as a maverick, he would have been well advised to read this very autobiography to find how a real maverick operates. Veeck did it with a cheerful outlook, without rancor or bitterness, and with an impish sense of humor. He was truly a man of the people.
I remember Veeck as a White Sox in the late 1970's, when he bought the team, and against all odds, fielded the South Side Hitmen and made a run for the pennant with no defense or pitching. Veeck brought innovation and fun to Comiskey Park, and was no newcomer to baseball by then. Had he been a racecar driver, he would have been on the 480th lap of the Indy 500. Veeck, who lost a leg due to a combat wound, who was a four pack a day smoker, who rarely slept more than three hours a night had a curious, intelligent and unstoppable mind.
In reading his thoughts, I was struck by the prescient content of his thoughts on baseball. In 1962, he proposed revenue sharing for visiting teams on television revenues, predicting that small market teams would not be able to compete in the future. He was the first owner who believed expansion would bestow increased popularity on baseball. And, in immortal words, said that it was not the price of superstardom that would haunt payrolls, but the price of mediocrity.
His energy was astounding. He turned a profit in Milwaukee (pre-Braves and Brewers) by sheer hustle, promotion, and horse trademanship. He brought a world Series to Cleveland by know how, and made himself a beloved figure in that great town.
But through it all, there is his prevailing love for baseball, and the loyalty, admiration and love for his second wife. This is an inspiring story about an original man.
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| "Divine Diamond Madness" | 2008-01-02 |
| - Reviewed By User: ASAM6EGR6JQ08 |
This is one of the single funniest books that I have ever read. Moreover, it is a book that you can reread again and again and still find amusing years after your initial reading. It is that good.
Bill Veeck was the son of a sportswriter (William Veeck, Sr.) who later became a top executive with the Chicago Cubs and helped rebuild the organization. As a young man, Veeck, himself, worked for the Cubs and played an important role in remodeling the bleachers and adding many of the signature features to Wrigley Field. Later, he owned and operated a successful minor league team (the Milwaukee Brewers), a World Series Championship team (the Cleveland Indians), and he presided over the demise of the poorest team in baseball (the St. Louis Browns) before putting in two stints as the head owner of the Chicago White Sox (including the 1959 pennant winning club).
From this unique perspective, Veeck takes the reader on a wild booze fueled ride that explores the joys, the sorrows and hypocrisies of professional baseball. During the Fifties, Veeck was essentially blackballed by his fellow American League owners and compelled to sell his stock in the struggling St. Louis club. As soon as Veeck was out of the picture, the new owner was permitted to move the team to a greener ballfield in Baltimore. The other owners resented Veeck's flair for showmanship. Today, virtually all baseball clubs imitate the promotions that Veeck pioneered.
Someday, I can only hope that Bill Murray succeeds in his ambition to adapt this marvelously humorous book into a motion picture. |
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| "The hundredth read's as good as the first" | 2007-12-06 |
| - Reviewed By andrew-kate |
| I'm biased, since Veeck -- As In Wreck was a childhood favorite, but I still say it's the best book ever written on professional baseball. It's a great take on the sport -- baseball's supposed to be FUN for the fans, and this book is a great primer on how to make it so. |
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 "A great gift" | 2007-07-03 |
| - Reviewed By fordventures |
I gave this book to my brother who is a baseball nut and he loved it. He couldn't wait to get off work so he could sit in the subway and read it all the way home.
He is a historian and found it accurate and a page turner. |
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| "A Baseball Storyteller" | 2006-07-10 |
| - Reviewed By johnm-z |
My thanks goes out to Bill Veeck for being one of the men that saved baseball on the South Side of Chicago. Even though it is not all included in his autobiography, he worked to keep the White Sox in Chicago multiple times. This is one of the reasons many people closely associate Veeck with the White Sox.
On page 352, Veeck writes, "To the White Sox rooter, there is nothing casual about baseball. Wake him up in the middle of the night, ask him who he is and he will say, 'I am a carpenter and a White Sox fan.' He may or may not have inherited his trade from his father, but chances are that he inherited his rooting interest in the Sox. This kind of family solidarity can only come out of adversity and trial by fire." This is the blue collar attitude he brought to baseball ownership. He was also an entertainer and promoter the likes of which baseball will never see again.
"Veeck as in Wreck" is a wildly entertaining ride. While Veeck occasionally gets bogged down in mathematics and finances, his baseball stories compensate. The midget that Veeck sent to bat in St. Louis is discussed. The wild promotions that attracted record crowds are included, though he could not possibly include them all. The book only omits his second tenure in Chicago which included the dubious Disco Demolition Night. Veeck started in the early 1900's when his father owned the Cubs. While his heart may have been with the Cubs, his best work came with the White Sox.
Including his riffs with the owners who included current commissioner Bud Selig, Veeck was a fan's owner. Although long, this is a great read for baseball fans. White Sox fans should find it extra sweet. |
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