William L Veeck was inducted into the MLB Hall of Fame class of 1991 along with Rod Carew, Fergie Jenkins, Tony Lazzari and Gaylord Perry. Veeck was inducted by the Veterans Committee as an executive and pioneer. He had early ties to baseball when his father William Veeck Sr was president of the Chicago Cubs and young Veeck had the idea to plant the ivy on the walls at Wrigley Field. Veeck was part owner of Triple A Milwaukee Brewers in the American Association (1941-1945). He also spent most of that time serving in the United States Marine Corps (1943-1945). Veeck was the General Manager, president and owner of the Cleveland Indians (1946-1949). He owned the St Louis Browns (1951-1953) and sold his stake in the team to the group that moved it to Baltimore. Veeck owned the Chicago White Sox (1959-1961, 1975-1981) to complete his Major League trifecta.
Veeck was a pioneer and innovator at each stop as owner. With the Indians he helped break the color barrier in the American League by signing outfielder Larry Doby. With the Browns he brought attention to the team with several promotional stunts such as using midget Eddie Gaedel as a pinch hitter against the Detroit Tigers on August 19, 1951. Veeck also attempted to wage war against the St Louis Cardinals with the thought of forcing them out of town but was no match for the team with Anheuser Busch money behind it. The biggest and lasting innovation by Veeck with the White Sox was adding the name of the players to the uniforms in 1960.
Hall of Fame page
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