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Bill Veeck

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Veeck As In Wreck: The Autobiography of Bill Veeck Kindle Edition

by Bill Veeck (Author), Ed Linn (Author) Format: Kindle Edition

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Bill Veeck was an inspired team builder, a consummate showman, and one of the greatest baseball men ever involved in the game. His classic autobiography, written with the talented sportswriter Ed Linn, is an uproarious book packed with information about the history of baseball and tales of players and owners, including some of the most entertaining stories in all of sports literature.

Print length

402 pages
Language

English
Sticky notes

On Kindle Scribe
Publisher

University of Chicago Press
Publication date

May 24, 2012
File size

1918 KB
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Enhanced typesetting

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Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

Opening with the answer to a trivia question—Eddie Gaedel was the 3’7” player who took exactly one at-bat for the St. Louis Browns in the second game of a 1951 doubleheader against the Detroit Tigers (the pitcher, unable to locate the strike zone, gave up a base on balls)—this sports classic finds the subject providing color commentary to his own colorful career as a daring, innovative team owner and promoter in major league baseball. Though his most notorious years were still to come (where, with the Chicago White Sox, he introduced the exploding scoreboard, added names to the uniforms, enticed Harry Caray to sing the seventh-inning stretch, and presided over radio-jock Steve Dahl’s disastrous Disco Demolition Night, events mentioned in cowriter Linn’s afterword), there’s still more than enough inspired lunacy to keep readers’ attention. Linn captures the flavor of his subject’s speech in a first-person narrative that makes the reader feel as though he or she is sitting in Veeck’s office, where the door was always open, enjoying a strong beverage while the raconteur calls the tune. A fine portrait of days long past, when a strong-willed, one-legged showman could make a lasting impression on what has today become a much more corporate pastime. --Keir Graff

From the Inside Flap

Bill Veeck was an inspired team builder, a consummate showman, and one of the greatest baseball men ever involved in the game. His autobiography, written with the talented sportswriter Ed Linn, is an uproarious book packed with baseball history and some of the most entertaining stories in all of sports literature.

Product details

ASIN ‏ : ‎ B00APV9XTS
Publisher ‏ : ‎ University of Chicago Press; 1st edition (May 24, 2012)
Publication date ‏ : ‎ May 24, 2012
Language ‏ : ‎ English
File size ‏ : ‎ 1918 KB
Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
Print length ‏ : ‎ 402 pages

Best Sellers Rank: #566,689 in Kindle Store (See Top 100 in Kindle Store)
- #153 in Baseball Biographies (Kindle Store)
- #304 in Baseball (Kindle Store)
- #656 in Baseball Biographies (Books)

Customer Reviews:
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Customer reviews

4.5 out of 5

237 global ratings

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Robert

One Of A Kind

Reviewed in the United States on January 17, 2024

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Bill Veeck was definitely one of a kind. He was a fans owner. Unfortunately his ideas to improve the game were always minimized by the other wealthy owners.

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Jason A. Miller

They do not make sports bios Like THIS anymore.....

Reviewed in the United States on September 18, 2002

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The two things you need to know before you buy "Veeck -- As In Wreck" -- and you will buy this book, you must, if you've ever bought any professional sports bio before -- are the names Veeck and Linn.
Bill Veeck you know from reputation -- the wacky promoter who invented everything from Ladies' Day to Disco Demolition Night. The man owned several baseball franchises (including the Chicago White Sox twice, for some reason), and was known as a both a promotional genius and a shrewd financier.
As for Ed Linn... well, Linn was also the ghostwriter for another fantastic, edgy, opinionated baseball book, Leo Durocher's "Nice Guys Finish Last". Not surprisingly, "Veeck" reads a lot like the Durocher tome (and it came first, too!). On every page here you'll find a funny anecdote, a scary bit of prescience, and a unique look at an otherwise-beloved icon. With Veeck's memory and Linn's acid pen, this book is quite hard to put down. Or to pick up, for that matter.
Sports bios tend to hold back these days, let's face it. They're not as long and not as insightful as the Linn books. And the gift of time has helped ripen these pages. When Veeck talks about baseball's financial need to institute interleague play -- writing from 1961 -- you know this man saw around a few decades' worth of corners. When he takes the Yankees to task for failing to capitalize on Roger Maris's pursuit of the Babe Ruth home run record, and notes that it was a once-in-a-lifetime event, he's right -- so baseball got it right in '98, when McGwire came to town, and when the record fell yet again in '01, hardly anyone noticed.
In the meantime you'll laugh at the sad fates of Bobo Holloman and Frank Saucier, the latter being the only ballplayer ever to be removed from a game for a midget. You'll be intrigued by Veeck's take on Larry Doby, and by his bitter retorts at Del Webb, then-owner of the hated behemoth Yankees. And you'll marvel at just how little has really changed in baseball since Veeck was retired. Owners plotting franchise shifts in shady back-room deals (Montreal, Florida. Florida, Boston). Owners doing everything to baseball except what really benefits the sport (It's a tie in Milwaukee!). Veeck lamenting not the high price of talent but rather the high price of mediocrity (how much is Colorado paying for Denny Neagle and Mike Hampton?)...
Just about the only highlight not covered is the sight of White Sox outfielder Chet Lemon wearing shorts. One of the few Bill Veeck innovations that did not catch on, and aren't we all better off...

31 people found this helpful

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Brian Halma

A great baseball read for its humor, insight, and history

Reviewed in the United States on August 21, 2021

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Just flat out an entertaining and insightful book. As you can tell from the title, Veeck is great at self deprecating humor. His straightforward tone on things like his WW2 injury, leg amputation, divorce also make him endearing, although he is a very brand conscious, PR savvy person, so some discretion helps. I enjoyed many great stories from his experiences running different minor and major league franchises.
There are a great amount of insights into different areas here as well - there are many player memoirs and some coaching/managerial memoirs, but not as many from the owner perspective. Veeck gives us a window into financing, the politics of ownership, ownership issues such as revenue allocation and rules changes - it also provides some history from the time when the distinction between the AL and NL was better defined and when the minors and majors had a different relationship.
A great read for its humor, insight, and history.

One person found this helpful

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J. S. Etkin

Fascinating Autobiography of Bill Veeck. An Must Read

Reviewed in the United States on December 20, 2015

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I am close to finishing this book, and must say that it is a must-read for any fan of the game. I had always heard that this book was a classic, and I can absolutely attest that it is. Mr. Veeck's first hand view and insights are amazing. He was so much more than a showman, which is illustrated in this well-written book. There was truly a method to his madness. Bill Veeck understood his fan base by interacting directly with his fans. I loved the fact that he sat with the fans in the stands rather than in a private box or away from the field of play. His ideas were revolutionary and far-ahead of his fellow club owners, and so many have become intregal parts of baseball's culture and financial structure (e.g., exploding scoreboards; giving to local charities; revenue sharing). Not all of his ideas worked, but he cared and was always trying to find ways to bring people to his team's games and have a truly fun time at the ballpark. That is missing today with all the high priced seating and expensive foods. I love the game of baseball, but have observed that it has become increasingly unrelatable to the average fan with the high priced seating, some of which is policed by security and is exclusive and corded off. Also, the food choices, while much improved, are incredibly expensive (e.g,, $20 sandwiches; $7 ice cream cones/helmet cups; $8 sodas; $6 bag of peanuts). Mr. Veeck was truly a maverick and it's a shame that he kept being run out of baseball by the other owners and Commissioners who saw him as more trouble instead of genuinely considering his ideas for the greater good of the game. I had the good fortune too of writing to Mr. Veeck when his owned the White Sox in the 1970s, and he graciously wrote me back a personal note, which I still have today.

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CMS

An enjoyable read

Reviewed in Canada on April 17, 2022

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Very well written. Surprisingly captivating tales despite my unawareness of all characters involved.

LJR

Very good

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on June 19, 2013

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I gave this a four because I was expecting more details of his marketing activities in baseball. However, it is a fine autobiography and if you know Veeck or have heard of him you should buy it.

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