Veeck: Wackiness has expired

Promotions expert says take chances

By Glenn Miller
Fort Myers News Press

His dad Bill Veeck gave the baseball world a 3-foot-7, 65-pound pinch hitter named Eddie Gaedel in 1951. Twenty-eight years later, Mike Veeck gave the baseball world "Disco Demolition Night." Both events were part of doubleheaders and included moments that must have left fans gasping.

Now, 28 years after Disco Demolition Night of 1979, Veeck is 56. He's the president of the Goldklang Group, the company that owns and operates the Fort Myers Miracle. The Veecks are the best-known name in wacky baseball promotions.

Promotions are a Miracle staple.

Veeck, who resides in Mt. Pleasant, S.C., doesn't visit Fort Myers often. He popped in this week, spending a chunk of Monday afternoon sitting in the Lee County Sports Complex talking about his dad's most famous promotion and the one 28 years later that led to his firing.

In 1951, Bill Veeck owned the hapless St. Louis Browns. Between games, Gaedel popped out of 7-foot birthday cake. Then Gaedel, wearing uniform No. 1/8, batted in the first inning of a game against the Detroit Tigers. He walked.

"Bill Veeck, if he were alive, would never be able to get a midget to the plate," Mike Veeck said. "Could you imagine the red tape now? He'd have killed himself. ... You'd have to get clearance from everybody. You'd have to say vertically challenged. We're so politically correct. People don't try things because they worry about repercussions. And that's the most important thing. Take a shot."

Veecks always take shots. In 1979, during the disco phase, Mike Veeck was a young promotions wizard with the Chicago White Sox. He took a chance. Fans who brought a disco record to Comiskey Park would be admitted for 98 cents.

A crowd estimated at 90,000 showed up at the 52,000-seat stadium. Oops. Fans denied entry scaled the walls. Between games of a doubleheader, a pile of disco records was blown up. Fans stormed the field. Police in riot gear were summoned to roust the fans. The White Sox forfeited the second game.

Mike Veeck's job security was now measured in hours. He was fired the next morning, which happened to be Friday the 13th.

"The first thing I noticed before I got fired was the sun had indeed risen," Veeck said. "We've become a nation afraid to take chances. I think this is the greatest time, forget in baseball, but in our country. I think that our nation is looking at what our most important product is and it's creativity. Everything is being outscored, and I think now is the time to step forward with ideas."

Veeck encourages his staff to come up with wacky ideas. Not 3-foot-7 pinch hitters or disco demolition nights. They've been tried. The Miracle once held a seance in an effort to reach inventor Thomas Edison.

Veeck recalled that the medium hired for the event was heckled.

"She stomped off the field in her blue sequin dress," he said. "She didn't finish her routine."

The Veecks also like winning. Bill Veeck owned the 1948 Indians, who won the World Series. No Indians team has matched that feat since.

"Until the day he died, if you mentioned Cleveland he'd get that kind of faraway look," Mike said of his father.

On the train back to Cleveland after winning the World Series, the players celebrated, causing significant damage. The elder Veeck was presented with a $10,000 bill.

"He said it was worth every penny of the $10,000 that he paid for it," Mike said.