Where is Bill Veeck When You Need Him?
By Bill Hoagland
The Chicago White Sox baseball team is a mess. They are having a horrible season; the last time I looked, they were in last place in their division, some 25 games out of first place, with an empty stadium to boot. I have a law school buddy who grew up on the South Side of Chicago and as a kid, he was a big White Sox fan who eventually moved on to another team but in his heart of hearts, I know he still thinks about those days rooting for the likes of Nellie Fox, Sherm Lollar and Minnie Minoso. Those wonderful teams of the 1950’s and 1960’s are unfortunately long gone and so is their remarkable owner, Bill Veeck.
Bill Veeck, regarded by some as the ultimate “class clown”, sure knew how to fill a baseball stadium. And he knew how to inject some fun into what is, by all rights, a snoozer of a game. For those who don’t know, Bill Veeck was the owner of the Chicago White Sox baseball team from 1959 to 1961 and again from 1975 to 1981. Many of the things that Bill Veeck did while owning the White Sox (and the St. Louis Browns and Cleveland Indians) raised a lot of eyebrows, but you can’t deny that he had a knack for making the game more interesting. To quote him on one of his musings about baseball, “We can’t always guarantee the ball game will be good but we can guarantee that the fan will have fun”. The infamous “Disco Destruction Night” is a good example of Veeck making the game more “fun”.
In the 1970’s, disco music became increasingly popular, much to the chagrin of those who loved classic rock and roll music. A radio personality in Chicago, Steve Dahl, was particularly outspoken about hating disco music and with the help of Bill Veeck and his son, Mike, they decided to host a “disco demolition night” on July 12, 1979 at Comiskey Park during a double-header between the White Sox and the Cleveland Indians. Fans were told that if they brought a disco record with them and turned it in for destruction, admission was only 98 cents. Veeck expected a crowd of about 20,000 but more that 50,000 showed up inside the stadium, with another 20,000 outside the park. It was a boisterous crowd to say the least. Then, in between the first and second games, the disco records were piled in center field and exploded to the cheering of the crowd. Then things really got out of hand, with fans pouring onto the field and rioting. The police finally got things under control but not until center field was destroyed and the game had to be forfeited by the White Sox. How’s that for a fun-filled night with an overflow crowd at Comiskey Park!
Bill Veeck is an interesting character and certainly of more substance than simply being referred to as a “class clown”. Among other innovative things that he did for major league baseball, it was his idea to plant the ivy at Wrigley Field, he induced Harry Caray to start singing “Take Me Out to the Ballgame” at Comiskey Park, a tradition that continues in Chicago to this day, and he brought the first Black player, Larry Doby, into the American League. I don’t have the space here to get into further details about this unique man but intend to do so in a future column. Suffice to say that he was eventually inducted into the MLB Hall of Fame and rightly so. I bet plenty of White Sox fans today wish they could somehow get him back.
Note: My thanks to Alan Dowen, a lawyer buddy, for reminding me about Bill Veeck and Disco Demolition Night.
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■ Bill Hoagland has practiced law in Alton for more than 50 years, but he has spent more than 70 years hunting, fishing and generally being in the great outdoors. His wife, Annie, shares his love of the outdoor life. Much of their spare time is spent on their farm in Calhoun County. Bill can be reached at [email protected].
