William Louis Veeck Sr. (January 20, 1876 – October 5, 1933) was an American sportswriter and baseball executive. He was president of the

Chicago Cubs The Chicago Cubs are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The Cubs compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as part of the National League (NL) Central division. The club plays its home games at Wrigley Field, which is located ...

from 1919 to his death in October, 1933. Under Veeck's leadership, the Cubs won two pennants, in 1929, and 1932. Veeck was a '' Chicago American'' sportswriter working under the pseudonym Bill Bailey before Cubs owner William Wrigley Jr. hired him to be vice-president of the baseball club in 1917.Boxerman, Burton A. & Boxerman, Benita W. ''Ebbets to Veeck to Busch: Eight Owners Who Shaped Baseball''. Jefferson, NC: McFarland & Company, Inc., 2003.
Retrieved October 8, 2021 Having won the National League pennant in 1918, Wrigley promoted him to president of the club in July, 1919. Under Veeck's watch, Wrigley Field began taking on its present look, with ivy-colored outfield walls and concrete bleachers in the outfield. Veeck was also the father of

Bill Veeck William Louis Veeck Jr. ( ; February 9, 1914 – January 2, 1986), also known as "Sport Shirt Bill", was an American Major League Baseball franchise owner and promoter. Veeck was at various times the owner of the Cleveland Indians, St. Louis Br ...

, who is best known for his time at the reins of the Chicago White Sox and Cleveland Indians, and for sending the midget Eddie Gaedel to bat while owning the St. Louis Browns. The ivy-covered walls were actually Bill Jr.'s idea. Veeck resided in the Chicago

suburb A suburb (more broadly suburban area) is an area within a metropolitan area, which may include commercial and mixed-use, that is primarily a residential area. A suburb can exist either as part of a larger city/urban area or as a separate ...

of Hinsdale, Illinois. He married Grace Greenwood DeForest in 1900, who died in 1964. They had three children: Maurice, who died at age 8; Margaret Ann Veeck Krehbiel, and William Louis Veeck Jr., also known as

. Veeck Sr. is buried at the Bronswood Cemetery in Oak Brook, IL.

References

Other sources

Bill Veeck: Baseball genius
*Jack Bales
"Wrigley Jr. & Veeck Sr."WrigleyIvy.com
*Jack Bales
"Baseball's First Bill Veeck,"
''The Baseball Research Journal'' 42, no. 2 (Fall 2013): 7–16. *Jack Bales, "'It Was His Fairness That Caught Wrigley’s Eye': William L. Veeck’s Journalism Career and His Hiring by the Chicago Cubs,” ''Nine: A Journal of Baseball History and Culture'' 20, no. 2 (Spring 2012): 1–14. Chicago Cubs executives 1876 births 1933 deaths {{baseball-business-bio-stub