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 The ''Chicago American'' was an afternoon newspaper published in Chicago, under various names until its dissolution in 1974. History The paper's first edition came out on July 4, 1900, as '' Hearst's Chicago American''. It became the ''Morning ...

'' sportswriter working under the

pseudonym A pseudonym (; ) or alias () is a fictitious name that a person or group assumes for a particular purpose, which differs from their original or true name (orthonym). This also differs from a new name that entirely or legally replaces an individua ...

Bill Bailey before Cubs owner

William Wrigley Jr. William Mills Wrigley Jr. (September 30, 1861 – January 26, 1932) was an American chewing gum industrialist. He was founder of the Wm. Wrigley Jr. Company in 1891. Biography William Mills Wrigley Jr. was born in Philadelphia, Penns ...

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 The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League (NL), is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, and the world's oldest extant professional team s ...

pennant in 1918, Wrigley promoted him to president of the club in July, 1919. Under Veeck's watch,

Wrigley Field Wrigley Field is a Major League Baseball (MLB) stadium on the North Side of Chicago, Illinois. It is the home of the Chicago Cubs, one of the city's two MLB franchises. It first opened in 1914 as Weeghman Park for Charles Weeghman's Chicago Wh ...

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 The Chicago White Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The White Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. The team is owned by Jerry Reinsdorf, and p ...

and

Cleveland Indians The Cleveland Guardians are an American professional baseball team based in Cleveland. The Guardians compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. Since , they have played at Progressive F ...

, and for sending the midget

Eddie Gaedel Edward Carl Gaedel (June 8, 1925 – June 18, 1961) was the smallest player to appear in a Major League Baseball game. Gaedel gained recognition in the second game of a St. Louis Browns doubleheader on August 19, 1951. Weighing and standing t ...

to bat while owning the

St. Louis Browns The St. Louis Browns were a Major League Baseball team that originated in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, as the Milwaukee Brewers. A charter member of the American League (AL), the Brewers moved to St. Louis, Missouri, after the 1901 season, where they p ...

. 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 ...

Hinsdale, Illinois Hinsdale is a village in Cook and DuPage counties in the U.S. state of Illinois. Hinsdale is a western suburb of Chicago. The population was 17,395 at the 2020 census, most of whom lived in DuPage County. The town's ZIP code is 60521. The town ...

. 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 Oak Brook is a village mostly in DuPage County with a small portion in Cook County in Illinois. Per the 2020 census, the population was 8,163. This suburb of Chicago has the headquarters of several companies and organizations including Ace Ha ...

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