Veeck thus became my first guru . . . he was a baseball promoter, perhaps most famous for having sent a midget to bat in a major league game . . . but he was also an innovator, plus quite a guy.
I devoured his autobiography, VEECK AS IN WRECK, whenit was published in 1981 . . . since then, I have attempted toread everything else I could about him . . . yet somehow Ihad missed MARKETING YOUR DREAMS: BASEBALL AND LIFE LESSONS FROM BILL VEECKs by Pat Willaims; i.e., until this past week.
My one word reaction: WOW! . . . what a great book . . . itmade me appreciate Veeck even more, along with Williams--quitea sports promoter in his own right . . . I found myself takingcountless notes, always a sign that what I'm reading is really making quite a dent on me.
There were many memorable passages; among them:* Because there is a reason why Veeck wentto bed in the middle of the night. And a reasonwhy he woke up four hours later. And a reasonwhy he was never dulled by routine, why everyday became an opportunity, and every hour,every moment of his 71 years, was gilded andprecious.
He did not sleep because he could not sleep.He was afraid to sleep because sleepingmeant missing something. He was so caughtup in the basest virtues of each day that hismind couldn't let go.
Said Washington writer Tom Boswell afterVeeck's passed away in 1986, "Cause of death: Life."
"With the amount of sleep he didn't get," sayslongtime Chicago White Sox organist NancyFaust, "Bill probably died at 85 instead of 71."
* Veeck once sent away for a mail-order toy. Whenit arrived, he learned it had to be assembled. Hespent the entire night before Christmas attemptingto put that infernal toy together for one of his children. When he sent his check to the manufacturer,he tore it into tiny pieces, put them into an envelopeand wrote: "I put your toy together. You put mycheck together."
No doubt he felt a burden lifted.
The manufacturer had no choice but to accept thecheck.
* He called amputees in the hospital to console them.("Look at it this way," he would say. "One pair of sockswill last you twice as long. And in the winter, only one foot will get cold.") He told one fan whose leg was wrappedin a heavy brace, "If I had another leg to give you, I would."He demonstrated the leg to curious children. He consoledan amateur softball player who had broken his leg, slipping the wooden leg off and telling him, "Here. Use mine."
"I only fear two things," he'd say, brandishing the leg. "Fire and termites."
And though I typically like to include only three passages,I just had to include this one too:
* Soon after the funeral, Mary Frances was diggingthrough the house when she discovered a note. They'dalways written to each other for more than three decades;notes of love and sentimentality and humor. Seems he'dwritten this one while waiting to be taken to the hospitalfor the last time.
On one side he'd expressed the depth of his love forMary Frances. On the other, he'd written, "Tell everyoneit has been lots of fun."
You'll also find this book to be a lot of fun, as well as inspirational.