White Sox celebrate showman Bill Veeck with wedding, 50-foot hot dog, petting zoo at ballgame
Advertisement
Read this article for free:
or
Already have an account? Log in here »
To continue reading, please subscribe:
Monthly Digital Subscription
$1 per week for 24 weeks*
- Enjoy unlimited reading on winnipegfreepress.com
- Read the E-Edition, our digital replica newspaper
- Access News Break, our award-winning app
- Play interactive puzzles
*Billed as $4.00 plus GST every four weeks. After 24 weeks, price increases to the regular rate of $19.00 plus GST every four weeks. Offer available to new and qualified returning subscribers only. Cancel any time.
Monthly Digital Subscription
$4.75/week*
- Enjoy unlimited reading on winnipegfreepress.com
- Read the E-Edition, our digital replica newspaper
- Access News Break, our award-winning app
- Play interactive puzzles
*Billed as $19 plus GST every four weeks. Cancel any time.
To continue reading, please subscribe:
Add Free Press access to your Brandon Sun subscription for only an additional
$1 for the first 4 weeks*
*Your next subscription payment will increase by $1.00 and you will be charged $16.99 plus GST for four weeks. After four weeks, your payment will increase to $23.99 plus GST every four weeks.
Read unlimited articles for free today:
or
Already have an account? Log in here »
CHICAGO (AP) — The Chicago White Sox threw a party that would have made Bill Veeck proud.
The club celebrated its quirky former owner with Bill Veeck Night on Saturday by bringing back some of the stunts, tricks and exhibitions that added to the lore of the legendary showman and Hall of Famer.
There was a pregame petting zoo and a roving circus with — what else? — a clown to entertain fans entering Rate Field. There was ice sculpting on the concourse in the outfield and a chance to get a photo taken with a 50-foot hot dog, along with an offer of free haircuts. The first 15,000 fans received a Veeck bobblehead, and postgame fireworks were planned.

Another highlight was what the team described as a “married in a minute” event, with two White Sox fans tying the knot in a 60-second ceremony officiated by 1983 American League Rookie of the Year Ron Kittle.
Mike Veeck, Bill’s son, threw out the ceremonial first pitch Saturday before the White Sox took on Cleveland, a team the elder Veeck owned from 1946-1949.
The fun wasn’t limited to fans in the stands. White Sox players turned back the clock by wearing pinstriped shorts during pregame warmups and batting practice. The team wore those unusual shorts — along with collared uniform tops — for some games during the 1976 season.
Bill Veeck was a two-time owner of the White Sox, first from 1959-61 and again from 1975-81. His tenure was marked by memorable and forgettable stunts to enhance the fans’ game-day experience through entertainment.
His stunts included an exploding scoreboard in 1960 and a disastrous disco demolition night in 1979, when a crate of disco records was blown up between games of a doubleheader. The playing surface at Comiskey Field was so damaged by the blast and fans who rushed the field after the stunt that Chicago was forced to forfeit the second game to Detroit.
Another of his famous acts was signing 3-foot-7 Eddie Gaedel to be a pinch hitter in 1951, when Veeck owned the St. Louis Browns. Gaedel, who had a miniscule strike zone, walked on four pitches.
Veeck died in 1986 at 71 and was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1991.
___
AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb