Veeck Getting Cold Shoulder on Hint of Transfer to L. A: Mayor Doesnt Think City is Ready at Present Time to Spend Necessary Funds, Daily Racing Form, 1953-08-19

article


view raw text

, ; , Veeck Getting Cold Shoulder On Hint of Transfer to L A. Mayor Doesnt Think City Is Ready at Present Time To Spend Necessary Funds LOS ANGELES, Calif., Aug. 18 UP. Bill Veecks hint that he might bring his St. Louis Browns to Los Angeles if the city got him a baseball park suitable for Major league play, drew a discouraging response today. Mayor Norris Poulson interpreted Veecks statement as "just a feeler." The Mayor pointed out the city had great problems involving large outlays of money and added, "I dont think we are ready at this moment to consider buying a baseball park." Veeck had implied he would be interested in moving his American league franchise here provided the city and county acquired Wrigley Field and, enlarged it so the park was suitable for big league baseball. In Chicago, .P. K. Wrigley, owner of the park and the Los Angeles team of the Pacific Coast league, said he would not consider selling the ball park without the Los Angeles franchise. "To sell only the ball park would be like selling the roof over the house," Wrigley said. Opposition by Coast Loop President Clarence Rowland of the Pacific Coast league pointed out, as he had in the past, that the coast loop would oppose Major league baseball for one or two cities in a circuit made up of eight teams. He .had said repeatedly that to put in a Major league franchise over the opposition of the league would mean that the league would have to be paid for its rights and each of the remaining clubs would be able to ask for penalties "for the loss of the rich territory. Wrigley Field has a capacity of 20,000, more than ample for Coast league play, but not sufficient in Veecks opinion for a Major league team. It was estimated that it would cost from ,000,000 to ,000,000 to double the size of the park and add sufficient parking space. In dropping the hint that he might bring his Browns here if a suitable ball park were given him, Veeck at the same time disclosed he intended visiting San Francisco, apparently in a move to play the two cities against each other in bidding for his franchise, baseball men said. County supervisor Kenneth Hahn, however, disclosed that the Coliseum commission, which runs .the huge stadium as a city-county-state enterprise, had nearly a half-million dollars in its treasury and might be interested in joining the city in helping bring Major league baseball here. The Coliseum itself was ruled out by Veeck as a possible ball park location because of the way the structure is built.


Persistent Link: https://drf.uky.edu/catalog/1950s/drf1953081901/drf1953081901_2_3
Local Identifier: drf1953081901_2_3
Library of Congress Record: https://lccn.loc.gov/unk82075800