view raw text
, 4 Modern Tale of Three Cities, Bill Veeck Loses Midas Touch Hit Jackpot in Milwaukee, Cleveland, But Lady Luck Deserted Him in St. Louis By STAN MOCKLER United Press Sports Writer : ST. LOUIS, Mo., Aug. 29. Heres a tale of three cities and a baseball man who lost j the Midas touch. Of. Milwaukee, Cleveland, St. Louis and Bill Veeck. The 39-year-old owner of the St. Louis Browns, who served .his baseball appren- , ticeship under his father when the elder : Veeck was general manager of the Chicago , Cubs, scored his first big succes in the "Suds" city. He bought a controlling interest in the Milwaukee Brewers in 1941 when the 1 American Association club was in last place. The spectacular promotion stunts that were to become Veecks trademark, boosted attendance to a flashy 275,000 in his first full year. By 1943, his switches in player personnel paid off with a pennant. And Milwaukee followed through with flags in 1944 and 1945, the year Veeck sold out. Just, a year later, Cleveland, then in sixth place, was introduced to the Veeck regime, complete with circusy touches like attendance prizes of 100 pounds of ice. In one year he moved the club into first division and the next year, in 1948, the Indians roared to a pennant and a World Series victory over the Boston Braves. They finished third in 1949 and Veeck sold out his interest on November 21 of that year. Received Big Welcome in St. Louis When the "Sport Shirt" came to St. Louis in June of 1951, he received a tumultous welcome. Manager Zack Taylor finished out the season as manager but big changes were already under way as Veeck announced that the fans would see "three teams, one playing, one leaving and one arriving." He hired, burly, brusque Rogers Hornsby for 1952 to manage the club. Friction between the two exploded in mid-season with the firing of Hornsby and the naming of Marty Marion to the job. Veecks personal popularity suffered a setback in the Hornsby affair, not so much because of the firing as because of the circumstances that surrounded it. Pitcher Ned Garver and a group of players presented their boss with a loving cup for "emancipating" them from the sharp-tongued Hornsby. But the seventh place club still drew 518,796, third high attendance in Browns history and 10,154 more than the pennant winner of 1944. So it came as .a crashing shock when it was revealed that Veeck was dickering to shift the franchise back to the scene of his first success Milwaukee. That move was thwarted when Lou Perini made the switch with his Boston v Braves, and Veeck, proceeding upon a pre- sumption that he would have the support of other American league owners, prepared to move the club to Baltimore. He was turned down in a reversal that s was one of the big sports surprises of the J year. r He had to return to St. Louis to face a l season of mediocrity and waning "gates" I to the first flop in a spectacular career, s The machinery for a 1954. franchise shift is well under way and St. Louis American league baseball fans have stayed away in droves.. Home attendance, through last . Friday, was only 263,488. ; They just wont pay to see the "leaving" team.
