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AJ McKenzie
  • 2 days ago
The showman of baseball for about 40 years
IG: aj_mckenzie416
Twitter: AJMckenzie94847
Transcript
00:06As a baseball owner, Bill Beck was unique.
00:11Born to the leisured class, his heart lay in the bleachers.
00:14He was fresh air and popcorn and free beer.
00:18Every day was Mardi Gras, every fan a king.
00:21He so deeply loved the game, he lived in a ballpark for two years.
00:25For 15 wonderful seasons, Bill Beck worked to change the somber face of baseball,
00:32pinching its cheeks, pulling its ear, and making it smile.
00:35Some said like a clown.
00:37But underneath Beck's own good cheer, there lived a serious man
00:41who believed deep in his gut that baseball belonged to the people.
00:47Hmm.
00:53Bill Beck was one of the great, jolly men who walked the earth.
00:59Bill Beck considered his role as owner of a ball club,
01:03as custodian of the franchise for the fans.
01:08I thought, as far as baseball went, he was as close to a genius as we ever had.
01:12He was a great thinker, he was a voracious reader, he was a man who could speak on any subject.
01:17Beck would like to have, I'm going to use a very esoteric intellectual word now,
01:23he would appreciate it.
01:25Fun!
01:26Yes, sir.
01:28Why don't we start off with controversy?
01:30I guess that's the story of my life.
01:32Beck never got along with any of the owners of baseball
01:35because they saw him as a tremendous radical.
01:38The American League hasn't spent much time worrying about the city of Chicago's rights
01:42to coerce us into doing something we think is not only illegal, but is stupid.
01:50To Major League Baseball owners, Bill Beck...
02:03I'm going to give it to you.
02:05Bill Beck understood
02:09that this was a big, complicated, diverse country
02:13and that baseball ought to represent that.
02:18Bill Beck was actually one of the few men I've known in my life without prejudice at all.
02:24When he was a man of tolerance from his father, president of the Chicago Cubs.
02:31He told me a wonderful story once about his father taking him down in the box office
02:38and there was money piled everywhere from the ticket office and they're counting receipts.
02:45My grandfather said to my father,
02:47what color is that money?
02:49He said, it's green.
02:50And he said,
02:52can you tell the color of the person who put that money through the window?
02:58What?
03:01No.
03:03He never forgot.
03:05Three months after Jackie Robinson broke the Major League color barrier in 1947,
03:12Beck signed the first black player in the American League,
03:15Larry Doby, to the Cleveland Indians.
03:17When that happened, it was just exploded like a time bomb.
03:21We knew about Jackie Robinson,
03:23but nobody even considered him, you know, a black player.
03:27The one statement he made that I know that made me quite comfortable was when he said,
03:33we're in this together.
03:35Beck didn't only sign Larry Doby.
03:37He then went out and signed Satchel Paige
03:38and he signed Minnie Minosa
03:40and he signed Al Smith
03:42and he signed Luke Easter.
03:44When Beck signed Satchel Paige,
03:46the ageless Negro League pitcher,
03:48it set off a stampede of curiosity and controversy.
03:52Well, he thought it was exploitation
03:54and it really wasn't
03:55because if you recall,
03:57in 1948,
03:58he was 6-1 at the end of the season.
04:02The first year he was there,
04:03no question about it.
04:05There was also no question
04:07that Beck despised any form of social injustice.
04:11But he moved to Maryland's eastern shore in the 1960s
04:14and learned the local movie theater had segregated seating.
04:18He took matters into his own hands.
04:21So then he got his own movies
04:23and he showed them at his house
04:26to a mixed audience of kids
04:28who were black or white or whatever
04:30from the schools where his kids went.
04:32And he said, you know,
04:33we all sit together here
04:33and they'd have popcorn
04:34and they'd have popcorn machine.
04:35It didn't also make us wildly popular in a lot of ways.
04:39This is a state that carried George Walz.
04:42When nearby Cambridge erupted in racial violence,
04:46Beck offered his home as a free zone
04:49for civil rights leaders,
04:50business representatives,
04:52politicians,
04:53and the National Guard
04:54might seek a solution.
04:56Bill Beck was involved in marches
04:59and in protests.
05:01he really was out there fighting
05:03for integration of the entire society.
05:07And that wasn't easy to do
05:08on the eastern shore of Maryland.
05:10One day when the truth really come out
05:12about his concerns
05:15to make this a great nation,
05:17Bill Beck will be one of those
05:19that will be at the head of the line.
05:22Bill Beck's boldest and most controversial mission
05:24was his thwarted attempt,
05:26pillar barrier,
05:27in 1942.
05:29Bill Beck made the terrible,
05:31terrible tactical mistake
05:32of informing the baseball commissioner
05:34that what he planned to do
05:35was buy the Phillies
05:36and hire all players
05:37in the Negro Leagues.
05:39and the commissioner
05:40scotched the sale.
05:41The main problem with the story
05:42is that it never happened.
05:44The time frames are all wrong,
05:46that the money really wasn't there
05:48for Beck to do this.
05:49So this leaves us with a puzzle.
05:51Is this something that Beck really did try,
05:54but there's no trail?
05:55Is this something that Beck may be thought about,
05:59but never really did?
06:01If there is no paper trail,
06:03there is persuasive testimony
06:05that Beck's attempt to buy the Phillies
06:08was not a mere figment
06:09of his fertile imagination.
06:11This got around,
06:13that you hear that Mr. Beck,
06:15Mr. Beck was going to buy the Phillies
06:17and he was going to stock it
06:18with the Negro Leagues baseball team.
06:21And everybody,
06:22oh man, we were ready.
06:23He had it all thought out
06:24that he was going to have
06:25two training camps,
06:26one for the old Phillies
06:28and one for the new Phillies.
06:30And when Hope Day Day
06:32would come around
06:33why he would have the new Phillies
06:35to startle the world,
06:36that one half really robbed Beck
06:41of what would have been
06:42a very, very important place
06:43in American history.
06:48He would have been the man
06:50to, in effect,
06:52break America's virtual barrier.
07:01Bill Beck grew up
07:03in the Chicago suburb
07:04of Hinsdale.
07:05I think they had
07:06a very tempered life.
07:07They had a big staff at home
07:09that took care of them.
07:11Wherever they went,
07:12they often went
07:12in private railroad cars.
07:15William Lewis,
07:17Sr., was a very elegant man.
07:21And he was always referred to
07:23as Mr. Beck,
07:24with everyone that he worked.
07:27Very proper.
07:28And so it was natural,
07:30of course,
07:30that my dad would veer
07:31in the absolute opposite direction.
07:36With Wrigley Field
07:37as his second home,
07:38Beck grew up listening
07:39to the colorful language
07:41of the dugout and locker room
07:42and emulating such stars
07:44as Rover Cleveland Alexander
07:45and Hack Wilson.
07:47Both were heavy bruisers.
07:51When he was underage,
07:52he would go into the speakeasies
07:54for a few drinks
07:55with friends of his
07:56at 15 and 16 and 17.
07:59Supposed to be.
08:00He was very mischievous
08:01as a kid.
08:02Not a troublemaker,
08:04but an agitator.
08:05Bill Beck was born
08:06on the right side
08:08of the tracks,
08:08and as soon as he was capable,
08:10drug himself
08:11to the other side.
08:13Beck's carefree youth
08:15ended abruptly
08:16at the start
08:16of his sophomore year
08:17at Kenyon College in Ohio.
08:19His father had fallen ill
08:21with leukemia.
08:22Beck rushed home
08:23to Hinsdale.
08:25All deaths are tragic,
08:27but this one, uh,
08:29seemed so sudden.
08:32Bill quit college
08:34after that.
08:36So it changed his life.
08:39At 19,
08:41Beck took an office job
08:42with the Cubs.
08:43Two years later,
08:44in 1935,
08:46he married Eleanor Raymond,
08:47who had a wild streak
08:49of her own.
08:50She had left college
08:51to become a circus performer.
08:55For the next five years,
08:57he poured his energies
08:58into the operation
08:59of the Cubs.
09:01He learned a great deal
09:03about the business
09:04because he worked
09:06every aspect of the business.
09:08He learned to count tickets
09:09by sound.
09:10He could hold up
09:11a strip of tickets
09:12and tell you
09:12how many there were.
09:14Bill actually planted
09:15the vines
09:16at Wrigley Field,
09:18which had to be
09:19a goofy idea.
09:20And everyone said,
09:21they'll never grow.
09:22Well, let's try it.
09:24Well, they grew.
09:26At 26,
09:28Beck was promoted
09:28to treasurer of the Cubs.
09:30But his ideas
09:31proved
09:32to be
09:34very friendly.
09:35And in 1941,
09:36Beck swung a deal
09:37to acquire
09:38the financially strapped
09:39Milwaukee Brewers
09:40of the American Association.
09:43And
09:45this wonderful,
09:47careless rapture,
09:48this marvelous palette
09:51to mix colors
09:52and try all the things
09:53that for years
09:54had been festering
09:55and that he'd never
09:56been able to do
09:56under the,
09:57shall we say,
09:57somewhat conservative
09:58stewardship of
10:00the Wrigley Field.
10:02He took over a team
10:03that was about
10:0320 games of the play.
10:05Before you knew it,
10:06the following year,
10:0742,
10:07they were fighting
10:08for the pennant.
10:10Really?
10:10Beck became
10:11completely absorbed
10:12in turning the fortunes
10:14of the franchise.
10:15But long days
10:16at the park,
10:17which stretched
10:18into long nights
10:19courting sports writers,
10:20were causing trouble
10:21in Beck's marriage.
10:24Bill had to work
10:26with the entertainment,
10:28the, uh,
10:31business field,
10:32let's say the real world,
10:34where my mother
10:34was very much
10:36an idealist.
10:38And she didn't approve
10:39necessarily of some
10:40of the stuff
10:40that went on.
10:43With an increasingly
10:44shaky marriage
10:46and the nation
10:46deep into a world war,
10:48Beck joined the Marines
10:50in 1943.
10:51As an anti-aircraft gunner
10:53in the South Pacific,
10:55he suffered an injury
10:56that would only
10:57deepen his commitment
10:58to live each day
10:59to the fullest.
11:01He got too close
11:02to the weapon
11:03and it recoiled.
11:05And the recoil
11:06crushed his right foot.
11:08And Bill developed
11:09what was called
11:09jungle rot.
11:11And his leg
11:12just kept
11:14falling away.
11:15for a man
11:16who was operated
11:17on 37 times,
11:19an amputee,
11:20he didn't discuss
11:24the war at all.
11:25There was never
11:27a day
11:30after,
11:31I always thought,
11:32World War II
11:33that he took
11:34for granted.
11:38So,
11:39I think that
11:40always made him
11:40really go,
11:41I'm okay,
11:42you know,
11:43it's alright.
11:44It's like,
11:45we got this problem
11:46when the gate's
11:48not very good
11:48or I'm not sure
11:50what's going to come
11:50next year,
11:51but that's not like
11:53looking in a
11:54fog.
11:57After 22 months
11:58and a number
11:59of military hospitals,
12:01Beck returned home
12:02to an ultimatum
12:03from his wife.
12:04What?
12:04Baseball or family?
12:07Baseball was the
12:08only thing in the
12:08world for Bill.
12:10And I guess
12:11horses were the
12:12only thing in the
12:13world for her.
12:14They're both
12:14very strong individuals.
12:16I don't,
12:16probably they shouldn't
12:17have gotten married
12:17to begin with.
12:19To save his marriage,
12:20Beck sold the
12:21Brewers in 1945
12:22and moved his wife
12:24and three children
12:25to a guest ranch
12:26near Tucson, Arizona.
12:28The next spring,
12:29an old friend
12:30visited him.
12:31They went to an
12:32exhibition game
12:32and talked baseball.
12:35It just got him
12:36all over again.
12:38By the time we left
12:39that night after the game,
12:41he was determined
12:43to go back
12:43into baseball
12:46and forsake the ranch.
12:49With the marriage
12:50grown cold
12:51and baseball
12:52pulling at his heart,
12:53Beck left his
12:54family
12:54and plunged headlong
12:56into one of the
12:56most spectacular
12:57ownership careers
12:58in baseball history.
13:01Nope.
13:02You could sense
13:03that something
13:04was going to happen
13:05because this guy
13:06was different.
13:07The first thing
13:07he did is open
13:08all the games
13:09to all the
13:09broadcasters free.
13:11So all the states
13:12have broadcast
13:12the games.
13:13This was wartime.
13:14Got nylon stockings
13:16for the women
13:16he gave away.
13:17Gave away flowers
13:18to the women.
13:19He gave away pigs.
13:20He gave away goats.
13:22He gave away chickens.
13:24You'd come in there
13:24on a Friday night
13:25and you'd have
13:2765,000 or more
13:28in the stands
13:29and the next day
13:30you'd be
13:31ladies day
13:31you'd have
13:3360,000 women
13:34out there.
13:35The word was
13:35if you went to
13:36the stadium
13:37often enough
13:37sooner or later
13:38Beck would come by
13:39and sit down
13:40with you
13:40and be talking to you.
13:41And they would
13:42tell him.
13:42They would say
13:43Mr. Beck,
13:44you know,
13:44you've got to do
13:44something about
13:45the beer.
13:46You know,
13:46by the time
13:46we get to the bleachers
13:47it's not cold.
13:48Something like that
13:49something would be done.
13:52Cleveland's a great
13:52industrial town.
13:54Some of the factories
13:55worked around the clock.
13:56Bill used to have
13:57a trunk full of beer
13:58in the back of his car
13:59all the time
14:00and would meet the workers
14:01as they came off
14:02at the 4 o'clock
14:03in the morning shift
14:04and things like that.
14:05Sat around
14:05and talked baseball
14:06with them.
14:07Promoting the Indians
14:08with the passion
14:09of an evangelist
14:10Beck gave hundreds
14:12of speeches a year.
14:13By night
14:14he traveled
14:15with Cleveland's
14:16social luminaries
14:17known as the Jolly Set
14:18by local newspaper columnists.
14:21Once
14:22Beck threw a party
14:23for the anointing
14:24of his first
14:25artificial leg.
14:27And he danced
14:28all night.
14:30And when he took off
14:31that artificial leg
14:33it looked like
14:33a raw hamburger.
14:35I think it set back
14:36its recuperation
14:37for months
14:39and months to come
14:40and I mean
14:41that seriously.
14:42But Bill had
14:44he had to be
14:45the life of the party.
14:46He never gave
14:47into it.
14:48He would always
14:49be affronted
14:50when people
14:50would refer to him
14:51as handicapped.
14:53And was the closest
14:54I saw him
14:55get to a snarl.
14:56He'd say
14:56I'm not handicapped
14:58I'm crippled.
15:00Hmm.
15:01Beck's magical
15:02Cleveland revival
15:03pressed it in 1948
15:05when a record
15:062.6 million fans
15:08jammed the
15:08municipal stadium
15:09to watch the Indians
15:10win the pennant
15:11in a thrilling
15:12three-way race
15:13then beat the Boston Braves
15:15in the World Series.
15:17And I think the players
15:18had great respect for him
15:20and I think there was
15:21something about
15:22winning one
15:22for the Gipper.
15:23I think everybody
15:24wanted to win
15:25for Beck
15:25along with themselves.
15:28As he stood
15:29atop the baseball world
15:30there was no one
15:32to share the glory.
15:33He was almost
15:34completely estranged
15:35from his wife
15:36and young children.
15:38Growing up
15:39I didn't know him.
15:41He just
15:42he wasn't there.
15:43Didn't feel
15:44one way or another.
15:45She wanted to
15:45close the door
15:46and get on with her life
15:47whatever that was
15:48and she felt that
15:50she didn't want
15:50the children
15:51associating with
15:52Bill at all.
15:53That was quite clear.
15:54What?
15:54What?
15:55Beck meanwhile
15:56who is 11 year old
15:57son Will
15:58in the Cleveland
15:59for the last game
16:00of the World Series.
16:02His oldest son
16:03was not interested
16:04in baseball at all.
16:06he would sit in a box
16:08and he'd read a book.
16:10Bill said that
16:10he turned to him
16:11and asked him
16:14why he can be
16:14something you can be
16:15proud of
16:15like a scientist.
16:18You've just won
16:18a world championship.
16:20You've just set
16:20an attendance record.
16:22You've just
16:24seen some of the
16:25most remarkable
16:26athletes ever
16:26assemble on one field
16:27and you've made
16:28more money
16:28than you knew
16:29ever existed
16:29in the world
16:32and you go home
16:35at the very end
16:37when you can
16:38no longer
16:39find a place
16:40to go
16:40and when you
16:41get home
16:42and there's
16:43virtually no furniture
16:44but there is
16:46a music box
16:47you know
16:48and you put
16:48Sinatra on the box
16:49and you watch
16:50the sun come up
16:51by yourself
16:53everything pales.
16:58Terrible.
17:02A year later
17:03Beck met
17:03Mary Frances Ackerman
17:05a 29 year old
17:06press agent
17:07for the Ice Capades
17:08Beck who was 35
17:09proposed twice
17:11that first week
17:12they would marry
17:13the next spring.
17:15I've never seen
17:15love like I saw
17:16with Mary Frances
17:17Beck.
17:18They could walk
17:19into a room
17:20and he'd be one
17:20and she'd be the other
17:21and you could see
17:22sparks flying
17:22and they were
17:23in their 70s
17:2460s and 70s
17:25it was the
17:26darndest love affair
17:27I've ever seen.
17:28I remember one day
17:29my dad planted
17:31my mom's initials
17:32in daffodils
17:33and they came up
17:34in the spring
17:34and there it was
17:35MSV right across
17:37the front lawn.
17:38The fact that
17:39someone is loved
17:41so deeply
17:42so unquestionably
17:44allows you to do
17:45all sorts of
17:46wonderful things
17:46without wondering
17:48was I too loud?
17:50Was this too odd?
17:51It didn't matter
17:52because
17:52Mary Frances
17:54thought it was
17:54okay.
17:55In 1949
17:56Beck sold
17:58the Indians
17:58saying only
18:00that he needed
18:00another challenge.
18:02Privately however
18:03there was another
18:04reason.
18:05I wondered why
18:06he sold
18:07the Cleveland Indians
18:08and I asked
18:10and Bill
18:11said
18:12I sold
18:13the Cleveland Indians
18:14because I needed
18:15the money
18:16to pay
18:16for my divorce.
18:18Just as suddenly
18:20as he had appeared
18:21Beck left Cleveland
18:22at the end of 1949
18:23with four rollicking
18:25seasons in his wake.
18:30At least he got
18:31a World Series.
18:32Once in a while
18:32he'd look at you
18:33in this way
18:34and you knew
18:35it was coming
18:36and then you'd
18:37hear the music
18:37and you'd look around
18:39to see if all the
18:40rats were heading
18:41to Hamlin
18:41and he had you.
18:46In 1951
18:47Bill Beck
18:48purchased his
18:49third baseball team
18:50the World
18:51St. Louis Browns
18:52with attendance
18:53at a dismal level
18:55Beck promised
18:56a surprise
18:57in an upcoming
18:58doubleheader
18:58against the Tigers.
18:59The Terry Unveiled
19:01that Sunday afternoon
19:02would become
19:03his ultimate gag
19:05unforgettable
19:06and to some
19:07unforgivable.
19:09So the first thing
19:10we noticed
19:11we bought a scorecard
19:12and we noticed
19:13a number one-eighth
19:16Goodell
19:16in the scorecard.
19:17And just before the game
19:18here comes this
19:18big cardboard cake
19:20you know
19:21everybody
19:21what's going on
19:23is Eddie Goodell
19:24pops up
19:24out of the cage
19:26you know
19:26like a stag party
19:29one of them
19:30is Eddie Goodell.
19:31And the funny thing
19:32about his jumping
19:33out of the cake
19:34is that everybody
19:35thought
19:35that this
19:37was Bill Beck's
19:38big surprise.
19:40So the reporters
19:41are saying to Beck
19:42this is nothing
19:43what is this
19:45a midget
19:45jumps out of the cake
19:46this is your big surprise?
19:47then
19:49in the first inning
19:50of the second game
19:51I sat down
19:53That midget came up to bat
19:57I noticed
19:58that
19:59there was a midget there
20:00and the PA announcer
20:02was told by Beck
20:03to say
20:03ladies and gentlemen
20:04batting for Frank Saucier
20:06number one-eighth
20:09Goodell
20:10who were laughing so hard
20:11nobody could say anything
20:12I mean you can't
20:13you can't believe it
20:14little teeny guy
20:15just
20:15just
20:16baby steps up
20:18on deck circle
20:19and then swinging
20:20those three little bats
20:21we all stood up
20:22on top of the dugout
20:23our team
20:23the Brown players
20:25all stood up
20:26on top of the dugout
20:28and then there was
20:29silence
20:30Ed Hurley
20:31the big
20:31Irish
20:32Boston Irish
20:33umpire
20:34was at home plate
20:34he looked straight ahead
20:37when he
20:38with his right hand
20:39Beck and
20:40Zach Taylor
20:41the Browns manager
20:42who came out
20:43of the third base dugout
20:45Zach had a contract
20:46in his back pocket
20:48and he showed it
20:48to the umpire
20:49Beck had been smart enough
20:51to file a contract
20:52with the league office
20:54late on a Friday afternoon
20:56knowing that the office
20:57would be closed
20:58on Saturday and Sunday
20:59and nobody would be
21:00in the office
21:01to review this contract
21:02Hurley looked at it
21:03and he paused
21:04when I was sitting
21:04in the push box
21:05I said
21:05oh Ed don't be
21:07a stuffed shirt
21:08don't be a stuffed shirt
21:09honey he said
21:12pitch
21:13Bob came through
21:15the first pitch
21:16and it was over
21:16Eddie's head
21:17and the second one
21:18was over it
21:19and the third one
21:20was over it
21:20Kane is laughing so hard
21:22that he's practically
21:23falling off the mound
21:25with each pitch
21:25and after the
21:27fourth ball
21:28Eddie
21:29tossed his bat aside
21:31and trotted down
21:33toward
21:33first base
21:35about a third
21:36of the way down
21:37he stopped
21:38took his hat off
21:39and bowed
21:40to the crowd
21:41over on the first base side
21:43and another
21:44two thirds of the way down
21:46he stopped
21:46bowed again
21:47to the crowd
21:48and then they took him out
21:50and put a runner in for him
21:51and they had a guy on first
21:52and nobody out
21:53I said
21:55Eddie
21:56you kind of hammed it up
21:58going down to first base
21:59didn't you
22:00he said
22:01man I felt like
22:03Babe Root
22:04it always forgot
22:06because
22:06we didn't
22:07we didn't score
22:08and we didn't win
22:10immediately Major League Baseball
22:11tried to
22:13expunge him
22:14from the record book
22:14and for one year
22:15in the official Major League
22:17record book
22:17Eddie Udall's name
22:18is not sure what
22:18the next meeting
22:22midgets were
22:23banned for life
22:24you know I don't think
22:25that baseball is such
22:26a grim serious thing
22:27sure I don't want to
22:28interfere with the game
22:29but I do want everyone
22:30who comes out the ballpark
22:31to have fun
22:31and look
22:31let's face it
22:33often the ball game
22:34is not the most exciting
22:35thing that ever has happened
22:41if it made him laugh
22:43and it made
22:44the people
22:45with whom he was
22:45associated laugh
22:46he usually went with it
22:48there was this gigantic
22:49hot dog
22:50that I don't know
22:51how many people
22:52had to carry
22:52they walked around
22:55people take bites
22:56off of
22:56as it went around
22:57the park
22:57God would win
22:58a hundred pound
22:59cake of ice
23:00well
23:00a hundred pound
23:01cake of ice
23:02from St. Louis
23:03on a summer night
23:03and deliver it
23:04to your seat
23:05for example
23:06if you hand someone
23:07a cupcake
23:09when they come
23:09in the ballpark
23:10you know
23:11they look at it
23:12and they go
23:12thanks
23:13this is nice
23:14but if you hand
23:15someone
23:15ten thousand cupcakes
23:17well if they're greedy
23:19they're trying
23:19to keep them all
23:20and if they're generous
23:21they're giving them away
23:22and it's kind of
23:23like Gandhi-esque
23:24it works on another level
23:26just five days
23:28after Eddie Goodell's
23:29debut
23:29Beck's irreverence
23:31continues
23:32with a gimmick
23:32called
23:33Grandstand Manager's Day
23:35fans
23:36made all field
23:37decisions
23:37while manager
23:38Zach Taylor
23:39sat in a rocking chair
23:41the Browns won
23:42five to three
23:43to break a four game
23:44losing streak
23:45Beck always said
23:47that his promotions
23:48never interfered
23:49with the game
23:50but some
23:51obviously did
23:53you know
23:54there was always
23:54parades
23:55there was always
23:56something going on
23:57before the game
23:57a lot of times
23:58infield was cancelled
23:59a lot of times
23:59batting practice
24:00was cancelled
24:01it was like
24:02three rings
24:02because
24:02you know
24:03we were the third
24:04act to go on
24:06elephants
24:07clowns
24:07all over
24:08on the field
24:09and one of the
24:10elephants
24:10laid one
24:11right in front
24:12of the dugout
24:12I didn't like it
24:13I thought
24:13there was a lot
24:15of baloney
24:15of course
24:17he upstaged
24:17the game
24:17he thought
24:18he had to
24:19because the game
24:20itself
24:20wasn't enough
24:21to bring
24:22everyone in
24:22by repeatedly
24:24committing
24:24baseball
24:25heresy
24:29people
24:30no
24:30no
24:31your team
24:32was just
24:32terrible
24:33and he has
24:34to
24:34he has
24:35to eat
24:35that
24:35nobody
24:36wants to
24:37come to
24:37see the
24:37St. Louis
24:38Browns
24:39especially
24:39when the
24:40Cardinals
24:40are in
24:41the same
24:42ballpark
24:48himself
24:48apart
24:49from many
24:49owners
24:50yet they
24:51seemed
24:51agreeable
24:52when he
24:52sought
24:53their
24:53approval
24:53to move
24:54his
24:54financially
24:55strapped
24:55Browns
24:56to another
24:56city
24:58in Los Angeles
24:59Bill Veck
24:59owner of
25:00the St. Louis
25:00Browns
25:01has been
25:01pacing the
25:02floor
25:02he has
25:03permission
25:03from other
25:03major league
25:04club owners
25:05to move
25:05his
25:05franchise
25:07as a
25:08matter
25:08of fact
25:08I had
25:09bought
25:09a house
25:09already
25:10in Baltimore
25:11we had
25:12the plane
25:13tickets
25:14tomorrow
25:14we were
25:15going to
25:15be
25:15in
25:15Baltimore
25:16once
25:17the doors
25:18closed
25:18the
25:19owners
25:19council
25:20turned
25:20on
25:20Beck
25:21betraying
25:21him
25:22with a
25:226-2
25:23vote
25:23against
25:24the
25:24move
25:25they're
25:26punishing
25:26him
25:26now
25:26they're
25:27punishing
25:27him
25:27for
25:27the
25:27midget
25:27maybe
25:28for
25:28the
25:28black
25:28team
25:29punishing
25:29for
25:30fans
25:30and
25:30all
25:31these
25:31stunts
25:32they finally
25:32did
25:32at the
25:33end
25:34of the
25:341953
25:35season
25:35the
25:36other
25:36owners
25:37said
25:37we
25:37will
25:38allow
25:38the
25:39Browns
25:39to
25:40move
25:40to
25:40Baltimore
25:41as
25:41long as
25:42they're
25:42owned
25:42by
25:43somebody
25:43who
25:43is
25:43not
25:44Bill
25:44Beck
25:45are
25:45you
25:46serious
25:54in
25:551959
25:56after
25:56five
25:57seasons
25:57in the
25:58doghouse
25:58Bill
25:59Beck's
25:59investment
26:00syndicate
26:00stepped
26:01into a
26:04White Sox
26:10possession
26:27Beck's
26:28tenure
26:28with
26:28the
26:29White Sox
26:29was
26:30short
26:30sweet
26:31and brilliant winning the first pennant since the infamous 1919 black socks released four decades
26:38of angst on the south side but physically that began to show the wear of his non-stop lifestyle
26:45and he'd go into these coughing spells that you think he'd fall down and die right there
26:50but he'd recover and then he'd laugh and light up another cigarette he had just tremendous blackout
26:55and smoking three and a half packs of cigarettes a day and and living on four three hours sleep
27:01it wasn't conducive to seeing you know the first man on the moon
27:10in june of 1961 beck sold the white socks and began to put his personal affairs in order
27:18he had been diagnosed with a brain tumor that was malignant and uh there was very little hope
27:27that he could survive it
27:29that mary frances was pregnant and it was so tragic that uh we're talking about his death
27:48he threw pots made pottery and collected indian artifacts and spent a lot of time in the garden
27:57as months went by beck's diagnosis changed instead of a malignant tumor beck suffered from a chronic
28:05concussion brought on by his violent smokers cough with rest and more time outdoors beck's vast store
28:12of energy returned when you have six youngsters you have uh there's actually no lack of things to do
28:22the romans said that julius caesar could do seven things at once uh bill beck could do about nine
28:27things at once when you'd arrive the television was on he'd be talking to one of his children he'd be
28:34had two books out that he was reading he'd be drinking beer and then he'd be saying we have
28:39to go to the airport i have a pet armadillo coming for my kids then just interesting characters would
28:45wander in there'd be an author here and somebody who did something else there and a tv personality
28:50would stop by and dinner there was never less than 12 or 15 around the table
28:57we weren't the cleavers and we didn't ever want to be if i needed to talk to him about something
29:05i'd wait till he'd get into bed and put the ball game on and put his leg down next to
29:10him and i'd go
29:11in and i'd get the leg and i'd stick it in the corner so he couldn't get at it and
29:14i'd go we need to talk
29:16beck made a living in the 1960s largely by being bill beck he told tales and named names on radio
29:24tv and in print his book beck as in wreck began as the last memoir of a dying man and
29:32was an instant
29:33classic i think bill's greatest legacy will always be it is so funny and so intense so well and gives
29:46you such a great glimpse of some place we'd never go in any sports literature which is inside the
29:52the ownership councils from his white tower perch beck fired volley after volley at his former
29:59peers styling himself as the critical conscience the exiled prophet of the game and if the time comes
30:06when baseball becomes dependent on television then if the ratings fall and they cancel the show based
30:14by the entire economy shot eventually when the playing talent and the cities warrant it possibly
30:20expand those two 10 club leagues into 12 club leagues and divide them into two divisions so
30:26that you would have a north to south and east and west and you would again play interleague play
30:30he had much better ideas on how to handle expansion and how to speed up the game and how to
30:35keep
30:35them try to keep the minor league alive all of this was ignored in 1970 that who had long thought
30:42the
30:42reserve clause in baseball should be phased out testified on behalf of kurt flood in his suit against major league
30:49baseball bill veck thought that free agency would be great for baseball but more do you have to know
31:00how much more heretical can you be as an owner than that people will forever underestimate the damage
31:08that that did you know if anybody believes that because he sent a midget up in 51 that that's what
31:14really damaged him with other owners they're crazy but that testifying on behalf of flood with the
31:22nails in the coffin by the end of the 1960s beck was completely alienated from baseball's hierarchy
31:30for five years the owners had rebuffed his efforts to buy the washington senators seeking a secure income
31:37in 1969 he accepted the presidency of suffolk downs a racetrack near boston two years later the venture
31:45ended in financial chaos leaving back unemployed and so very far away from the game he loved
31:57in 1975 hovering near bankruptcy all owners meetings in december of 1975 his proposal to buy the white
32:06socks had already been rejected from the basis that he was underfinanced now he was back with the
32:12additional cash the owners had demanded after uh veck left the room they took a vote and they voted him
32:21down john fetzer the owner of the tigers said look i don't like the son of a bitch any more
32:25than you guys
32:26do but he did what we asked him to and we've got to revote just 13 days after veck acquired
32:36the socks
32:37his chances of success were cut dramatically when the andy messersmith decision created free agency
32:44what beck had advocated had arrived at a most inopportune time missed some draft choices because
32:52of money um i learned how to operate i think bill taught me how to operate without money
32:57even he was called the bargain basement man he would get players that people thought was hurt and
33:06that he would rehabilitate them bill allowed 25 quote injured players to come to spring training hoping
33:13he could find you know needle in a haystack and he found two of us uh he found me he
33:17found your
33:17sotterholm sotterholm had 25 home runs i won 15 games and led his staff in victories he came up with
33:23those guys who could hit the ball out of the park what he called rent a player he'd sign a
33:28guy for a
33:29year knowing that the guy was going to leave but if he had three or four of them who could
33:33be part of
33:33his new clear see he had success that's mercenary sluggers and resurrected castoffs gave him one last
33:43glorious summer
33:56they were hitting so many home runs and you know that song they do that na na na crap
34:00they na na na'd us out of town it was most fun i'd ever have a major league now except
34:06this comment in
34:07baseball may have been a little advanced for bill
34:13in 1979 sun mike's disco demolition night turned into a melee causing the cancellation of game
34:21two of a double header the umpire chief and the president of the league has declared that the
34:28playing conditions on the field are not will not turn into them to play the second ball game
34:35he had everything that bill beck would want in a baseball game a solid a good double header should
34:45have been a fun night and yet he saw his field destroyed i remember the policeman talking to him
34:53and he was just in a chair smoking a cigarette and just slumped he just looked like all the
34:59the whole weight of the world was on the ship that night as beck crawled into bed his wife mary
35:07frances
35:07remarked honey i think you just got the midget off your back by 1980 with player salaries spiraling
35:16and corporate ownership encroaching beck was financially played out it was sad because uh bill
35:24back had done so much for the game but um it was clear that time had passed in line the
35:29private
35:30story is that i think bill was done and he was sick and he was struggling it was very hard
35:36for google
35:36to make that deal he sells and says goodbye to his wife and as he walked out of the sears
35:41town
35:42there were cab drivers honking and yelling hey bill what you gonna do next you know what he was gonna
35:48do
35:48next was go have lunch with his wife mary frances offended by remarks of the new owners beck withdrew
35:59from comiskey park and returned to the ballpark he called home as a boy some 50 years earlier
36:06he'll spend a lot of summer afternoons sitting in the bleachers at wrigley field the centerfield bleachers
36:13sitting in just shorts saturating himself with baby oils which he thought would block the sun
36:18and buying round after round of beer for everybody who was around him and just having a hell of a
36:23good
36:24time in 1984 beck's oldest son will die at 48 of lung cancer i think he felt really helpless
36:46the physical problems beck had battled for four decades began to claim him a tumor took a piece
36:54of his lung and paralysis numbed his hands he struggled with deafness his legs continued to
37:01deteriorate i knew he was going to die soon um his eyes were as light lightest of light blues like
37:16the
37:16blue on maps for water and i thought he's tired jesus time he said that he wasn't scared of dying
37:27but
37:27what really made him sad was that he wouldn't be able to see mary frances anymore as he was waiting
37:33for the ambulance he wrote on the back of an envelope how he loved her
37:43he said tell the kids it's been great
37:53it was great
38:01somewhere i know that bill is happy very very pleased and not to mention astounded
38:12it amazes me today that bill veck is in the hall of fame because if the hall of fame is
38:17such an
38:17establishment thing for baseball and bill was so anti-establishment
38:22well if they didn't put bill in the baseball hall of fame i might as well close it down
38:27gee whiz who was baseball for 30 40 50 years who was the spirit of the game off the feet
38:36you can't go to any major league uh city now and pick up the paper in a three-game series
38:41and i know
38:42it's either ball day or bad day or free program day or a hot dog for 10 cent day that
38:46was all that
38:47beck started all of that almost every ballpark now when you hit a home run what do they do they
38:51set
38:51off fireworks oh i think he'd love i think he'd love um the pool in arizona the beach in tampa
38:58bay
39:00i can't think of one time out of hundreds and thousands probably that i was with him that i
39:05didn't have a good time it wasn't good so the most lasting impression is we should all find people in
39:14our lives like phil veck who can give us a good time who can challenge us and who can make
39:20us stand
39:20up and be the best of who we are i would tell every baseball fan who ever lived everybody who
39:28has ever
39:28denied the right to participate as dovey had been until he signed everybody who believed in fair play
39:35and everybody who could see the beauty of the game of baseball i would tell them who is phil veck
39:41he was
39:52in the dugouts and locker rooms is secure he was a rarity among owners one who spoke to his players
40:00from ground level who bought you a new suit for hitting a game-winning homer who gave bonuses to
40:06slumping hitters perhaps one of his former players eric sadderholm put it best when he said he was very
40:12uncomfortable if you called him mr beck he would say please call me bill pre-spn classic sports century
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