After his success in Cleveland, it was inevitable that Veeck would find his way back into Major League ownership. It was also inevitable that his ticket back in would be another fire sale; in this case, the sad-sack St. Louis Browns, the second team in a one-team town.
The Browns were truly awful (c’mon, their logo was a BROWN-armoured knight on a BROWN charger) from all perspectives, complicated by the fact that they were landlords for the much-more-successful Cardinals; Branch Rickey had turned his “Gas House Gang” Cards of the 30’s into a dynasty before leaving for Brooklyn in 1942. The Browns were in such bad straits, the previous owner had tried to move the team to Los Angeles in 1941, but the lack of reliable commercial air travel made west coast road trips impossible for the rest of the league.
Veeck started by “de-Cardinalizing” Sportsmen’s Park – every nook and cranny had some Browns promotional piece or tribute to a former Browns player. He then started hiring former Cards to work for his club; Rogers Hornsby to manage the team, and Dizzy Dean as its radio voice (Dean, incidentally, had a difficult time transitioning to television when that innovation came along – the game Diz called was invariably more exciting than what was actually happening on the field!).
The Grandstand Managers have their say…
The Browns’ underdog status kicked Veeck’s promotional acumen into high gear. He signed 3-foot-seven inch Eddie Gaedel to a player’s contract in 1951. Eddie had one pinch-hit plate appearance, and was walked on four pitches – all high. He staged “Grandstand Manager’s Night”, in which fans were given “YES” or “NO” cue cards to hold up in response to strategy cards held up by Browns clubbies; “BUNT”, “STEAL”, “HIT & RUN”, etc. The fans won that game 5-3. And he brought back Satchel Paige, who was now 45, for another, less successful, fling.
For a time, Veeck’s strategy seemed to be working, especially when Cards owner Fred Saigh was convicted of tax fraud and forced to sell the team (remember when there were actual penalties for rich people who avoided paying tax?) The Cardinals were on the verge of moving to Houston when August Anheuser “Gussie” Busch, Jr., whose family owned the Anheuser-Busch (Budweiser) brewing empire, stepped in and bought the team to keep the Cards in St. Louis.
Veeck knew he was licked. He sold Sportsmen’s Park to Anheuser-Busch to cover his existing debtload and looked for a new city for his team. The fans saw him as a carpetbagger and stayed away in droves and the other owners, fed up with what they saw as his “bush league” promotional antics, blocked the team moving anywhere unless Veeck sold his interest. Eventually, the team was sold to lawyer Clarence Miles, who moved them to Baltimore. There, of course, they became the Orioles.
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