Sport: Lefty Among the Righties

Stalwarts have hunted the charging lion, deep in the jungle veldt.

Brave men have stood to the tiger's rush seeking his costly pelt.

Hunters have tackled the elephant, never a job for clowns.

This world is packed with its daring deeds—but Veeck has purchased the Browns.

So wrote Grantland Rice in 1951, when Promoter Bill Veeck bought the hapless St. Louis Browns, a team that had crept out of the American League's second division only eleven times in 47 years. "Many critics were surprised to know the Browns could be bought," added John Lardner, "because they...