Bill Veeck: 1914-1986

Bill Veeck: 1914-1986

In his later years, Bill Veeck had second thoughts about his most famous stunt, sending a midget up to the plate in a major league game. "Were it in my power to turn back the clock, I'd never send a midget to bat," he declared two decades after the fact. "No, I'd use nine of the little fellows, including the designated hitter."

One of them was enough to startle the staid world of baseball and set Veeck's fellow owners fuming. As owner of the St. Louis Browns, Veeck (as in wreck) hired 3-ft. 7-in. Eddie Gaedel and trained him to crouch...

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