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On November 1, 1946 — Surgeons amputate the right foot of Cleveland Indians owner Bill Veeck. Two years before, the colorful executive had suffered a serious injury to his leg in the South Pacific during World War II.
May 3, 2019 · He hobbled on a wooden leg—the result of a World War II wound—but loved to dance exuberantly. He refused to wear ties and preferred a cheap seat in the bleachers, even when he owned the stadium. He was baseball’s resident intellectual and most gleefully vulgar self-promoter.
Over the course of his life he had 36 operations on the leg. [3] He had a series of wooden legs and, as an inveterate smoker, cut holes in them to use as ashtrays. Veeck also used the wooden leg in props such as a recreation of iconic Revolutionary War soldiers during the Bicentennial year of 1976.
Veeck loved the game—both the one on the field and the hardball played outside the lines by baseball commissioners and his fellow owners. He baited and berated the men in power. They hated him in return, and at critical junctures tried to oust him from the game, but he kept coming back.
Marine service and the amputation of his right leg as the aftermath of the recoil of an anti-aircraft gun preceded his first big-league ownership ac-quisition: the Cleveland Indians. Veeck was able to put his own philosophy of breaking baseball’s color line into effect. Branch Rickey had begun his own integration
After a stint in the Marines in World War II, during which he lost his right leg, Veeck sought a path into the major leagues. Devising a debenture-stock group that enabled financial backers to put the majority of their money into loans for the team, Veeck was able to become a minority owner of the Cleveland Indians for $268,000 in 1946.
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Nov 29, 2012 · But he insisted on being sent to the front lines, where an infection ultimately cost him his right leg below the knee. Veeck had eight separate amputations on his leg, and was in acute pain throughout his life. He never complained, and even carved an opening in his wooden leg for use as an ash tray.
