Veeck and Joe Engel were contemporaries in the minors and apparently Veeck thought very highly of Engel, so there is some connection. The scramble's rise actually overlaps with Veeck's time out of baseball, and by the time he came back in 1976, it was on its way out. It may have been too "pedestrian for him," in any case. Veeck's tastes always leaned more into the avant garde. Please report back on your findings!
Everybody loves free stuff… no doubt about it. Maybe an alternative would be free food (2 hot dogs maybe) or maybe reducing ticket prices so a family can afford a game.
That's why the Indians did Family Night in 1974. Although tickets back then were so affordable it's hard to imagine making them cheaper still did much to get people's attention. I'm not sure which teams do a "Family Night" promotion today but I suspect letting 75% of a family of four pay half-price would do very well.
This was news to me, Paul. Great piece! I remember Harry Caray suggesting, over the years, that he and Norm Cash should go into business, perhaps as a check-cashing store, named, you guessed it, “Cash & Caray.”
Norm Cash really messed up my search strategies for this piece. I was surprised how often he apparently "scrambled" in his career. "Scrambled" is a really good verb, I will say.
Please confirm that “Wells Twombley” is real and not a character you created to write like Antonin Scalia. I kind of see Scalia’s “jiggery pokery” and Twombley’s “bombardment of ornate boz-woz” as interchangeable.
He's real! And he was a bit more literary-minded than some of his contemporaries, so I always perk up when I see him. Some of it is too weird to use but with this one he was dead-on. But inventing an old sportswriter and giving him invented quotes is a really good idea...
Paul, I love your stories that take place in the early seventies. A lot of cultural references. Always good for a “hot pants night.” I haven’t thought of Dreamsicles in ages; they were a favorite. I listen to the AI voice read your newsletter and I get amused by the pronunciations. However, I know that Bowie Kuhn was actually pronounce BOOEY KYOON because I was always hearing his name in the news. I saw on that flyer a night for Willie and the Giants. Was that Willie Mays or Willie Stargell? Didn’t they both play around that time, or am I off? Great issue today; I missed you last week.
Thanks so much, Meg, I really love to hear that. Monday's without a new story are less fun for me too.
I have never listened to the AI voice--I think it would probably freak me out, especially with some of the pronunciations, but I know it's a good tool for some folks. And you know how to pronounce most of them in your head.
The "Willie" is a reference to the great Mays, but in 1971 Mays and Willie McCovey were still playing together on the Giants. If it were me I would have made a reference to "The Willies".
I thought for sure this was going to be a Bill Veeck story. Never heard of this before, Paul. Great stuff! Now I’m hoping to find some video.
Veeck and Joe Engel were contemporaries in the minors and apparently Veeck thought very highly of Engel, so there is some connection. The scramble's rise actually overlaps with Veeck's time out of baseball, and by the time he came back in 1976, it was on its way out. It may have been too "pedestrian for him," in any case. Veeck's tastes always leaned more into the avant garde. Please report back on your findings!
Everybody loves free stuff… no doubt about it. Maybe an alternative would be free food (2 hot dogs maybe) or maybe reducing ticket prices so a family can afford a game.
That's why the Indians did Family Night in 1974. Although tickets back then were so affordable it's hard to imagine making them cheaper still did much to get people's attention. I'm not sure which teams do a "Family Night" promotion today but I suspect letting 75% of a family of four pay half-price would do very well.
This was news to me, Paul. Great piece! I remember Harry Caray suggesting, over the years, that he and Norm Cash should go into business, perhaps as a check-cashing store, named, you guessed it, “Cash & Caray.”
Norm Cash really messed up my search strategies for this piece. I was surprised how often he apparently "scrambled" in his career. "Scrambled" is a really good verb, I will say.
I agree, Paul - scrambled it is. . .
Please confirm that “Wells Twombley” is real and not a character you created to write like Antonin Scalia. I kind of see Scalia’s “jiggery pokery” and Twombley’s “bombardment of ornate boz-woz” as interchangeable.
He's real! And he was a bit more literary-minded than some of his contemporaries, so I always perk up when I see him. Some of it is too weird to use but with this one he was dead-on. But inventing an old sportswriter and giving him invented quotes is a really good idea...
Paul, I love your stories that take place in the early seventies. A lot of cultural references. Always good for a “hot pants night.” I haven’t thought of Dreamsicles in ages; they were a favorite. I listen to the AI voice read your newsletter and I get amused by the pronunciations. However, I know that Bowie Kuhn was actually pronounce BOOEY KYOON because I was always hearing his name in the news. I saw on that flyer a night for Willie and the Giants. Was that Willie Mays or Willie Stargell? Didn’t they both play around that time, or am I off? Great issue today; I missed you last week.
Thanks so much, Meg, I really love to hear that. Monday's without a new story are less fun for me too.
I have never listened to the AI voice--I think it would probably freak me out, especially with some of the pronunciations, but I know it's a good tool for some folks. And you know how to pronounce most of them in your head.
The "Willie" is a reference to the great Mays, but in 1971 Mays and Willie McCovey were still playing together on the Giants. If it were me I would have made a reference to "The Willies".