WHAT WOULD BILL VEECK DO?

WHAT WOULD BILL VEECK DO? For non-baseball fans, Bill Veeck was the legendary owner of the Chicago White Sox. He is best known for sending a midget to bat in a major league game (he of course drew a walk), but he also invented the exploding scoreboard, which sent off fireworks whenever the White Sox hit a home run. In an important game in the American league playoffs this weekend, a swarm of midges surrounded and bit the Yankee rookie pitcher, Joba Chamberlain (if you non-baseball fans know only a few names of baseball players, “Joba Chamberlain” will stand you in good stead for the next few years). Joba was rattled and threw a crucial wild pitch. The surprising thing is that the umpires did not stop play and do something about the bugs. Many years ago, Hoyt Wilhelm was surrounded by gnats in a game at the White Sox home park. Even though Wilhelm pitched for the visiting team, the game was stopped and the professional fire works experts for the White Sox set off an explosion at the pitcher’s mound. The gnats dispersed and the game continued.