When Bill Veeck Restarted The 1949 Season

Was it too late?

When Bill Veeck Restarted The 1949 Season

There really was never another owner quite like Bill Veeck.

In 1949, the Cleveland Indians, defending world champions, were off to a slow start to the season. Cleveland lost 17 of its first 29 games, finding itself among the tailenders early on.

From The Plain Dealer, May 27, 1949, pages 1 and 25

All this losing prompted Veeck to do the only thing he could do. Bill Veeck decided to simply start the season over, starting with the home game on May 27th.

From The Plain Dealer, May 27, 1949, page 25

And, of course, the local press played along.

From The Plain Dealer, May 28, 1949, page 1

Veeck’s stunt wasn’t just making a formal declaration that the season was starting over again, by the way. Bill Veeck went to lengths that are unheard of today, including importing home plate from Comiskey Park in honor of a doubleheader shutout that Cleveland had perpetrated against the White Sox in Chicago earlier in the year:

From The Plain Dealer, May 28, 1949, page 1

This really was a different time for baseball — a time when a late May home game for a 7th place team resulted in multiple front page articles and a banner front page headline in the local newspaper. That’s the sort of impact Veeck had over the press.

And the second opening day had everything — including the Mayor throwing out the first pitch.

From The Plain Dealer, May 28, 1949, page 14

While some of Veeck’s antics and innovations are still felt today (it seems like there’s another giveaway or special event every single game), nobody has ever quite been able to capture the local press and the attention of local fans quite like he could.

The 1949 Indians never really recaptured that pennant winning spirit of 1948. They’re doing well in my replay, though — and they just might upset the apple cart in the end.