[Veeck: A Man For Any Season raw #13]

Raw footage of Bill Veeck in the bleachers at Wrigley Field shot for "Veeck: A Man for Any Season." Veeck tells the story of constructing the bleachers and the scoreboard, and installing the ivy in Wrigley Field.

00:00Copy video clip URL Color bars and tone.

00:54Copy video clip URL Opening shot of Wrigley Field from the bleachers, with close up shots of groundskeepers maintaining the infield near third base. This is followed by other crews working to maintain the ball park including working in the stands, maintaining the ivy in the outfield.

05:18Copy video clip URL Cut to Veeck in the bleachers, looking up at the scoreboard. He reminisces about the construction of the bleachers and the proposal to replace the Wrigley Field scoreboard. Veeck admits that both he and Wrigley were in favor of replacing the scoreboard to make it mechanical. He talks about how he went over to the shop where the man and his son were trying to put the scoreboard together and that they couldn’t figure it out. He talked about how he “borrowed” some electricians and he and the grounds crew put the scoreboard together for 48 hours straight, finishing it 15 minutes before the opening day game began. “He calls it absolutely perfect for day baseball” and thinks it’s remarkable that it has held up for 50 years in the elements.

11:45Copy video clip URL Veeck recalls the history of advertising in Wrigley Field, calling it remarkable that Wrigley Field was not inundated with advertising because Wrigley was one of the foremost proponents of advertising in the country.

13:58Copy video clip URL Veeck goes on to tell about how planting the ivy along the outfield wall in Wrigley Field was his off-handed suggestion in order to protect the players in the outfield from the brick wall. He speaks about how Wrigley used the phrase “Beautiful Wrigley Field” as a marketing tool. He goes back to talk about how he physically got the ivy on the wall instantaneously as Wrigley wanted. Veeck reports that they put strands of copper wire along the fence to hang bittersweet and ivy along the wires, and called it the “only time that Wrigley Field was lighted” because they strung lights in the bleachers.

18:30Copy video clip URL End of tape.