Even William Sr.'s story, usually lost in the hype surrounding Bill's revolutionary promotions, was pretty interesting.
In the Nineteen Teens, Veeck was an ink-stained wreck writing sports for the Chicago American at about age 40, when he wrote a series of columns advising how the Cubs should run their team, when chewing gum magnate William M. Wrigley somewhat unexpectedly found himself in majority control of the franchise.
In what was fairly common practice at the time, Veeck's columns were written under the American's staff pseudonym of "Bill Bailey," but Wrigley was impressed that most of his suggested moves for the team were level-headed and realistic, as opposed to the customary crazy pie-in-the-sky solutions suggested and demanded by fans and media (in 1917 much the same as 2023).
Due to financial setbacks for previous majority partner Charles Weeghman, seeking someone with more baseball expertise to run the show, Wrigley made Veeck a vice-president in 1917 and then a couple seasons later, team president with nearly full authority over baseball operations.
During his tenure running the team (1917-1933) Veeck had a rather inconspicuous public image, much in contrast to his flamboyant son (and later, grandson).
However, according to Bill's later books, when William Sr. developed intestinal cancer in late 1933, was in declining condition and could not digest normal food and drink, in his final days several cases of prize champagne (then restricted by Prohibition) were delivered to Veeck on the orders of Wrigley Field customer and acquaintance Al Capone.
