A masterful biography of one of most influential, sharp-witted, and often zany figures in baseball history, whose drive and imagination helped transform the game and the country. As owner of the minor league Milwaukee Brewers, and then the Cleveland Indians, the St. Louis Browns, and the Chicago White Sox-twice-Veeck truly changed the face of baseball. Praise for Bill Veeck : " Bill Veeck incorporates the picaresque anecdotes and populist charm of Veeck's memoirs into a narrative marked by Mr. Dickson's broad knowledge and fluid authority. The result is a biography that newcomers to the Veeck legend are likely to find immensely appealing, but one that also makes him new again for those who have already savored the baseball showman's own episodic volumes."- The Wall Street Journal “Veeck was a one of a kind whose impact reached beyond the ballpark, into the very fiber of 20th-century America. Dickson has captured it all in entertaining fashion.” ― James Bailey, Baseball America “Paul Dickson's excellent biography Bill Veeck: Baseball's Greatest Maverick is among the few great biographies set in sports. Beyond that it is the story of a singular fellow whose energy, determination, wit, and powerful commitment to fairness spiced with an unquenchable sense of the absurd enabled him to live an exceptionally full and passionate life.” ― Bill Littlefield, The Boston Globe “In this crisply written, admiring but never fawning chronicle, Dickson makes a strong case for Veeck as the most influential baseball executive who ever lived. He was certainly the most entertaining.” ― Marc Mohan, The Portland Oregonian “One outstanding question hangs over Paul Dickson's new biography, Bill Veeck, Baseball's Greatest Maverick: Why did it take so long for the most colorful and perhaps most influential figure in baseball history to get a definitive biography? Probably because it took more than 20 years after Veeck's death (in 1986) to put all the facets of his amazing life together. Dickson, author of several superb baseball books, including The Dickson Baseball Dictionary and Baseball is… Defining the National Pastime, has done more than write the best baseball biography so far this decade. He's written an important piece of baseball history.” ― Allen Barra, The Chicago Tribune “Paul Dickson has written the comprehensive biography.” ― Dave Hoekstra, Chicago Sun-Times “In his lively (and occasionally beatific) biography, baseball and cultural historian Paul Dickson brings Veeck to life, relentlessly digging into his career and times to create a portrait of the kind of guy you'd like to have in your corner - or at your table for a drink.” ― Chris Foran, Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel “ Bill Veeck: Baseball's Greatest Maverick incorporates the picaresque anecdotes and populist charm of Veeck's memoirs into a narrative marked by Mr. Dickson's broad knowledge and fluid authority. The result is a biography that newcomers to the Veeck legend are likely to find immensely appealing, but one that also makes him new again for those who have already savored the baseball showman's own episodic volumes.” ― Maxwell Carter, The Wall Street Journal “The proof of goodness is usually in the details, so it becomes clear right off the bat that Dickson has written an authoritative work.” ― Mike Downey, The Los Angeles Times “Bill Veeck comes as close to a "must-read" as any baseball book in recent memory. Grade: Home run.” ―Mark Hodermarsky, Cleveland Plain Dealer “Dickson gives Veeck his due in a volume sure to have a long shelf life.” ― Booklist “An engaging biography of Bill Veeck…[Dickson] expertly evokes Veeck's populist, garrulous public persona, while at the same time showing the private pain he endured as a World War II injury caused him to have countless amputations of portions of his right leg, leading to deterioration and ruin of the rest of his body, but not his spirit. Veeck is not as well remembered as he should be. Dickson's book is a skillful corrective.” ― Kirkus “Paul Dickson has knocked another one out of the park with Bill Veeck: Baseball's Greatest Maverick a skillfully written biography, scrupulously researched, brimming with revealing anecdotes and historical detail ….So if you're planning your summer reading list, I recommend you place Dickson's enlightening and highly entertaining biography on one of baseball's most combative if influential owners at the very top of your list.” ― Bill Lucey, The Morning Delivery. “Dickson brings the larger-than-life presence of Veeck into sharper focus, and re-introduces his innovative baseball mind in a fresh light. It's a smart, detailed and precise read, showing the same delightful candor that Veeck displayed during his heyday.” ― Bob D'Angelo, Tampa Tribune “Paul Dickson's biography of Bill Veeck is thorough, entertaining, and superb.” ― Bill Littlefield, NPR "Only A Game." “Any man who wanted to be included on Richard Nixon's enemies list is worthy