"Bill Veeck was born on the right side of the tracks. And as soon as he was capable, dragged himself to the other side," says Mike Veeck with a laugh about his father, the maverick Hall of Fame ...

He had just recently joined the St. Louis Browns when he was replaced in the lineup by Eddie Gaedel, a 3-foot-7 circus ...

Earl Weaver learned about playing the odds from his bookmaker uncle. Those lessons would turn him into a pioneer of modern analytics.

In subsequent decades, the bookies just kept showing up at the ballpark. Gamblers, as legendary former owner Bill Veeck once said, are “good customers of a ball club.” ...