Bill Veeck, a scrappy, showmanship-savvy Major League Baseball impresario who survived serious injuries as a Marine during World War II, would be a tough act for any kid to follow. But you can’t say one of his sons didn’t try. That would be Mike Veeck, the subject of the spicy new documentary “The Saint of Second Chances.”
Now in his seventies, Mike is a captivating presence on screen in this story, whether appearing as himself or as played in Charlie Day reenactments (“It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia”). The film was directed by Morgan Neville (“20 Feet From Stardom”) and Jeff Malmberg (“Marwencol”), and is a bit more imaginative than their previous work.
But fancy suits the Veecks well, it turns out. We see that Bill believed that “the most wonderful way to spend an afternoon or evening” was at the ballpark. In the 1970s, he ruled Chicago’s Comiskey Park with the city’s second banana MLB team, the White Sox, and was a ramshackle marketing innovator. Mike tried to emulate him: a disastrous 1979 gathering in Comiskey called Disco Demolition Night, where a record-burning stunt turned into a riot that resulted in dozens of arrests, was Mike’s idea. The fiasco received a deserved backlash, sending the younger Veeck into a long downward spiral.
This film’s feel-good story essentially hinges on whether you believe Mike’s claim that he wouldn’t have done the event if he “thought it would hurt anyone.” When Mike returned to the game years later – through the Independent League ball organization – he brought the fun in eccentric ways, including a ball-carrying pig. Darryl Strawberry testifies here that Mike helped him fall in love with the game again. And the story of a personal tragedy in Mike’s family life is gripping.
The saint of second chances
Not judged. Running time: 1 hour 33 minutes. Watch on Netflix.
