Wednesday night at CHS Field in St. Paul, his team played Game 2 of its first championship series in seven years. Mike Veeck watched on his phone, 1,500 miles away, from St. Augustine, Fla.
"I've learned a lot about pet-friendly hotels," Veeck said. "Too much. Gracie is a rescue dog, She was very nervous coming to St. Augustine because that's where we got her. She was worried we were taking her back."
Veeck made the long drive down I-95 to move his daughter out of the path of Hurricane Florence. Veeck lives in Charleston, S.C. His daughter, Rebecca, requires the use of a wheelchair.
"I had a bad feeling about this one," Veeck said of the hurricane. "I thought we'd better get somewhere safe and ride this out."
The team he helped found and remains part-owner, the St. Paul Saints, sent a baseball bouquet his way, beating Kansas City 6-0 to even the best-of-five series at one game each. The stories in St. Paul seemed almost as dramatic as Veeck's.
Starting pitcher Eddie Medina, playing in the championship series for the third consecutive year, pitched eight shutout innings to get the victory. The Saints' brass told the story of Medina guaranteeing a victory in exchange for the team getting his parents a free hotel room. Medina didn't want to delve far into that, saying instead, "My job is not to be in the spotlight, it's to get off the field. Dante told me before our big inning, 'Hey, throw up a zero and we're going to get a bunch of runs for you.' "
That's Dante Bichette Jr., son of the former big-league star, and he hit a solo homer in the sixth after second baseman Zach Walters hit a two-run shot that made it 4-0.
Walters, 29, played for three big-league teams. The muscular second baseman will finish his baseball career this weekend, then finish the process of becoming a Navy SEAL.