Bill Veeck's Exploding Scoreboard 

Bill Veeck was the first owner of a MLB team to realize that what MLB is selling is entertainment. The innovations he introduced were meant to attract the casual fan, and they were successful. Essentially, all the “new” ideas Veeck introduced are now routine at every ballpark in MLB.

That park was a helluva good time in the 70s. Those teams couldn't field or pitch worth a damn.....but man could they hit. That scoreboard was the icing on the cake at night games.

Once I was standing in line at the ticket window at old Comiskey Park. The guy standing next to me told me of the first time the scoreboard exploded. He was sitting underneath. Now remember that Veeck kept this a secret until it was actually time to use it. This guy I was talking to said it scared the crap out of him!

From a die hard Cub fan; their scoreboard is the best EVER.

best promoter and brother of baseball ever=Mr.Veeck

I wish old Comiskey Park was still standing today.

2:13 that’s when Harrey Carray used to broadcast white Sox games and the exploding scoreboard is phenomenal got to see it a few times when I went to a game it was awesome.

Back in 1987 we went to a game at Comiskey. We're out of towners, but wanted to see the Park before it closed. They played Oakland and tied the game in the 9th inning. We were sitting right under the scoreboard and in the bottom of the 10th, Greg Walker hit a two run homer to end the game. We knew the scorebaord was going to go off, having seen it a thousand times on TV, but in person it's way louder than you expect. But really cool. Also by the White Sox winning, they had a promotion going on at Taco Bell where if you had a game ticket and the Sox won, you got some kind of free meal (don't remember exactly what), so we also got free Taco Bell that night.

This is great! Love to hear the story behind the scoreboard! Thanks for posting Mike! I will never forget the day you took Dad, Dan and myself into the Bard's room to meet your dad!! Thanks also for being one of the many reasons I have worked in baseball over 25 years!

The old Comisky Park scoreboard was so much fun as a kid !!!!!

Exploding scoreboards look much better at night than by day due to the fireworks!

I believe he also had a hand in designing the scoreboard at old Cleveland Municipal...it had horns that moved out and played a fanfare, while flame throwers went off on top.. (plus the fireworks, of course!)😊❤

Your dad used to bring his car into our old service station on Chestnut st , union 76 in Hinsdale...back in the day..he would come in have a cup of coffee..hang out with my dad Larry Eggert. Jim seeden. And bill, rail road willy.. I remember those guys always laughing and joking ..I was around 9 yrs old back then. Hanging around the car wash I met a lot of great Hinsdale folks we lived in western springs, across from the toll way . I'm glade they named a park after your dad..along the tri state toll road..I'm now Simi retired in Florida. Im a life long sox fan.. because i loved the sox growing up..miss the old ball park..

I read that a visiting pitcher gave up a home run, and the scoreboard exploded. He gave up a second blast, and the scoreboard goes off again. Out comes the manager. The pitcher, annoyed, asks if the skipper has some words of wisdom. "Nah. I'm just giving the guy in center field a chance to reload the scoreboard!"

A four-picture sequence of the inspiration for Bill Veeck's exploding scoreboard leads off a two-page article about The Time of Your Life in the June 14, 1948 issue of LIFE magazine. It's on page 51.

Bill Veeck gave us Baseball Plus. Thanks for posting this little gem.

That is one man that I so admire ... Bill Veeck 👍

1960s & 70s I Grew Up on Cottage Grove & 39th St. / Pershing Rd. and Could See and Hear the Homerun Fireworks.

Bill Veeck was a Genius !!!! The old Comisky scoreboard was great.....

I saw the exploding scoreboard when I was a kid.

That's Veeck as in wreck. I like the idea of the exploding scoreboard. Was it saved from demolition and moved to a minor league park?

Although my families from the Northside, as a kid, this is what made me a White Sox fan. I have been one ever since.

Hearing Harry Carey on those calls is amazing

I Wish the Sox would of done what the Cubs and Red Sox did and kept their old ballpark. Old Comiskey was a classic! Like comedian Bill Burr said: Your traded in your classic 69 Chevelle for a 92 Ford Taurus.

If it weren't for Jerry throwing a fit and threatening to move to Tampa if he didn't get a new stadium, maybe Chicago could've proudly to this day have two historical parks!

What a promoter

The Bull!!

Didn’t the scoreboard go off in 69’ when the Eagle landed on the Moon. I remember it being announced on the Soxogram.

South side !!

#PeppermintPinwheelsForEveryone!

I kinda forgot Joe McConnell announced Sox games.

🍺🍿

I'd like to know who the guy is wearing number 10 for the Sox?

the scorebord didn't explode. The mortrs were behind it, not prt of it

What a travisty to tear down commisky park an replace it with that monstrosity they play in now

As good as this scoreboard was, it has nothing compared to the scoreboard in the Houston Astrodome.

Oh boy,does that take me back to a simpler time!!