The Bill Veeck of the Wilmette Park District

Recently, I got caught up in the Chicago media hype surrounding the Savannah Bananas' visit to Guaranteed Rate Field, home of the White Sox. Over the course of two days, they packed the park with nearly 80,000 fans. Impressive.

I watched Facebook and TikTok videos of their founder, dressed in a bright yellow suit and a matching derby hat, paying tribute to the former Sox owner Bill Veeck, baseball’s ultimate promoter. Veeck was responsible for the exploding scoreboard with fireworks after a White Sox home run, sending 3’7” Eddie Gaedel to bat during a St. Louis Browns game, and of course, the legendary Disco Demolition night at Comiskey Park.

Many of my friends on social media attended the Bananas show in Chicago, and their posts often led with “Go Bananas!”

That brought back very fond memories of my Dad. He was an outstanding and dedicated high school teacher and Social Studies Chair at New Trier High School, as well as a basketball coach for at least two of my Central Elementary School teams. Unknowingly, he was also the Bill Veeck of the Wilmette Park District.

It was the fall of 1976, and I was in third grade. I don’t remember exactly who was on the team. Maybe Rory, or Johnny Savely, Mike Lazer, and Mark McKinley. Anyway, we needed a team name. We tossed around typical names like the Central School Lightning, Thunder, Eagles, Wolves, and, yes, Bulls. We struggled, not wanting to be just like everyone else. My dad sensed our frustration and, out of nowhere, suggested we name our team the Bananas because, when we broke the sideline huddle, we could shout, “GO BANANAS!” We loved it. We were probably an average team, but damn, that name had street cred on the mean streets of Wilmette.

Then came 1977, and the Central School Bananas needed a new name. Again, something different, but how could we top Bananas? Star Wars was all the rage, and once again, Dad rallied, suggesting we name the team The Central Star Vaders!  Genius!

My Dad was the Bill Veeck of the Wilmette Park District, indeed. Indirectly teaching us that the idea of having fun and being yourself was always the winning play. #GoDad