Robert (Bob) Andrew Veale Jr. (October 28, 1935-January 5, 2025) was born, raised, and passed away in Birmingham, Alabama, at 89. Per his Society of American Baseball Research (SABR) bio by Joseph Gerard, he was the second of fourteen children and weighed 13 pounds, four ounces at birth. https://sabr.org/bioproj/person/bob-veale/ Veale was a two-time minor-league strikeout (K’s) leader (1959 Wilson Tobs and 1961 Columbus Jets); 1962-63 Puerto Rico Winter League (PRWL) K’s leader (Ponce Lions); and 1964 National League (NL) K’s kingpin (Pittsburgh). The two-time National League (NL) All-Star, in 1965 and 1966, earned a World Series ring with 1971 Pittsburgh. Veale’s October 24, 1962 start for visiting Ponce was the first game played at Hiram Bithorn Stadium, Hato Rey, PR.
Connection to Negro Leaguers
Bob’s father, Robert Veale Sr., pitched for the Homestead Grays. Veale Jr., at 12, pitched batting practice and was the batboy for the 1948 Birmingham Black Barons, featuring manager Piper Davis, center-fielder Willie Mays, shortstop Artie Wilson, first baseman Alonzo “His Majesty” Perry, and pitcher Bill Greason. The Black Barons lost the final Negro Leagues World Series to the Homestead Grays, managed by Vic Harris. Those Grays included Buck Leonard (1B), shortstop Sam Bankhead, Luke Easter (LF), Luis “Canena” Márquez (CF), Bob Thurman (RF), and pitcher-3B Wilmer Fields. Veale Jr. also pitched batting practice for the white Class-AA Southern Association Birmingham Barons, who won their playoffs.
From Benedictine College to the Low Minors
Veale attended Catholic schools in Birmingham and starred in basketball and baseball at Benedictine College, Atchison, Kansas. The current Saint Benedictine Ravens’ Student Center Athletic Training Room is named after Pope John Paul II. Their Mother Teresa Athletic Training Rehab Center honors her memory. Veale transitioned from an NAIA (National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics) college to the 1958 San José Pirates, who moved to Las Vegas on May 26. They were 54-81, seventh, eight-team Class-C California League. Veale’s 1959 campaign with the Class-B Carolina League Wilson Tobs included a July 23 no-hitter versus the first-place Raleigh Capitals, a 2-0 gem. Raleigh’s League MVP/Rookie of the Year was Carl Yastrzemski, at 2B, with a league-leading .377 BA. Veale’s 187 K’s led the loop. His 12-5 mark helped Wilson (71-58) finish second. They swept the league playoffs: three games versus the Durham Bulls (semis) and four straight against Raleigh.
Columbus Jets (1960-1962) to Pittsburgh Debut
The 6-6 212-pound lefty had control issues, but Pittsburgh, the “Steel City,” was a good fit. (Veale Sr. worked for a subsidiary of U.S. Steel in Birmingham.) After going 10-9, 3.51 ERA in 1960, Veale improved to 14-11, 2.55 ERA for the 92-62 Jets, four SHO and 11 CG in 28 starts. His 208 K’s were a league-best in 201 innings. Columbus teammate Nino Escalera—who faced him in the 1960-61 and 1962-63 PRWL seasons—opined that Veale had the “necessary tools and talent to succeed in the majors” and his “calmness and maturity were positive attributes.” Veale’s April 16, 1962, NL debut at Wrigley Field was a no-decision. His first big-league win, 4-3, on April 26, came over the New York Mets, but he went back to Columbus a month later after inconsistent relief work, posting an 8-5 ledger, 3.09 ERA, and 179 K’s in 134 innings for the Jets. He and close friend Willie Stargell were called up to Pittsburgh in September.
Beneficial Seasons with Ponce (1960-61 and 1962-63)
Juan “Yuyo” González, Ponce’s new (1962-63) owner, continued a “working agreement” with Pittsburgh, begun under Martiniano García before the Pirates bested the Yankees in the 1960 World Series. Joe Gibbon, a 1960 Pirates rookie, went to Ponce, post-Fall Classic, with Donn Clendenon, Veale, Tom Cheney, and Al Jackson. U.S. Virgin Islanders and Pittsburgh prospects Al McBean and Elmo Plaskett began their PRWL careers with Ponce in the late 1950s. Ponce’s mid-1950s-early 1960s “curse,” with losing records and last-place finishes, was due to Martiniano trading pitcher Juan Guilbe to the Aguadilla Sharks, 1948-49, per a “Lions hex” by voodoo practitioners. “I returned to Hickory, Mississippi, after winning two Ponce starts,” recalled Gibbon. “McBean was the workhorse, and Veale was untested.”
The 1960-61 Lions (29-35), managed by Cal Ermer, tied Santurce for last place, behind San Juan (SJ), Mayagüez, and Caguas. Veale, who turned 25 in PR, was 2-6, 4.00 ERA, in 72 innings. His 54 K’s-63 walks showed that he needed more seasoning. Rudy Hernández, the first Dominican-born hurler in the American League (AL), 1960 Washington Senators, was a positive influence. “I debuted a decade earlier (1950-51) with Ponce, under skipper Rogers Hornsby,” noted Rudy, and “knew the PRWL could eventually help Bob—he lacked command but had a good attitude and work ethic.” Veale faced SJ Senators superstar Roberto Clemente and Santurce’s Orlando Cepeda that winter. Plaskett won the Triple Crown: .328 BA, 15 HR, 45 RBIs, while Clendenon (.258-7-26) got extra at-bats.
Veale started and triumphed in the inaugural game at Hiram Bithorn Stadium in 1962.
On October 24, 1962, Veale started and won the first game at Hiram Bithorn Municipal Stadium, named after PR’s first NL player—a 1942 Chicago Cubs pitcher. (José “Gacho” Torres is PR’s first big leaguer—1926 Newark Stars, Eastern Colored League.) Veale’s 6-2 win over San Juan featured 7.1 hitless frames, Bithorn’s first HR by teammate Don Leppert, and the first hit by Ponce’s Rafael Alomar. The $7 million stadium had a near-capacity crowd of 18,363. Veale finished 7-6, 3.80 ERA, in 116 innings, for last-place (26-44) Ponce. Leppert became Lions player-manager when Bill Adair resigned. Clendenon led the loop with 20 doubles. Veale fanned 104 and walked 77. His 104 K’s topped Terín Pizarro’s 98 (Santurce), John Boozer’s 90 (Arecibo), Caguas’s Jim Duffalo’s 87, and Sam McDowell’s 85 (Santurce). “Pizarro, Veale, and myself were lefty fireballers,” recalled McDowell. “Veale struck out many NL hitters…I fanned 325 with Cleveland in 1965. I loved picking up ripe pineapples on Santurce road trips—Pittsburgh, where I’m from, doesn’t have fresh pineapples.”
A Decade With Pittsburgh
From 1963 to 1972, Veale gave Pittsburgh fans excitement and headaches to hitters. Lou Brock had fits when the bespectacled Veale removed his glasses to wipe them off in a mid-1960s at-bat, opining that Veale’s “first four innings had the fastest pitches of any NL pitcher.” On September 22, 1964, Veale fanned 15 Milwaukee Braves to break an all-time Pirates mark of 12 K’s, set by Babe Adams in 1909. Veale’s 250 K’s in 1964 topped Bob Gibson’s 245. Both were tied on the final day when Danny Murtaugh used Veale in three innings, and he fanned five. Table I includes AL/NL strikeout leaders who pitched in the PRWL.
Table I: AL/NL Pitching Strikeout Kings with PRWL Experience
A=Arecibo Wolves. C=Caguas Criollos. M=Mayagüez Indios. P=Ponce Lions. S=Santurce Crabbers. SJ=San Juan Senators. <1st PRWL hurler (1953-54 SJ) to lead AL in K’s. >1st PRWL hurler (1951-52 SJ) to lead NL in K’s. #Caguas’s 1974-76 manager. Sources: Baseball-Reference, Jorge Colón Delgado, José Crescioni Benítez, and Tom Van Hyning.
Bob Veale at Forbes Field, Pittsburgh, August 11, 1964. Photo credit: Pittsburgh Pirates History via https://lastwordonsports.com/baseball/2025/01/07/pirates-bob-veale-died/
Pittsburgh’s 1967 team (81-81) had two managers, Harry Walker (42-42) and Danny Murtaugh (39-39). Clemente won his fourth NL batting crown with a .357/.400/.554 slash line, and .954 OPS. Veale, 16-8, 3.64 ERA, fanned 179 and walked 119 in 203 innings. His 7.936 K’s per nine innings was second to teammate Juan Pizarro’s 8.075 (96 K’s/107 innings). “Veale threw very hard,” stated Terín. “Pittsburgh used me in many (41) relief appearances and few (nine) starts.” Tommie Sisk (13-13, 3.34 ERA) and Veale had 31 starts. “We had fine hitters but not enough pitching,” claimed Sisk. “I played for SJ in 1964-65 when Roberto [Clemente] became our player-manager, replacing Cal Ermer.” Roy Face, at 39, was Pittsburgh’s closer, with 17 saves, followed by Pizarro’s nine saves. Manny Sanguillén debuted at 23, as did Bob Robertson, age 20. Most 1967 Pirates played in the PRWL and Dominican Winter League (DOWL). Sanguillén starred for Águilas Cibaeñas (AC), SJ, Bayamón, Ponce, and Arecibo. Robertson reinforced AC-DOWL, who had a working agreement with Pittsburgh from 1955-56 when Bill Mazeroski joined them. Steve Blass and Willie Stargell played superbly for 1963-64 AC, as did Veale: 4-0, 1.37 ERA.
1971 World Series
Veale pitched in Game Two, Baltimore’s 11-3 win, in the home fifth at Memorial Stadium, facing five hitters. He allowed a hit, two walks, and one earned run in two-thirds of an inning by walking Mark Belanger and Jim Palmer, retiring Don Buford on a force play, allowing Merv Rettenmund’s run-scoring hit, and getting Boog Powell, 4-3. Dick Hall pitched the ninth for Baltimore. Earl Weaver wanted to “save Palmer for later in the series.” Milt May was the final out, grounding to Powell, who tossed it to Hall. “I touched first and ran to our dugout,” said Hall. “I kept it as a souvenir…years later showed it to my grandson.” Pittsburgh won Game Seven, 2-1, with hitting heroics by José A. Pagán and Roberto Clemente and Blass’s pitching.
Boston Red Sox (1972-1974), AC (1963-64, 1972-73) and 1974-75 Magallanes Navigators
Boston acquired Veale on September 2, 1972, pitched all of 1973 and part of 1974 for them, plus minor-league seasons with 1972 Charleston and 1974 Pawtucket. DH Orlando Cepeda, one of four Cooperstown inductees in Boston’s line-up, was Veale’s 1973 teammate, as were Carlton Fisk, Carl Yastrzemski, and Luis Aparicio. Twenty-game winner Luis Tiant was Boston’s ace. Rogelio Moret went 13-2 for the 89-73 Red Sox. Veale’s 11 saves were second to teammate Bobby Bolin’s 15. Veale was also 6-0, 3.09 ERA for AC, 1972-73, including one post-season win.
Veale’s last hurrah was with 1974-75 Magallanes in Venezuela’s Winter League. He pitched 11.2 innings in six games, with a 1-0 record, 3.09 ERA, 15 K’s and eight walks. His two PRWL seasons showed a 9-12 mark, 3.88 ERA, 188 innings, 158 K’s and 140 walks. Minors (7): 147 G, 118 GS, 12 SHO, 2 SV, 51-39 mark, 3.30 ERA, 815 innings, 893 K’s, and 513 walks. Majors (13): 397 G, 255 GS, 20 SHO, 21 SV, 120-95 record, 3.07 ERA, 1,926 innings, 1,703 K’s, and 858 walks. Veale pitched twice in the Dominican Winter League, with Aguilas Cibaeñas (1963-64 and 1972-73 seasons), amassing records of 10-0, 2-SV, 2.37-ERA, 1.23-WHIP, 22-G, 16-GS. 2-CG, 1-SHO, 110-IP, 95H (1HR), 36-R, 29-ER, 98-K, 40-BB, 9 8-WP.
Post-Script
Veale was inducted 1990 into Saint Benedictine’s Athletics Hall of Fame, followed by his 2006 induction into the Alabama Sports Hall of Fame.
Special thanks to Nino Escalera, Joe Gibbon, Dick Hall, Rudy Hernández, Sam McDowell, Terín Pizarro, and Tommie Sisk. Jorge Colón Delgado did the editing and photo placements.
