It was a nice Saturday evening in July. I think the year was 2006.

It was going to be a fun night, as I was attending the annual Becker Youth Baseball summer banquet and fundraiser. A crowd of at least 200 was gathered at the Becker Community Center.

Special guest for the baseball folk that night was Mike Veeck, co-owner of the St. Paul Saints baseball team. Mike was well-known for his baseball stories and he had plenty of them, like the time in the late 1960’s when he was fired as promotions manager for the Chicago White Sox (his father, Bill, was the general manager). Mike wanted to do a special promotion in between games of a White Sox doubleheader.

It was ‘blow up the disc’ day at the stadium and Mike proceeded to blow to smithereens thousands of donated music records. The mess of dynamited plastic was so bad the White Sox had to cancel the second game of the double header because of thousands of plastic shards couldn’t be cleaned up from the field.

Mike was fired.

But he found his calling with minor league teams, like the Charleston River Dogs of his home state and the non-affiliated Saints, whom he owned with Actor Bill Murray. And you know his story: Good Baseball, Good Fun.”

Back to the evening in Becker. Mike captivated the crowd and took many questions. He loved the interaction and provided lots of Saints tickets for fundraiser bait.

I sat next to him at our table for the evening and our discussions ranged from baseball to - a lot of things.

Then he brought up his personal issue. Mike, loving to be in Becker that night, admitted his heart was back in Carolina.

His daughter, Rebecca, seven at the time, was learning how to ride a bicycle. And he wanted to be there with her. He wanted to be running alongside her bicycle as she teetered her way down the sidewalk.

Rebecca was a unique young lady. She had been suffering for a short time from an attack on her nervous system that was affecting her eyesight. She would be going blind from Batten disease, and Dad wanted to be at her side, on or off the bicycle.

He talked, and I listened, that evening at the Becker Community Center.

The evening was a fundraiser success for the baseball people.

And I had the opportunity to experience a man’s love for his kid.

Rebecca, 27, the only child of Mike and Libby Veeck, died of her disease last fall.

The Veeck story is one of thousands I’ve had the privilege of hearing and telling during my time with the  Citizen and Tribune. I’m proud to have shared them with you.