The following is a history of professional baseball in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, including its current team, the Milwaukee Brewers of Major League Baseball.
Overview and legacy Prior to the development of professional baseball, the Cream City Club of Milwaukee—commonly known as the Milwaukee Cream Citys—played in the 1860s and were quite successful. Milwaukee was an early prospect for professional baseball, with several brief experiments at the major league level but mostly in the minor leagues.
The nicknames of these teams were initially assigned by the media rather than the teams themselves. Some were known as the "Creams" or "Cream Citys" after the distinctive brick which gave Milwaukee its nickname, others were known as the "Brewers", in reference to one of the city's chief industries.
This list is a brief overview of the various Milwaukee professional baseball clubs:
Chronology (1876–1944)
1876–1877 Milwaukee West Ends or West End Club independent (1876), League Alliance (1877), home games at West End Grounds on "Wells Avenue, near the city limits." (Benson, p. 231). 1878 Milwaukee Grays a.k.a. Brewers of the National League, home games at Eclipse Park a.k.a. Milwaukee Base-Ball Grounds. 1879–1883 no team 1884–1885 Milwaukee Brewers a.k.a. Cream Citys a.k.a. Grays. Played in the Northwestern League (1884), then joined Union Association as a late-season entry, see 1884 Milwaukee Brewers season; played at Wright Street Grounds. Played in the Western League (1885) until the league disbanded in mid-June. 1886–1892 Milwaukee Brewers a.k.a. Cream Citys. Competed in the Northwestern League (1886–1887), played at Wright Street Grounds and, according to some sources, also at Athletic Park in 1887. Western Association (1888–1891). Joined American Association for the end of the 1891 season, replacing the Cincinnati Kelly's Killers, see 1891 Milwaukee Brewers season. Back to Western League (1892) which disbanded (later re-formed in 1894). Played at Athletic Park, later named Borchert Field and, according to some sources, also at Wright Street Grounds in 1888. 1894–1901 Milwaukee Brewers a.k.a Creams. Members of the Western League (1894–1899), renamed American League 1900, and became a major league in 1901; see 1901 Milwaukee Brewers season. Franchise relocated as the St. Louis Browns in 1902. Played at Athletic Park in 1894, then Lloyd Street Grounds through 1901. 1902–1903 Milwaukee Creams of the revived Western League, played at Lloyd Street Grounds. 1902–1952 Milwaukee Brewers of the American Association, played at Borchert Field. 1913 Milwaukee Creams of the Wisconsin–Illinois League, played at Borchert Field. 1923 Milwaukee Bears of the Negro National League, played at Borchert Field. 1928–1930 Kosciuszko Reds of the Wisconsin State League, played at Borchert Field. 1931–1932, 1936 Milwaukee Red Sox of the Wisconsin-Illinois League and Wisconsin State League, played at Borchert Field. 1944 Milwaukee Chicks of the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League.
The nickname "Brewers" has been used by Milwaukee baseball teams since at least the 1880s, although none of those clubs ever enjoyed a measure of success or stability. That would change with Milwaukee's entry into the American Association, which would last 50 years and provide the city's springboard into the major leagues.
Milwaukee Brewers of the American Association (1902–1952) The American Association Milwaukee Brewers were founded in 1901, after the major-league Brewers of the American League moved to St. Louis and became the St. Louis Browns. The minor-league Brewers did not win their first American Association championship until 1913, then repeated the next year. Over 20 years would pass before they claimed another with a 90–64 club in 1936 as a Detroit affiliate. In 1944, the team won again, placing the team in the top 100. Three years later, the Brewers became a farm team of the Boston Braves. Although this move eventually paved the way for the team's demise, in the short run it led directly to Milwaukee's final two league championships—one in 1951 when they also won the Junior World Series, followed by an even better team the next year.
Bill Veeck and Jolly Cholly
In 1941, the club was purchased by Bill Veeck (son of former Chicago Cubs president William Veeck Sr.), in a partnership with former Cubs star Charlie Grimm (nicknamed "Jolly Cholly"). Under Veeck's ownership, the Brewers would become one of the most colorful squads in baseball and Veeck would become one of the game's premiere showmen. Constantly creating new promotional gimmicks, Veeck gave away live animals, scheduled morning games for wartime night shift workers, staged weddings at home plate, and even sent Grimm a birthday cake containing a much-needed left-handed pitcher.
When Grimm was hired as the manager of the Cubs, he recommended that Casey Stengel be hired to replace him. Veeck was opposed to the idea – Stengel had little success in his previous managerial stints with the Dodgers and Braves – but as Veeck was stationed overseas in the Marine Corps, Grimm won out. The club went on to win the 1944 American Association pennant, and Stengel's managerial career was resurrected.
In 1945, after winning three pennants in five years, Veeck sold his interest in the Brewers for a $275,000 profit.
American Association championships
1913 1914 1936 1944 1951 1952
Junior World Series appearances The Junior World Series was held between the champions of the American Association and the International League. 1936 – defeated Buffalo, 4 games to 1 1947 – defeated Syracuse, 4 games to 3 1951 – defeated Montreal, 4 games to 2
Ballpark
During its 51-year tenure in the American Association, Milwaukee played in the same ballpark. Originally constructed in 1888, it was located in the North side of Milwaukee on a rectangular city block with the main entrance on Chambers St. between Eighth and Ninth Streets. It had abnormally short foul lines, to left and right. The fences then angled out sharply, making for deep "power alleys" and center field was from home plate. It was known as Athletic Park until 1928 when it was renamed Borchert Field in honor of Brewers owner Otto Borchert, who had died the previous year. The Polo Grounds had a similar configuration. 'Borchert Orchard' was also the first Milwaukee home park for the Green Bay Packers, who played the New York Giants on October 1, 1933. The following year, the Packers moved their Milwaukee games to the Wisconsin State Fair Grounds. Interstate 43 now runs through where Borchert Field once stood.
The coming of the Braves (1953–1965) Milwaukee had long been coveted by major league teams looking for a new home. Bill Veeck himself tried to relocate the St. Louis Browns back to Milwaukee in the late 1940s, but his move was vetoed by the other American League owners. Eventually, they relocated to Baltimore, where they became the current edition of the Baltimore Orioles.
The city of Milwaukee, hoping both to attract a major league baseball club and also to persuade the National Football League's Green Bay Packers to move to Milwaukee full time, constructed Milwaukee County Stadium for the 1953 season. The Brewers were set to move in, until Spring training of 1953, when Lou Perini moved his Boston Braves to Milwaukee. The Brewers moved to Toledo, where they became the next incarnation of the Toledo Mud Hens. The new Mud Hens continued their winning ways, claiming an American Association pennant in their first season in Ohio.
The return of the Brewers (1970)
The legacy of the American Association Milwaukee Brewers continues in the major league Milwaukee Brewers, which took its name from the 1902–1952 club.
After the Braves moved to Atlanta in 1966, local automobile dealer and Braves part-owner Bud Selig created a group to lobby for a new major league club in Milwaukee. As a name for his group, he chose "Milwaukee Brewers Baseball Club, Inc.", after the American Association club he grew up watching. As a logo, he chose the Beer Barrel Man in navy and red – traditional Brewers colors.
When Selig bought the one-year-old Seattle Pilots franchise in the spring of 1970, he moved them to Milwaukee and they officially became the "new" major-league Milwaukee Brewers. The club continued to use the Beer Barrel Man as the team's primary logo until 1978, although due to time constraints, the team continued to use the old Pilots' colors of blue and gold. Recently, it has seen a resurgence on throwback merchandise, and been featured on several stadium promotions.
The current Brewers have played in the National League since 1998, when the franchise switched over from the American League after 29 years in the "Junior Circuit" as both the Pilots and the Brewers.
The modern Brewers
1966–1969: "Home of the Braves?" In an effort to prevent the relocation of the Milwaukee Braves to a larger television market, Braves minority owner Bud Selig, a Milwaukee-area car dealer, formed an organization named "Teams Inc." devoted to local control of the club. He successfully prevented the majority owners of the Braves from moving the club in 1964 but was unable to do more than delay the inevitable. The Braves relocated to Atlanta after the 1965 season, and Teams Inc. turned its focus to returning Major League Baseball to Milwaukee.
Selig doggedly pursued this goal, attending owners meetings in the hopes of securing an expansion franchise. Selig changed the name of his group to "Milwaukee Brewers Baseball Club Inc.". The "Brewers" name, honoring Milwaukee's beer-brewing tradition, also was traditional for Milwaukee baseball teams going back into the 19th century. The city had hosted a major league team by that name in 1901, which relocated at the end of that season to become the St. Louis Browns. From 1902 through 1952, a minor league Milwaukee Brewers club in the American Association had been so successful that it lured the Braves from Boston. Selig himself had grown up watching that minor league team at Borchert Field and intended his new franchise to follow in that tradition.
To demonstrate there still was support for big-league ball in Milwaukee, Selig's group contracted with Chicago White Sox owner Arthur Allyn Jr. to host nine White Sox home games at Milwaukee County Stadium in 1968. A 1967 exhibition game between the White Sox and Minnesota Twins had attracted more than 51,000 spectators, and Selig was convinced the strong Milwaukee fan base would demonstrate the city would provide a good home for a new club.
The experiment was staggeringly successful – those nine games drew 264,297 fans. In Chicago that season, the Sox drew 539,478 fans to their remaining 72 home games. In just a handful of games, the Milwaukee crowds accounted for nearly one-third of the total attendance at White Sox games. In light of this success, Selig and Allyn agreed County Stadium would host Sox home games again the next season.
In 1969, the Sox schedule in Milwaukee was expanded to include 11 home games (one against every other franchise in the American League at the time). Although those games were attended by slightly fewer fans (198,211 fans, for an average of 18,019) they represented a greater percentage of the total White Sox attendance than the previous year – over one-third of the fans who went to Sox home games in 1969 did so at County Stadium (in the remaining 59 home dates in Chicago, the Sox drew 391,335 for an average of 6,632 per game). Selig felt this fan support lent legitimacy to his quest for a Milwaukee franchise, and he went into the 1968 owners meetings with high hopes.
Those hopes were dashed when National League franchises were awarded to San Diego (the Padres) and Montreal (the Expos), and American League franchises were awarded to Kansas City (the Royals) and Seattle (the Pilots). That last franchise, however, would figure very prominently in Selig's future.