History of the Milwaukee Brewers
Page 2
The Milwaukee Braves 1953-1965
The arrival of the Braves in Milwaukee in the spring of 1953 signaled a new era in baseball history. The Boston Braves were the first major league franchise in half a century to relocate. In the following eight years, five more teams would switch cities for better economic opportunities. The Braves brought exciting baseball to fans throughout the Upper Midwest. Led by young sluggers Eddie Mathews and Henry Aaron and powerful pitchers Warren Spahn and Lew Burdette, the Braves became perennial National League contenders, finishing lower than second only once between 1953 and 1960.
The highlight of the Braves stint in Milwaukee came in 1957, when the team won the World Series, beating the New York Yankees four games to three. The Braves lost to the Yankees in the 1958 series, which also went to seven games.
The same fortune that brought the Braves to Milwaukee took the team away again. In the early 1960s, the team’s performance tailed off, as did their remarkable attendance. Eyeing greener pastures in the South, new owners jilted Milwaukee and moved the team to Atlanta after the 1965 season.
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The rebirth of the Milwaukee Brewers
From Seattle to Milwaukee: 1965-1970
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. 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 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. 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.
Having failed to gain a major league franchise for Milwaukee through expansion, Selig turned his efforts to purchasing and relocating an existing club. His search began close to home, with the White Sox themselves. According to Selig, he had a handshake agreement with Allyn to purchase the Pale Hose and move them north. The American League, unwilling to surrender Chicago to the National League, vetoed the sale, and Allyn sold the franchise to his brother John.
Frustrated in these efforts, Selig shifted his focus to another American League team, the expansion Seattle Pilots.
Seattle initially had a lot going for it when it joined the American League in 1969. Seattle had long been a hotbed for minor league baseball and was home to the Seattle Rainiers, one of the pillars of the Pacific Coast League. The Cleveland Indians had almost moved to Seattle in 1965. Many of the same things that attracted the Indians made Seattle a plum choice for an expansion team. Seattle was the third-biggest metropolitan area on the West Coast (behind Los Angeles and the Bay Area). The addition of a third team on the West Coast also would balance out the addition of Kansas City. Also, there was no real competition from other pro teams. While Seattle had just landed the NBA's SuperSonics, the NBA was not in the same class as baseball was in terms of popularity at the time.
To the surprise of no one outside Seattle (Schultz and Milkes actually thought they could finish third in the newly formed AL West), the Pilots were terrible. They won their very first game, and then their home opener three days later, but only won five more times in the first month and never recovered. They finished last in the West with a record of 64-98, 33 games out of first.
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