The Milwaukee Brewers were a minor league baseball team based in

Milwaukee Milwaukee ( ), officially the City of Milwaukee, is both the most populous and most densely populated city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the county seat of Milwaukee County. With a population of 577,222 at the 2020 census, Milwaukee i ...

Wisconsin Wisconsin () is a state in the upper Midwestern United States. Wisconsin is the 25th-largest state by total area and the 20th-most populous. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake M ...

. They played in the

American Association American Association may refer to: Baseball * American Association (1882–1891), a major league active from 1882 to 1891 * American Association (1902–1997), a minor league active from 1902 to 1962 and 1969 to 1997 * American Association of Profe ...

from 1902 through 1952. The 1944 and 1952 Brewers were recognized as being among the 100 greatest minor league teams of all time.

Franchise history

A Milwaukee tradition

The nickname "Brewers" has been used by baseball teams since at least the 1880s, although none of the early clubs ever enjoyed a measure of success or stability. That would change with Milwaukee's entry into the

, which would last 50 years and provide the city's springboard into the major leagues.

American Association

The American Association Milwaukee Brewers were founded in 1902, after the

American League The American League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the American League (AL), is one of two leagues that make up Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada. It developed from the Western League, a minor league b ...

Brewers moved to St. Louis and became the St. Louis Browns. The Brewers were an independent club except for 1929-1933, when they were owned by Phil Ball as an affiliate of his St. Louis Browns, and from October 1946 through their final days, when Lou Perini owned the club and operated the Brewers as the AAA-affiliate of the Boston Braves. The Brewers won their first American Association championship in 1913 and repeated the next year. More than 20 years passed before they claimed another with a club in 1936. In 1943–1945, the team won three consecutive pennants, and after the following season the Brewers were purchased by the

Boston Braves The Atlanta Braves, a current Major League Baseball franchise, originated in Boston, Massachusetts. This article details the history of the Boston Braves, from 1871 to 1952, after which they moved to Milwaukee, and then to Atlanta. During it ...

, and became their Triple-A affiliate for six seasons (1947–1952). 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 William Louis Veeck Jr. ( ; February 9, 1914 – January 2, 1986), also known as "Sport Shirt Bill", was an American Major League Baseball franchise owner and promoter. Veeck was at various times the owner of the Cleveland Indians, St. Louis B ...

(son of former

Chicago Cubs The Chicago Cubs are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The Cubs compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as part of the National League (NL) Central division. The club plays its home games at Wrigley Field, which is locate ...

president

William Veeck, Sr. William Louis Veeck Sr. (January 20, 1876 – October 5, 1933) was an American sportswriter and baseball executive. He was president of the Chicago Cubs from 1919 to his death in October, 1933. Under Veeck's leadership, the Cubs won two pennants, i ...

) in a partnership with former Cubs star

Charlie Grimm Charles John Grimm (August 28, 1898 – November 15, 1983), nicknamed "Jolly Cholly", was an American professional baseball player and manager. He played in Major League Baseball as a first baseman, most notably for the Chicago Cubs; he was als ...

. 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 won the American Association pennant in 1944, and Stengel's managerial career was resurrected. After three consecutive pennants, Veeck sold his interest in the Brewers after for a $275,000 profit after the 1945 season. Grimm returned to Milwaukee twice more during the early 1950s. The Braves named him manager of the Brewers for 1951 and he again enjoyed huge success, winning an American Association title in 1951 and leading the Brewers to first place over the first two months of the 1952 campaign before his promotion to skipper of the MLB Braves May 31. Then, in

1953 Events January * January 6 – The Asian Socialist Conference opens in Rangoon, Burma. * January 12 – Estonian émigrés found a government-in-exile in Oslo. * January 14 ** Marshal Josip Broz Tito is chosen President of Yugosl ...

, as manager of the transplanted

Milwaukee Braves The Atlanta Braves are an American professional baseball team based in the Atlanta metropolitan area. The Braves compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) East division. The Braves were founded in Bos ...

, he led the city's first National League team to three first division finishes (1953–1955).

The coming of the Braves

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 1952, but his move was vetoed by the other American League owners; the Browns moved to

Baltimore Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic, and the 30th most populous city in the United States with a population of 585,708 in 2020. Baltimore was ...

1954 Events January * January 1 – The Soviet Union ceases to demand war reparations from West Germany. * January 3 – The Italian broadcaster RAI officially begins transmitting. * January 7 – Georgetown-IBM experiment: The fir ...

and became the Orioles. The city of Milwaukee, hoping to attract a major league club, constructed

Milwaukee County Stadium Milwaukee County Stadium was a multi-purpose stadium in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Opened in 1953, it was primarily a baseball park for Major League Baseball's Milwaukee Braves and later the Milwaukee Brewers. It was also used for Green Bay Packers f ...

for the 1953 season. The Brewers were set to move in, until spring training of

, when Lou Perini moved his

to Milwaukee. The Brewers moved to Toledo, became the Sox, and continued the Brewers' winning ways, claiming an

pennant in their first season in

Ohio Ohio () is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Of the List of states and territories of the United States, fifty U.S. states, it is the List of U.S. states and territories by area, 34th-l ...

Legacy – Return of the Brewers

The legacy of the American Association Milwaukee Brewers continues in the major league

Milwaukee Brewers The Milwaukee Brewers are an American professional baseball team based in Milwaukee. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) National League Central, Central division. The Brewers are named for t ...

, which took its name from the 1902–1952 club. After the Braves moved to

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,7 ...

1966 Events January * January 1 – In a coup, Colonel Jean-Bédel Bokassa takes over as military ruler of the Central African Republic, ousting President David Dacko. * January 3 – 1966 Upper Voltan coup d'état: President Maurice Yaméogo ...

, local automobile dealer and Braves part-owner

Bud Selig Allan Huber "Bud" Selig (; born July 30, 1934) is an American baseball executive who currently serves as the Commissioner Emeritus of Baseball. Previously, he served as the ninth Commissioner of Baseball from 1998 to 2015. He initially served a ...

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 The Barrelman is a mascot logo used by two baseball teams in Milwaukee nicknamed "Brewers". Introduction The character was first used in the 1940s by the Milwaukee Brewers, a Minor League Baseball team based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. At the time ...

in navy and red – traditional Brewers colors. When Bud Selig bought the one-year-old

Seattle Pilots The Seattle Pilots were an American professional baseball team based in Seattle, Washington during the 1969 Major League Baseball season. During their single-season existence, the Pilots played their home games at Sick's Stadium and were a mem ...

franchise in the spring of 1970, he moved them to Milwaukee and they officially became the "new" major-league

. The club continued to use the Beer Barrel Man (though in the Pilots' original colors of blue and gold) as the team's primary logo until

1978 Events January * January 1 – Air India Flight 855, a Boeing 747 passenger jet, crashes off the coast of Bombay, killing 213. * January 5 – Bülent Ecevit, of CHP, forms the new government of Turkey (42nd government). * January 6 ...

. Recently, it has seen a resurgence on throwback merchandise, and been featured on several stadium promotions.

American Association championships

The Milwaukee Brewers won eight pennants in their fifty-one seasons: * 1913, 1914 * 1936 * 1943, 1944, 1945 * 1951, 1952

Minor League championships

Championship series appearances

Before the

Junior World Series The Junior World Series was a postseason championship series between champions of two of the three highest minor league baseball leagues modeled on the World Series of Major League Baseball. It was called the Little World Series (no relation to ...

became an annual event, the American Association pennant winners scheduled postseason minor league championship series against the champions of other leagues. For the Brewers' first two championships, these were held against the Denver Grizzlies of the Western League and

Birmingham Barons The Birmingham Barons are a Minor League Baseball team based in Birmingham, Alabama. The team, which plays in the Southern League, is the Double-A affiliate of the Chicago White Sox and plays at Regions Field in downtown Birmingham. The current ...

of the Southern Association. * 1913 – defeated Denver, 4 games to 2 * 1914 – defeated Birmingham, 4 games to 2

Junior World Series appearances

After 1919, the Junior World Series was held regularly between the

and the

International League The International League (IL) is a Minor League Baseball league that operates in the United States. Along with the Pacific Coast League, it is one of two leagues playing at the Triple-A level, which is one grade below Major League Baseball ( ...

. For the 1936 season, the American Association introduced a Shaughnessy playoff between the league champions and three runners-up to determine the league's representative. * 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 The Polo Grounds was the name of three stadiums in Upper Manhattan, New York City, used mainly for professional baseball and American football from 1880 through 1963. The original Polo Grounds, opened in 1876 and demolished in 1889, was built fo ...

had a similar, but larger, configuration. Borchert Field was also the first Milwaukee home park for the

Green Bay Packers The Green Bay Packers are a professional American football team based in Green Bay, Wisconsin. The Packers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the National Football Conference (NFC) North division. It is the t ...

, who played the

New York Giants The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Giants compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East divisio ...

on Oct. 1, 1933. The following year, the Packers moved their Milwaukee games to the Wisconsin State Fair Grounds in West Allis.

Interstate 43 Interstate 43 (I-43) is a Interstate Highway located entirely within the US state of Wisconsin, connecting I-39/I-90 in Beloit with Milwaukee and I-41, U.S. Highway 41 (US 41) and US 141 in Green Bay. State Trunk Highway ...

now runs through where Borchert Field once stood.

Notable figures

Notable Owners *

* Lou Perini Notable managers * "Pongo Joe" Cantillon * Nick Cullop * Rip Egan *

* Frank O'Rourke * Casey Stengel *

Allen Sothoron AllenFaber, Charles"Allen Sothoron" SABR Biography Project Sutton Sothoron (April 27, 1893 – June 17, 1939) was an American professional baseball player, coach and manager. As a player, he was a spitball pitcher who spent 11 years in the majo ...

* Red Smith *

Bucky Walters William Henry "Bucky" Walters (April 19, 1909 – April 20, 1991) was an American professional baseball pitcher who played in Major League Baseball from 1931 to 1950. He was a six-time All-Star and the 1939 National League Most Valuable Player. ...

Notable players George Stone baseball card

* Nick Altrock * Sam Bohne (originally "Sam Cohen") *

Bill Bruton William Havon Bruton (November 9, 1925 – December 5, 1995) was a Major League Baseball (MLB) center fielder who played for the Milwaukee Braves (1953–1960) and Detroit Tigers (1961–1964). Bruton batted left-handed and threw right-handed. C ...

Gene Conley Donald Eugene Conley (November 10, 1930 – July 4, 2017) was an American professional baseball and basketball player. He played as a pitcher for four teams in Major League Baseball (MLB) from 1952 to 1963. Conley also played as a forward in ...

Alvin Dark Alvin Ralph Dark (January 7, 1922 – November 13, 2014), nicknamed "Blackie" and "The Swamp Fox", was an American professional baseball shortstop and manager. He played fourteen years in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Boston/Milwaukee Bra ...

Jack Dittmer John Douglas "Jack" Dittmer (January 10, 1928 – May 31, 2014) was a Major League Baseball second baseman. He played six seasons in the majors, from until , for the Boston / Milwaukee Braves and Detroit Tigers. As an amateur, Dittmer was a t ...

* Claude Elliott * Happy Felsch *

Joe Hauser Joseph John Hauser (January 21, 1899 – July 11, 1997), nicknamed "Unser Choe", was an American professional baseball player who was a first baseman in the major leagues from 1922 to 1929, with the Philadelphia Athletics and Cleveland Indians. H ...

* Bill Herring *

Chet Laabs Chester Peter Laabs (April 30, 1912 – January 26, 1983) was an American baseball right-handed outfielder. He played professional baseball from 1935 to 1950, including 11 seasons in Major League Baseball for the Detroit Tigers (1937–1939), St. ...

Don Liddle Donald Eugene Liddle (May 25, 1925 – June 5, 2000) was an American left-handed pitcher in professional baseball who played four seasons in the Major Leagues for the Milwaukee Braves, New York Giants and St. Louis Cardinals from 1953 through 1 ...

Wes Livengood Wesley Amos Livengood (July 18, 1910 – September 2, 1996) was an American professional baseball player, scout and manager, including some time spent as a minor league player-manager. A right-handed pitcher born in Salisbury, North Carolina, ...

* Johnny Logan *

Eddie Mathews Edwin Lee Mathews (October 13, 1931 – February 18, 2001) was an American Major League Baseball (MLB) third baseman. He played 17 seasons for Boston / Milwaukee / Atlanta Braves (1952–1966); Houston Astros (1967) and Detroit Tigers (1967� ...

Gene Mauch Gene William Mauch (November 18, 1925 – August 8, 2005) was an American professional baseball player and manager, who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a second baseman for the Brooklyn Dodgers (, ), Pittsburgh Pirates (), Chicago Cub ...

* Stoney McGlynn *

Hal Peck Harold Arthur "Hal" Peck (April 20, 1917 – April 13, 1995) was an American professional baseball right fielder. He played seven seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) from 1943 to 1949 for the Brooklyn Dodgers, Philadelphia Athletics, and Cleve ...

Newt Randall Newton John Randall (February 3, 1880 – May 3, 1955) was an outfielder in Major League Baseball. He played for the Chicago Cubs and Boston Doves The Atlanta Braves, a current Major League Baseball franchise, originated in Boston, Massachu ...

Ray Schalk Raymond William Schalk (August 12, 1892 – May 19, 1970) was an American professional baseball player, coach, manager and scout. He played as a catcher in Major League Baseball for the Chicago White Sox for the majority of his career. Known f ...

Al Simmons Aloysius Harry Simmons (May 22, 1902 – May 26, 1956), born Alois Szymanski, was an American professional baseball player. Nicknamed "Bucketfoot Al", he played for two decades in Major League Baseball (MLB) as an outfielder and had his best year ...

Floyd Speer Vernie Floyd Speer (January 27, 1913 – March 22, 1969) was an American professional baseball pitcher. He was born on January 27, 1913, in Booneville, Arkansas. He attended Booneville High School, where he starred in baseball. His twin brother, ...

* Rollie Stiles * George Stone, AL batting title champion *

Jim Thorpe James Francis Thorpe ( Sac and Fox (Sauk): ''Wa-Tho-Huk'', translated as "Bright Path"; May 22 or 28, 1887March 28, 1953) was an American athlete and Olympic gold medalist. A member of the Sac and Fox Nation, Thorpe was the first Native ...

Rudy York Preston Rudolph York (August 17, 1913 – February 5, 1970) was an American professional baseball player, coach, scout, and manager. He played in Major League Baseball as a catcher and a first baseman between and , most notably as a member of the ...

Ed Walsh Edward Augustine "Big Ed" Walsh (May 14, 1881 – May 26, 1959) was an American pitcher and manager in Major League Baseball. From 1906 to 1912, he had several seasons where he was one of the best pitchers in baseball. Injuries shortened his c ...

References

External links

The history of the Brewers' Beer Barrel ManTop 100 Minor League teams of the 20th Century #54: 1952 Milwaukee BrewersTop 100 Minor League teams of the 20th Century #100: 1944 Milwaukee BrewersAmerican Association Almanac entry on the Milwaukee Brewers
*{{Cite magazine , date=2022-04-25 , title=The Other Milwaukee Brewers , url=https://www.milwaukeemag.com/the-other-milwaukee-brewers/ , access-date=2022-05-02 , work=Milwaukee Magazine , language=en-US Defunct American Association (1902–1997) teams Baseball in Milwaukee Defunct baseball teams in Wisconsin 1902 establishments in Wisconsin Sports clubs disestablished in 1952 Baseball teams established in 1902 St. Louis Browns minor league affiliates Cleveland Guardians minor league affiliates Chicago Cubs minor league affiliates Chicago White Sox minor league affiliates Boston Braves minor league affiliates Baseball teams disestablished in 1952