Milwaukee Brewers Baseball - Memories of the Braves & More

Baseball and Memories

Writing about the Milwaukee Brewers baseball team my mind goes way back to childhood memories. Why is that? The very first professional baseball game that my family enjoyed seeing was in Milwaukee, Wisconsin at the stadium that my grandfather (along with others) had been instrumental in bringing to the city. Of course back then the first professional baseball team that played there was not the Brewers but the Milwaukee Braves.

Take Me Out To The Ballgame

I have some old yellowed newspaper clippings from the Milwaukee Sentinel newspaper. One is dated in 1953 where my grandfather was being presented an achievement award from the Milwaukee Board of Realtors for "outstanding service to his profession and community." It was an annual award given to just one recipient.

My grandfather had been a past president of the Milwaukee Board of Realtors and also a director for many years. Among other accolades it mentions his being "a member of the Milwaukee board's budget and finance committee and was chairman of the board's taxation, city planning and property owner's committees.

It also goes on to say in print that he "...was a strong supporter of the county stadium and expressway program."

My grandpa had done all sorts of other important things, but being influential in bringing the stadium to Milwaukee which then attracted the Braves baseball team was just one of his many accomplishments. The year of 1957 when the Braves won the World Series was so exciting!

Singing the song..."Take me out to the Ball Game..." was a ritual as our family of five drove in from Oconomowoc to Milwaukee each time to watch Hank Aaron and others perform their magic on field.

The Milwaukee Brewers

The Milwaukee Brewers started out playing in the American League in the City of Seattle, Washington. The year was 1969 and they were called the Seattle Pilots. There is a large airplane building business in Seattle...thus the appropriate name. But their tenure there only lasted one year due to being under financed and not having a good place to play among other considerations.

Milwaukee car salesman Bud Selig purchased the team and had them moved to Milwaukee. Bud Selig also happens to be the current MLB (Major League Baseball) Commissioner.

In 1997 the Milwaukee Brewers (another appropriately named team due to the large beer industry in Milwaukee) moved from the American League to the National League.

Baseball Stadiums

A brand new stadium called Miller Park (notice the beer name?) opened in 2001. It has a retractable roof and seats 41,900 people with standing room for even more than that number.

The old Milwaukee County Stadium actually seated 10,000 more people but obviously the new stadium has updated offerings for its fans because of its newness.

Hall of Fame

These baseball players have at one time or another all played for the Milwaukee Brewers and have also been inducted into the Hall of Fame.

These are the notables to date:

• Hank Aaron
• Robin Yount
• Rollie Fingers
• Paul Molitor
• and Don Sutton.

Hank Aaron was a favorite of ours when we first saw the Milwaukee Braves playing their games at the County Stadium in the 1950s. In later years he also helped the Brewers with his prowess as a great baseball player.

• Hank Aaron was the first person to shatter the home run record of the famous Babe Ruth!

Klement's Racing Sausages

The Milwaukee Brewers fans are treated to a little fun before the bottom of the 6th inning at Miller Park with five mascots dressed as various types of sausages. They conduct a race with one becoming victorious each time. Beer and sausage...who says these Milwaukee fans can't have a bit of fun at their baseball games! Ha-ha!

Bernie Brewer is their other mascot who cheers on winning Brewer baseball moves by taking a ride down a slide that is built into the stadium.

Baseball Played at Home

My dad mowed a field adjacent to our home and marked out a baseball diamond where we would play baseball games in the summer. It was a fun time for us as a family and also gave us something to do when we had visiting relatives or friends.

Naturally the drives into Milwaukee from Oconomowoc to see the professional teams playing was a special treat!

Our family moved to Texas in 1960. The Braves who played baseball in Milwaukee from 1953 to 1965 have since moved to Atlanta. Naturally had we still lived near Milwaukee we would have taken an interest in the team that came after the Braves, that being the Milwaukee Brewers.

Baseball

The Milwaukee Brewers are members of the Central Division of what used to be called the Baseball National League. The American League and National League merged together in the year of 2000 and are now simply a part of a team called the Major League Baseball which differentiates it from Minor League players.

Other Central Division teams are the following:

• Chicago Cubs
• Cincinnati Reds
• Houston Astros
• Pittsburgh Pirates
• and the St. Louis Cardinals.

The East and West Divisions each have 5 member teams making a total of 16 teams that play in the National League.

The Milwaukee Brewers have had their ups and downs as far as scoring seasons, but continue to entertain Milwaukee baseball fans and others who live outside of the Milwaukee, Wisconsin area.