The Milwaukee Milkmen are an

independent baseball Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s * Independen ...

team based in Franklin, Wisconsin. They are members of the

American Association of Professional Baseball The American Association of Professional Baseball is an independent professional baseball league founded in 2005. It operates in the central United States and Canada, mostly in cities not served by Major League Baseball teams or their minor lea ...

, an official Partner League of

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

. They began play in 2019 and play home games at

Franklin Field Franklin Field is a sports stadium in Philadelphia, United States, at the eastern edge of the University of Pennsylvania's campus. It is the home stadium for the Penn Relays, and the University of Pennsylvania's stadium for football, track and fi ...

(formerly known as Routine Field).

History

Inception 2018

The Milwaukee Milkmen were announced in February 2018, as an expansion team in the American Association of professional baseball, scheduled to begin play for the 2019 season. The team was originally announced as the thirteenth team in the league, but upon the conclusion of the 2018 season the

Wichita Wingnuts The Wichita Wingnuts were an independent baseball team based in Wichita, Kansas, in the United States. The Wingnuts were members of the South Division of the American Association of Professional Baseball. An expansion franchise in the 2008 seas ...

suspended operations after they lost their stadium to make way for a new stadium for the MiLB AA Witchita Wind Surge. The Milkmen nickname was chosen to reflect Wisconsin's reputation as "America's Dairyland." Milkmen was among ten finalists in a "Name the Team" contest which also included: Barn Owls, Bovines, Broilers, Cheesers, Cow Tippers, Crop Dusters, Farmhands, Haymakers, and War Pigs.

First season

May 16, 2019, the Milwaukee Milkmen began their first season. Their first game was a 13-inning affair against the

St. Paul Saints The St. Paul Saints are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League and the Triple-A affiliate of the Minnesota Twins. They are located in Saint Paul, Minnesota, and have played their home games at CHS Field since 2015. They prev ...

. The game included a delay due to a power failure at

CHS Field CHS Field is a baseball park in downtown Saint Paul, Minnesota. It is home to the St. Paul Saints of the International League of Minor League Baseball, as well as home to Hamline University's baseball team. With the Saints' affiliation to the M ...

. In the end, the Milkmen walked away from game with their first win, 5-4. Due to construction delays on their new stadium Routine Field, the Milwaukee Milkmen played their first 13 home games at

Kokomo Municipal Stadium Kokomo Municipal Stadium is a baseball stadium in Kokomo, Indiana, United States. The Kokomo Jackrabbits of the college summer Northwoods League, and the Kokomo Wildkats (local high school) use Kokomo Municipal Stadium as their home field. Othe ...

Indiana Indiana () is a U.S. state in the Midwestern United States. It is the 38th-largest by area and the 17th-most populous of the 50 States. Its capital and largest city is Indianapolis. Indiana was admitted to the United States as the 19th s ...

. Kokomo is the home to the

Kokomo Jackrabbits The Kokomo Jackrabbits are a college summer baseball team based in Kokomo, Indiana. They are a member of the summer collegiate Northwoods League, beginning with the 2019 season. Previously, the team played in the Prospect League. The Jackrabbits p ...

of the

Northwoods league The Northwoods League is a collegiate summer baseball wooden bat league. All players in the league must have NCAA eligibility remaining in order to participate. The league is amateur, and players are not paid, so as to maintain their college el ...

, and are owned by the parent company of Milwaukee Milkmen. The Milkmen also hired the former Jackrabbits Manager

Gary McClure Gary McClure is a former American college baseball coach, formerly serving as head coach of the Austin Peay Governors baseball program. He was named to that position prior to the 1988 season. With 847 wins, McClure is the winningest coach in Au ...

to be their first manager. The Milkmen's Kokomo opener was May 24, where the fell to the Chicago Dogs 5-4. The Milkmen opened Routine field on June 24 against the

Gary SouthShore RailCats The Gary SouthShore RailCats are a professional baseball team based in Gary, Indiana, in the United States. The RailCats are members of the American Association of Professional Baseball, an official Partner League of Major League Baseball. The Rai ...

. The Milkmen lost the game, 3-2 in 11 innings. The team finished their first season with a record of 38–62. Routine field was renamed after the 2019 season to Franklin Field after a naming rights dispute. (See .)

First championship

The Milkmen began their second year with new manager Anthony Barone at the helm, and the 2020 season in question due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

. The league, determined to hold a season, was able to find a way for six teams to play a 60 game shortened season. The Milkmen were one of the six American Association teams that continued forward with the season. There was a dispersal draft of the players on the six teams that sat out the season, allowing them the opportunity to play, and return to their original team at the end of the season. The league also suspended the leagues roster years of service rules for the season. While the

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 ...

were playing across town with no fans in the stands, the American Association had a unique policy to allow fans. Due to this the Milkmen were able to play in front of limited capacity crowds throughout the regular season and championship. The season got off to a rocky start with the third game of the opening series with the

Chicago Dogs The Chicago Dogs are an independent professional baseball team based in Rosemont, Illinois. They are members of the American Association of Professional Baseball, an official Partner League of Major League Baseball. They began play in 2018 and p ...

getting canceled due to a positive COVID-19 test. The Milkmen finished the season with a record of 34-26, and won their first championship over

Sioux Falls Sioux Falls () is the most populous city in the U.S. state of South Dakota and the 130th-most populous city in the United States. It is the county seat of Minnehaha County and also extends into Lincoln County to the south, which continues up t ...

in five games.

Mascot

The Milkmen official

mascot A mascot is any human, animal, or object thought to bring luck, or anything used to represent a group with a common public identity, such as a school, professional sports team, society, military unit, or brand name. Mascots are also used as fi ...

is an

anthropomorphic Anthropomorphism is the attribution of human traits, emotions, or intentions to non-human entities. It is considered to be an innate tendency of human psychology. Personification is the related attribution of human form and characteristics t ...

bull named Bo Vine. He wears a white pinstriped uniform with the number 2% in reference to 2% milk. Bo Vine's name is based on the word

bovine Bovines (subfamily Bovinae) comprise a diverse group of 10 genera of medium to large-sized ungulates, including cattle, bison, African buffalo, water buffalos, and the four-horned and spiral-horned antelopes. The evolutionary relationship betwee ...

pertaining to cattle.

Season-by-season records

Roster

Notable alumni

Manny Corpas Manuel Corpas (born December 3, 1982) is a Panamanian professional baseball pitcher for the Martinez Sturgeon of the Pecos League. He previously played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Colorado Rockies and Chicago Cubs. Career Colorado ...

(2019) *

TJ House Glenn Anthony "TJ" House (born September 29, 1989) is an American former professional baseball pitcher. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Cleveland Indians and Toronto Blue Jays from 2014 to 2017. Early life House was born in Slide ...

(2019) * Joey Wagman (2019) *

Henderson Álvarez Henderson Javier Álvarez (born April 18, 1990) is a Venezuelan professional baseball pitcher for the Leones de Yucatán of the Mexican League. He has played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Toronto Blue Jays from 2011 through 2012, the Mi ...

(2020) *

Anthony Bender Anthony Wayne Bender (born February 3, 1995) is an American professional baseball pitcher for the Miami Marlins of Major League Baseball (MLB). He played college baseball for Santa Rosa Junior College. He was drafted by the Kansas City Royals wi ...

(2020) *

Tim Dillard Timothy Charles Dillard (born July 19, 1983) is an American former professional baseball pitcher who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Milwaukee Brewers. He is a pregame and postgame analyst for Brewers television broadcasts on Bally ...

(2020) * Drew Hutchison (2020) * A. J. Schugel (2020) * David Washington (2020–2021) *

David Holmberg David A. Holmberg (born July 19, 1991) is an American professional baseball pitcher who is a free agent. He has played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Arizona Diamondbacks, Cincinnati Reds, and Chicago White Sox. Career Chicago White Sox ...

(2020–2021) *

Adam Brett Walker Adam Brett Walker II (born October 18, 1991) is an American professional baseball outfielder for the Yomiuri Giants of Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB). He was drafted by the Minnesota Twins in the 3rd round of the 2012 Major League Baseball d ...

(2019–2021) *

Brian Johnson Brian Johnson (born 5 October 1947) is an English singer and songwriter. In 1980, after the death of Bon Scott, he became the third lead singer of the Australian rock band AC/DC. He and the rest of the band were inducted into the Rock and Rol ...

(2021) * Misael Siverio (2021)

Managers

Player awards

— 2020 Player of the year *Peyton Gray — 2020 Rookie of the year *Brett Vertigan — 2020 Defensive player of the year *

— 2021 Player of the year

References

External links

* * {{Wisconsin Sports American Association of Professional Baseball teams Professional baseball teams in Wisconsin 2018 establishments in Wisconsin Baseball teams established in 2018 Baseball in Milwaukee Milwaukee County, Wisconsin Sports in the Milwaukee metropolitan area