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 is ...

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 ...

Brewers moved to St. Louis and became the

St. Louis Browns The St. Louis Browns were a Major League Baseball team that originated in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, as the Milwaukee Brewers. A charter member of the American League (AL), the Brewers moved to St. Louis, Missouri, after the 1901 season, where they p ...

. The Brewers were an independent club except for 1929-1933, when they were owned by Phil Ball as an affiliate of his

, and from October 1946 through their final days, when

Lou Perini Louis Robert Perini (November 29, 1903 in Ashland, MassachusettsApril 16, 1972 in West Palm Beach, Florida) was the principal owner of the Boston / Milwaukee Braves of the National League from 1945 through 1962. In 1945, he purchased the club fr ...

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, 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 Br ...

(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 located ...

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 Charles Dillon "Casey" Stengel (; July 30, 1890 – September 29, 1975) was an American Major League Baseball right fielder and manager, best known as the manager of the championship New York Yankees of the 1950s and later, the expansion New York ...

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, as manager of the transplanted Milwaukee Braves, 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

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 List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...

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 Oriole or Orioles may refer to: Animals * Old World oriole, colorful passerine birds in the family Oriolidae * New World oriole, a group of birds in the family Icteridae Music * The Orioles, an R&B and doo-wop group of the late 1940s and earl ...

. 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 ...

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

moved his Boston Braves to Milwaukee. The Brewers moved to Toledo, became the

Sox Sox most often refers to: * Boston Red Sox, an MLB team * Chicago White Sox, an MLB team * An alternate spelling of socks Sox may also refer to: Places * SOX, Sogamoso Airport's IATA airport code, an airport in Colombia Computing and technolo ...

, and continued the Brewers' winning ways, claiming an

pennant in their first season in

Ohio Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...

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 498,715 ...

in 1966, 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 as ...

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, professional baseball team based in Seattle, Washington (state), Washington during the 1969 Major League Baseball season. During their single-season existence, the Pilots played their ho ...

franchise in the spring of

1970 Events January * January 1 – Unix time epoch reached at 00:00:00 UTC. * January 5 – The 7.1 Tonghai earthquake shakes Tonghai County, Yunnan province, China, with a maximum Mercalli intensity scale, Mercalli intensity of X (''Extrem ...

, 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 Republican People's Party, CHP, forms the new government of Turkey (42nd go ...

. 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 The Southern Association was a higher-level minor league in American organized baseball from 1901 through 1961. For most of its existence, the Southern Association was two steps below the Major Leagues; it was graded Class A (1902–1935), Cl ...

. * 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 Borchert Field was a baseball park in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, United States. The home field for several professional baseball clubs from 1888 through 1952, it became obsolete after the construction of County Stadium in 1953 and was demolished la ...

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) NFC North, North division. It ...

, 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 division. ...

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

West Allis West Allis is a city in Milwaukee County, Wisconsin, United States. A suburb of Milwaukee, it is part of the Milwaukee metropolitan area. The population was 60,325 at the 2020 census. History The name West Allis derives from Edward P. 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 *

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

* Frank O'Rourke *

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 Nicholas Altrock (September 15, 1876 – January 20, 1965) was an American professional baseball player and coach. He played in the major leagues as a left-handed pitcher between 1898 and 1919. After the 1919 season he continued to make periodic ...

Sam Bohne Samuel Arthur Bohne ('' né'' Cohen; October 22, 1896 – May 23, 1977) was a American second baseman, shortstop and third baseman who played six seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB). Early life Bohne was born Samuel Arthur Cohen to Louis Coh ...

(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 t ...

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 Oscar Emil "Happy" Felsch (August 22, 1891 – August 17, 1964) was an American center fielder in Major League Baseball who played for the Chicago White Sox from 1915 to 1920.

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. ...

Bill Herring William Francis "Smoke" Herring (October 31, 1893 – September 10, 1962) was a Major League Baseball pitcher. He pitched in three games for the Brooklyn Tip-Tops of the Federal League The Federal League of Base Ball Clubs, known simp ...

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 * Stoney McGlynn * Hal Peck * Newt Randall *

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 *

Rollie Stiles Rolland Mays Stiles (November 17, 1906 – July 22, 2007) was an American right-handed pitcher in Major League Baseball who played for the St. Louis Browns from to . Born in Ratcliff, Arkansas, he batted and threw right-handed, and was 9–14 w ...

* 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 car ...

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