In 1936, the Milwaukee Brewers – who, of course, played at the now-vanished Borchert Field – won the American Association title. But they didn't stop there.
The Brewers then faced – and beat – the rival International League champion Buffalo Bisons to win the Little World Series.
The 75th anniversary of that victory was the impetus for a compact exhibition at the Central Milwaukee Public Library, 814 W. Wisconsin Ave., that will delight baseball fans. You can find it upstairs, across from the Frank P. Zeidler Humanities Room.
More than a half-dozen display cases contain a wealth of Brew City diamond treasures from 1936 and beyond.
There are vintage jerseys, autographed player photographs, signed baseballs, game-used bats, programs, game tickets and more.
One especially eye-catching item is the cup the team won in 1931 for having the largest opening day attendance in the American Association that year.
Also fun for baseball die-hards is the case containing vintage bats from the likes of Art "Whattaman" Shires, George "Bingo" Binks, 1922 batting champ Glenn Myatt and 1947 batting title winner Heinz Becker.
In conjunction with the exhibition, the Society for American Baseball Research's Ken Keltner Badger State Chapter holds its meeting this weekend at the library's Centennial Hall, 733 N. 8th St.
The meeting – free and open to the public – starts at 11 a.m. on Saturday, May 7 and will feature a panel that includes former Brewers and Braves players Johnny Logan and Bert Thiel, Bill Topitzes, who worked for the AA Brewers and Dennis Pajot, author of two books about Milwaukee baseball.
The panel is moderated by baseball historian Bob Buege, who has written two books about the Milwaukee Braves.
In addition, Pajot will do a presentation on Otto Borchert.
While we're on the subject, don't miss the great "old Brewers" site, borchertfield.com.
Born in Brooklyn, N.Y., where he lived until he was 17, Bobby received his BA-Mass Communications from UWM in 1989 and has lived in Walker's Point, Bay View, Enderis Park, South Milwaukee and on the East Side.
He has published three non-fiction books in Italy – including one about an event in Milwaukee history, which was published in the U.S. in autumn 2010. Four more books, all about Milwaukee, have been published by The History Press.
With his most recent band, The Yell Leaders, Bobby released four LPs and had a songs featured in episodes of TV's "Party of Five" and "Dawson's Creek," and films in Japan, South America and the U.S. The Yell Leaders were named the best unsigned band in their region by VH-1 as part of its Rock Across America 1998 Tour. Most recently, the band contributed tracks to a UK vinyl/CD tribute to the Redskins and collaborated on a track with Italian novelist Enrico Remmert.
He's produced three installments of the "OMCD" series of local music compilations for OnMilwaukee.com and in 2007 produced a CD of Italian music and poetry.
In 2005, he was awarded the City of Asti's (Italy) Journalism Prize for his work focusing on that area. He has also won awards from the Milwaukee Press Club.
He has be heard on 88Nine Radio Milwaukee talking about his "Urban Spelunking" series of stories, in that station's most popular podcast.
