For Milwaukeeans, numbed by the Brewers' consecutive losing seasons, the start of another baseball season might hardly be noticed. Yet, the rich tradition that makes Milwaukee "major league" cannot be denied, and the memories of the city's special place in baseball history offers the promise and the hope that the "glory days," complete with parades on Wisconsin Avenue and cheering fans beneath a mid-summer night's sky, will return.
Milwaukee has been a part of Major League Baseball since the city fielded a National League team in 1878. That relationship was temporarily interrupted in 1905 when the Brewers debuted in the AAA American Association, but the city fathers and mothers never lost hope. In fact, Milwaukee County built a state-of-the-art major league stadium in 1950 without a team to occupy it.
Three years later, the local visionaries were vindicated when the National League's Boston Braves packed their belongings and set up shop on the western shore of Lake Michigan. What glorious years those were for baseball and for the local populace. Milwaukee broke all major league attendance records. Everyone who was anyone, and a few who were not, made the trek to Milwaukee County Stadium and saw the beloved home town team win two National League championships and bring consecutive World Series to Brew City in 1957 and 1958.
In their first attempt at national stardom, the Braves were crowned world champions by defeating the New York Yankees. Three local players, Warren Spahn, Henry Aaron and Eddie Matthews, distinguished themselves as the elite of the national pastime and were eventually enshrined in the Baseball Hall of Fame. Spahn won more games than any left-handed pitcher in baseball history. Aaron, who ended his illustrious career with the later-day Brewers, surpassed the legendary Babe Ruth to become the most proficient home run hitter in the game's history.
And, then they were gone; casualties of television market ratings. The stadium stood silent, but not for long.
Following the Braves departure for Atlanta in 1966, a group of local civic leaders, headed by Alan H. "Bud" Selig, arranged for the Chicago White Sox to play a portion of their home schedule at Milwaukee County Stadium. On April 1, 1970, a Federal judge awarded the bankrupt Seattle Pilots franchise of the American League to a group headed by Selig. Major league baseball was back in Milwaukee.
The Milwaukee Brewers' road to national prominence was long and arduous, but by the late 1970s, the team was a force to be reckoned with. In 1981, they won the second half of the American League East's strike shortened season and made their post-season debut. It was a magical year for the Brewers and for their ace relief pitcher Rollie Fingers. The "man with the mustache" won both the Cy Young Award as the League's best pitcher and the American League Most Valuable Player Award.
The following year, 1982, the Brewers won the American League pennant and brought the fall classic back to Milwaukee. Even casual baseball fans were caught up in the excitement, despite the fact that the team fell to the St. Louis Cardinals in a dramatic seventh and final game.
Once again, the team swept the two major individual awards. Shortstop Robin Yount, known to local fans simply as "the kid," was named the American League Most Valuable Player and starting hurler Pete Vukovich captured the coveted Cy Young Award. Perhaps most notable of all, Milwaukee native and Brewers manager Harvey Kuenn, struggling to overcome a series of disabilities that ultimately took his life, stood in the national spotlight with grace, dignity and courage.
Although the Brewers have yet to return to post-season action, they have distinguished themselves in a variety of ways. In April 1987, the team began the season with a thirteen game winning streak, which tied a Major League record. Robin Yount, Rollie Fingers, Don Sutton and Henry Aaron were immortalized in the Baseball Hall of Fame. In June 1983, Sutton became the eighth pitcher in Major League history to strike out 3,000 batters in a career. In 1989, Yount, who had switched to the outfield, became only the third player in the game's history to win Most Valuable Player Awards at two different positions. In 1992, he became the seventeenth player in baseball annals to amass more than 3,000 base hits. Paul Molitor, a certain Hall of Famer when qualified for induction, hit safely in thirty-nine straight games in 1987; the fifth longest hitting streak in Major League history. In 1992, Pat Listach won the American League Rookie of the Year award.
Local baseball fans have witnessed many classic spectacles. On three occasions, in 1955, 1975 and 2002, Milwaukee served as the baseball capital of the nation by hosting Major League All Star Games. In 1959, Pittsburgh Pirates left handed pitcher Harvey Haddix threw twelve perfect innings at County Stadium. (Ironically, the Braves won the game in the 13th inning, and Haddix was tagged with a loss in the record books.)
In 1961, the legendary San Francisco Giant slugger, Willie Mays, tied a major league record by hitting four home runs in a single game at County Stadium. Playing against the Brewers in August 1982, Ricky Henderson of the Oakland Athletics stole his 119th base of the season and established the Major League record for stolen bases in a single season. Nolan Ryan of the Texas Rangers defeated the Brewers before a packed house at County Stadium on July 31, 1990, to win his 300th career game. (The Rangers' principal owner, George W. Bush, watched Ryan's victory from a box seat behind the third base dugout.)
In September 1998, during back to back series against the Brewers at County Stadium, Mark McGuire of the St. Louis Cardinals and Sammy Sosa of the Chicago Cubs continued their epic home run struggle. McGuire hit three home runs and Sosa hit two on their way to 70 and 66 home runs respectively.
Clearly, the last few years have been difficult ones for Milwaukee and its team, but the Brewers have a new home, a new management team and a new attitude. For those fans with a positive outlook on life and a firm connection to history, the new glory days may be just a few pitches away.
