Braves brought home crown in 1957

Milwaukee celebrates baseball legacy

WHEN THE Milwaukee Brewers open the season this month in Miller Park, the team will celebrate the 25th anniversary of the 1982 Brewer team that won the American League title before losing to the St. Louis Cardinals in the World Series.

But many fans at the opening-day game April 2 against the Los Angeles Dodgers will be thinking back 50 years to the Milwaukee Braves of the National League, who dispatched the hated New York Yankees in a memorable 1957 World Series.

Now back in the National League, the Brewers would do well to remember the only Milwaukee team to win a World Series, notes Bud Lea, long-time sportswriter and columnist for The Milwaukee Sentinel. He recently recalled for KEY Milwaukee the accomplishments that made the Milwaukee Braves one of the most celebrated teams in baseball history:

• They never had a losing season from the year they moved to Milwaukee from Boston in 1953 until leaving for Atlanta after the 1965 season.
  
  
• They were the first National League team to draw more than 2 million fans in a home season, playing in the relatively small confines of Milwaukee County Stadium. The home turnout in 1957 was baseball’s largest during the entire decade of the 1950s.
  
  
• They gave Milwaukee a chance to shrug off its inferiority complex toward Chicago by consistently beating the Cubs.

Lea remembers the homecoming Milwaukee gave the Braves in 1957. “It was the biggest celebration in Milwaukee history,” he notes. The sportswriter, who was just starting his long career, says the crowd of 750,000 exceeded subsequent sporting celebrations for the Milwaukee Bucks who won the National Basketball Association championship and Marquette University’s NCAA basketball champions.

Star-studded team

Ranked as one of the greatest teams in the history of baseball, the 1957 Braves had four Hall of Famers on their roster – Home-run king Hank Aaron; Eddie Mathews, rated as the third greatest third basemen of all time; second-baseman Red Schoendienst and Warren Spahn, one of the best left-handed starting pitchers of all time.

Despite the powerful lineup and outstanding pitchers, the Braves had been called the team from “bushville” by Yankee manager Casey Stengel prior to the World Series. The team from “bushville,” however, prevailed in seven games, ending with pitcher Lew Burdette’s second shutout of the series.

Aaron was only 23 in 1957, but his 44 home runs that year represented a career high and a total he didn’t reach again in Milwaukee until 1962. He won his only Most Valuable Player Award in 1957, beating Hall of Famers Stan Musial, his teammate Schoendienst and Willie Mays. Spahn received his only Cy Young Award in 1957 after winning 21 games.

The Braves continue to have a loyal following in Milwaukee. Lea points to a 50th anniversary celebration scheduled at Potawatomi Bingo Casino Aug. 30. Twenty-two of the 1957 Braves are still living and many are expected to attend. For additional information on the anniversary activities, contact Tom Kaminski at 414-347-1212.

Baseball returns with Brewers

Baseball returned to Milwaukee in 1970, when the Seattle Pilots became the Brewers under the leadership of Allan H. (Bud) Selig, who now serves as Commissioner of Major League Baseball. The Brewers first played in the American League, peaking in 1982 when the team won the league title before losing to St. Louis in the World Series. In 1998, the Brewers returned to the National League and with the return old rivalries resurfaced, especially with the Chicago Cubs.

All of April’s home games are listed on page 58 of this issue and it is safe to say that the first two home series will be tough tickets to find. The Brewers open with a day game April 2 at 1:05 p.m. against the Los Angeles Dodgers. They face the Dodgers again in two night games (7:05 p.m.) April 3 and 4. Those opening games will be near capacity and so will the next three (April 6, 7 & 8) against the Cubs.

Although neither the Brewers nor the Cubs have made runs for the championship recently, the rivalry has been intensifying every year. Cubs’ fans flock to the city during every series, enjoying the competition and the fact that the retractable dome on the 41,900-seat Miller Park ensures that every game will be played.

Opened in 2001, Miller Park was rated by SI.com in 2005 as the best fan value in all of major league baseball.  “A casual atmosphere, good eats and cheap tickets – what’s not to like” was the comment from SI.com. When the poll was turned over to the fans in 2006, the park again was ranked as one of the top four in baseball.