| Milwaukee Braves | |
|---|---|
 Cap logo | |
| Information | |
| League | National League (1953–1965) |
| Ballpark | Milwaukee County Stadium (1953–1965) |
| Established | 1871 (franchise in Boston), 1953 (Milwaukee) |
| Folded | 1965 (relocated to Atlanta, Georgia and became the Atlanta Braves) |
| National League pennants | 12 (2 in Milwaukee) |
| NA Pennants | 4 |
| World Series championships | 2 (1 in Milwaukee) |
| Former league(s) | National Association (1871–1876) |
| Colors | Navy blue, scarlet red, gold, white[a][2][3] |
| Retired numbers | 21 |
| Ownership | William Bartholomay (1963–1965) Lou Perini (1953–1962) |
| Manager | Bobby Bragan (1963–1965) Birdie Tebbetts (1961–1962) Chuck Dressen (1960–1961) Fred Haney (1956–1959) Charlie Grimm (1955–1956) |
| General Manager | John McHale (1959–1965) John Quinn (1955–1958) |
The Milwaukee Braves were a Major League Baseball club that played in Milwaukee, Wisconsin from 1953 to 1965, having previously played in Boston, Massachusetts as the Boston Braves. After relocating to Atlanta, Georgia in 1966 they were renamed the Atlanta Braves.[4] The 12-year tenure in Milwaukee saw varying degrees of success for the franchise, winning the 1957 World Series and the National League pennant in 1958.
The Milwaukee franchise played at Milwaukee County Stadium from 1953 to 1965.
1953–1959
editMilwaukee went wild over the Braves, who were welcomed as genuine heroes. The Braves finished .597 in their first season in Milwaukee, and drew a then-NL record 1.8 million fans.[5][6] The success of the team was noted by many owners. Not coincidentally, the Philadelphia Athletics, St. Louis Browns, Brooklyn Dodgers, and New York Giants all relocated over the next five years.
As the 1950s progressed, the reinvigorated Braves became increasingly competitive. Sluggers Eddie Mathews and Hank Aaron drove the offense (they would hit a combined 1,226 home runs as Braves, with 850 of those coming while the franchise was in Milwaukee), while Warren Spahn, Lew Burdette, and Bob Buhl anchored the rotation.
1957
editIn 1957, the Braves celebrated their first pennant in nine years spearheaded by Aaron's MVP season, as he led the National League in home runs and RBI. Perhaps the most memorable of his 44 round-trippers that season came on September 23, a two-run walk-off home run that gave the Braves a 4–2 victory over the St. Louis Cardinals and clinched the league championship. The team drew over 2.2 million at home during the regular season, then went on to its first World Series win in over 40 years, defeating the New York Yankees of Yogi Berra, Mickey Mantle, and Whitey Ford in seven games. Burdette, the Series MVP, threw three complete game victories, giving up only two earned runs, including the seventh game in New York, a 5–0 shutout.[7][8]
1958
editIn 1958, the Braves again won the National League pennant and jumped out to a three games to one lead in the World Series against New York once more, thanks in part to the strength of Spahn's and Burdette's pitching. But the Yankees stormed back to take the last three games, the last two in Milwaukee, in large part to World Series MVP Bob Turley, the winning pitcher in games five and seven.
1959
editThe 1959 season saw the Braves finish the season in a tie with the Los Angeles Dodgers. Many residents of Chicago and Milwaukee were hoping for a White Sox–Braves World Series, as the cities are only about 75 miles (120 km) apart along the west shore of Lake Michigan. It was not to be, as Milwaukee fell in a best-of-3 playoff for the league title with two straight losses to the Dodgers, ending the Braves' pennant streak at two.[9] Los Angeles defeated the Sox in six games in the World Series.
1960–1965
editThe next six years were up-and-down for the Braves. The 1960 season featured two no-hitters by Burdette and Spahn, and Milwaukee finished in second, seven games behind the Pittsburgh Pirates, who won the World Series that year. Milwaukee's home attendance slipped under 1.5 million for the first time since the move from Boston. The 1961 season saw a drop in the standings for the Braves down to fourth, despite Spahn recording his 300th victory and pitching another no-hitter that year. The team's home attendance continued its decline; the last season exceeding one million was in 1961.
Aaron hit 45 home runs in 1962, a Milwaukee career high for him, but this did not translate into wins for the Braves, as they finished fifth. The next season, Aaron again hit 44 home runs and notched 130 RBI, and Spahn was once again the ace of the staff, going .767. However, none of the other Braves produced at that level, and the team finished in the lower half of the league, or "second division", for the first time in its short history in Milwaukee.
The Braves were somewhat mediocre as the 1960s began, but fattened up on the expansion New York Mets and Houston Colt .45s (now the American League Astros) starting in 1962. Their last campaign in Milwaukee in 1965 saw the team finish 86–76, good for fifth place in the National League; Major League Baseball would not return to Milwaukee until 1970, when a new version of the American League Brewers moved from Seattle (they are now in the National League). The Milwaukee Braves are the only team in the modern era to play more than one season and never had a losing record.
Relocation to Atlanta
editLou Perini sold the Braves to a Chicago-based group led by William Bartholomay after the 1962 season. The ink had barely dried on the deal when Bartholomay started shopping the Braves to a larger television market. At the same time, the fast-growing city of Atlanta, led by Mayor Ivan Allen, Jr., constructed a new $18 million, 52,007–60,606 seat multi-purpose stadium in less than one year, Atlanta Stadium (later on known as Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium from 1976 until 1996 with its demolition in 1997), which was officially opened in 1965 in hopes of luring an existing major league and/or NFL/AFL team.
After the city failed to lure the Kansas City A's (who moved to Oakland in 1968), Allen courted the Braves, who announced their intention to move to Atlanta for the 1965 season. However, an injunction filed in Wisconsin forced the Braves to play a lame-duck season in Milwaukee, but the home attendance was less than 560,000.[10] In the interim, Atlanta Stadium played host to the Braves' new Triple-A affiliate, the Atlanta Crackers of the International League. The Braves had bought the Crackers in order to secure the major-league rights to the Atlanta area; in those days, the owner of a minor-league team also owned the major league rights to that city.
The Braves completed the move to Atlanta prior to the 1966 season, and drew over 1.5 million in the new stadium that first year.[11] Before that season, they moved the Crackers to Richmond, Virginia as the Richmond Braves.
Legacy
editSOMETHING SOMETHING MILWAUKEE BREWERS
Notable Milwaukee Braves
editList of Milwaukee Braves seasons
edit| Milwaukee Braves season-by-season record | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Wins | Losses | Win % | Place | Playoffs |
| 1953 | 92 | 62 | .597 | 2nd in NL | — |
| 1954 | 89 | 65 | .578 | 3rd in NL | — |
| 1955 | 85 | 69 | .552 | 2nd in NL | — |
| 1956 | 92 | 62 | .597 | 2nd in NL | — |
| 1957 | 95 | 59 | .617 | 1st in NL | Won World Series vs. New York Yankees, 4–3 |
| 1958 | 92 | 62 | .597 | 1st in NL | Lost World Series vs. New York Yankees, 4–3 |
| 1959 | 86 | 70 | .551 | 2nd in NL | — |
| 1960 | 88 | 66 | .571 | 2nd in NL | — |
| 1961 | 83 | 71 | .539 | 4th in NL | — |
| 1962 | 86 | 76 | .531 | 5th in NL | — |
| 1963 | 84 | 78 | .519 | 6th in NL | — |
| 1964 | 88 | 74 | .543 | 5th in NL | — |
| 1965 | 86 | 76 | .531 | 5th in NL | — |
| All-Time Record | 1,146 | 890 | .563 | — | — |
References
edit- ^ "Meet BLOOPER". Braves.com. MLB Advanced Media. Archived from the original on March 22, 2019. Retrieved August 21, 2018.
- ^ "Major League Baseball and the Atlanta Braves unveil the official logo of the 2021 All-Star Game". Braves.com (Press release). MLB Advanced Media. September 24, 2020. Archived from the original on November 25, 2020. Retrieved September 26, 2020.
The official logo of the 2021 MLB All-Star Game highlights Atlanta's spectacular new ballpark. From the shape of the wall medallion to the entry truss, baseball fans are welcomed into the event with its modern amenities surrounded by Southern hospitality. From the warmth of the brick to the steel of the truss, the logo is punctuated by Atlanta's colors of navy and red and is signed by the signature script of the Braves' franchise.
- ^ "2014 Atlanta Braves Style Guide" (PDF). MLB.com. Major League Baseball Properties, Inc. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2022-10-09. Retrieved May 8, 2022.
- ^ Davis, Lacey. "How Atlanta Became the Home of the Braves". Bleacher Report. Retrieved 2022-07-25.
- ^ Chapman, Lou (September 21, 1953). "Braves fans set NL mark". p. 1, part 1.
- ^ Wolf, Bob (September 21, 1953). "Braves split final with reds as crowd smashes record". Milwaukee Journal. p. 9, part 2.
- ^ Wolf, Bob (October 10, 1957). "Braves win world title, 5-0". Milwaukee Journal. p. 1, part 1.
- ^ Thisted, Red (October 11, 1957). "Best in the world!". Milwaukee Sentinel. p. 1, part 1.
- ^ Thisted, Red (September 30, 1959). "'Comeback' L.A. champ!". Milwaukee Sentinel. p. 1, part 1.[permanent dead link]
- ^ Wolf, Bob (September 23, 1965). "Braves say farewell in 7-6 setback". Milwaukee Journal. p. 16, part 2.
- ^ "Giants beat Braves, 5-2; Perry's 21st". Milwaukee Sentinel. wire services. September 29, 1966. p. 1, part 2.
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