Wednesday, February 25, 2009

Spring has Sprung

Ah, the first signs of Spring - crocuses peek their heads up from the ground, robins return, and Pitchers And Catchers Report.

In honor of the modern Brewers' rebirth, happening now in Arizona, I offer two beautiful pictures which appeared in the Milwaukee Sentinel during Spring Training of 1931:


Hot Springs, Arkansas was chosen by road secretary Rudy Vizay as the spring home of the Brewers starting in 1926 and would last through the 1945 season before the Brewers moved their camp to Mineral Wells, Texas.

Monday, February 16, 2009

Logan and Dettmer, 1952



This photo of infielders Johnny Logan and Jack Dittmer was taken in 1952, the Brewers' last year of existence.

The uniforms look an awful lot like what the Milwaukee Braves would be wearing the following season; at the time, the Brewers were owned by the then-Boston-based Major League club.

Tuesday, February 10, 2009

Know Your History


Every Brewer fan knows the team's history. She has heard about Robin Yount, Paul Molitor, Rollie Fingers and the glory days of 1982. She knows that Hammering Hank Aaron came back to Milwaukee County Stadium to finish his big league career where it began. She has probably also heard of a time before the Brewers, when Milwaukee was home to the Braves, who won the 1957 World Series and were ripped away from the city that loved them so.

What she might not know is that our modern Brewers tap into a heritage that goes way back before the Braves to the dawn of the 20th century and beyond. There was a team, also known as the Milwaukee Brewers, that played at an old wooden ballpark known for most of its life as Borchert Field.

The first logo of our modern Brewers, back when they played in the American League, was known as the "Beer Barrel Man." He dates back to the 1940s, and was chosen by original Brewers owner Bud Selig to link his new baseball club with the city's past.


We're going to be exploring these sorts of connections, the new to the old, as well as telling great tales about the Cream City's baseball history. If we do our job, then the Brewer fan of today will know that her city's baseball history goes back much farther than the Braves, and that her club is part of a long and glorious heritage.

Monday, February 2, 2009

Welcome to the Online Museum!

Greetings and welcome to Borchert Field!

My name is Chance Michaels. I am a baseball historian who has been interested in obsessed with the old minor league Brewers ever since I discovered the Wauwatosa Public Library's microfiche machine and their stash of old Journal and Sentinel back issues. I was fascinated by the realization that Milwaukee already had a storied baseball history by the time the Braves came to town.

To that end, I am officially launching this online museum to the Milwaukee Brewers of the American Association, 1902-1952. Because Milwaukee's first ballgame wasn't in 1953.

I hope to meet others who are also interested in the previous incarnation of the Milwaukee Brewers. I hope to share my knowledge, and to learn from you in return.

So, please take a look around. It may take us a while to build this museum together, but I am confident that it will be something special when we do.