tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-62922099525732378292024-03-06T01:57:58.697-05:00Borchert Field<br>Welcome to BorchertField.com, the online museum of the American Association Milwaukee Brewers, 1902-1952 <br><br>
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Because Milwaukee was playing baseball long before 1953.Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger700125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6292209952573237829.post-89789608288216357492020-07-24T17:22:00.000-04:002020-07-25T02:27:44.207-04:00Vintage Brew: "1951: For He's a 'Jolly" Good Fellow"<hr noshade color="#33ccff"><font color="#33ccff"><b><i>Brewers baseball is back tonight, and we're back with it! We resume a regular publishing schedule, beginning with this absolutely stunning gem from regular contributor Paul Tenpenny.</i></b></font><hr noshade color="#33ccff"><br>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKpOXKfDPoug14OVb784jbwO6kJlv-gsJp9jEg2wEpKCBZltKNC_F4Y5KD5G03Y9QX3wQu_cqQCp8tyEUSu-7SYP9DXw0t0l1yE6p8rJJnRiGRPcFQMzpZoDuZw1ypDy_xPzAHXIoQc_k/s1600/VintageBrew.png"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKpOXKfDPoug14OVb784jbwO6kJlv-gsJp9jEg2wEpKCBZltKNC_F4Y5KD5G03Y9QX3wQu_cqQCp8tyEUSu-7SYP9DXw0t0l1yE6p8rJJnRiGRPcFQMzpZoDuZw1ypDy_xPzAHXIoQc_k/s400/VintageBrew.png"/></a></div><br><font color="#33ccff" size="3"><b>1951: <i>For he's a "Jolly" good fellow...</i><br>
<i>that nobody can deny...</i><br>
"The Milwaukee Brewers & Charlie Grimm Win It All"</b></font><br>
<i>by Paul Tenpenny <br>
<span style="font-size:85%;">(Tencentz@aol.com) <br>
Copyright 2008, 2020 Tencentzports <br>
Printed with permission of the Author</span></i><br><br>
The Milwaukee Brewers of the 1940's were one of the most dominant teams of the decade. <b><font color="red">Bill Veeck</font></b>'s and manager <b><font color="red">Charlie Grimm</font></b>'s transformation of the team in late 1941 and 1942 led to 3 consecutive American Association 1st place finishes from 1943-1945. Even after their departures, the Brewers of the 1940's stayed competitive.<br>
<blockquote><font color="#33ccff">1941 55 - 98 (8th place)<br>
1942 81 - 69 (2nd place)<br>
1943 90 - 61 (1st place)<br>
1944 102 - 51 (1st place)<br>
1945 93 - 61 (1st place)<br>
1946 70 - 78 (5th place)<br>
1947 79 - 75 (3rd place) (Winner Junior World Series)<br>
1948 89 - 65 (2nd place)<br>
1949 76 - 76 (3rd place)</font></blockquote>
After a poor showing in 1950, finishing at the 6th spot with a disappointing 68-85 record under Bob Coleman, the Milwaukee Brewers made a change and brought back Charlie Grimm to manage in 1951.<br><br>
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<div align="center"><font color="gray"><i>1951 color photo of Manager Charlie Grimm (Author's Collection)</i></font></div><br>
The American Association was celebrating its golden anniversary in 1951, and with "Jolly Cholly" at the helm, Milwaukee was optimistic it would be a golden year for the Brewers too. Charlie was a player's manager who knew their abilities. He was easy going and his sense of humor, which included banjo playing and singing, kept the clubhouse atmosphere a laid back one. The players felt relaxed with him in charge and responded well to his style of managing.<br><br>
Charlie Grimm predicted that win or lose, Milwaukee fans would find his hustling Brewer team an exciting one to watch. True to his word, the Brewers were just that and spent much of the early part of the season in 1st place battling with the Kansas City Blues for the top spot.<br><br>
With the building of a new stadium (<a href="http://www.borchertfield.com/2013/01/county-stadium-is-almost-ready-for.html" target="_blank">Milwaukee County Stadium</a>) for the Brewers to replace the aging Borchert Field, Milwaukee was being seen by many as a major league town. From New York City, <a href="http://www.borchertfield.com/search/label/Casey%20Stengel" target="_blank">former Brewer skipper <b><font color="red">Casey Stengel</font></b></a>, now managing the New York Yankees, emphasized this as he told reporters that Milwaukee deserved to be a Major League city. Casey never considered Milwaukee a bush league town, even though he was wrongfully accused of making that statement years later when his Yankees came to Milwaukee to take on the Milwaukee Braves in 1957.<br><br>
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<div align="center"><font color="gray"><i>2nd baseman & Team Captain Bill Reed with Manager Charlie "Jolly Cholly" Grimm. Note the Golden Jubilee Banner in the background. Photo with autographs (Author's Collection)</i></font></div><br>
As the season moved on, Charlie's "Cinderella Kids" were being compared to <a href="http://www.borchertfield.com/2009/05/your-1936-champions.html" target="_blank">the "Boisterous Brewers" of 1936 who won it all that year</a>. Like that team of 1936, they fought back often, winning several games after posting the opposition to early leads. They were a "cocky" team who believed in themselves according to <a href="http://www.borchertfield.com/2013/10/forever-young.html" target="_blank">clubhouse boy, <b><font color="red">Bill ("Greek") Topitzes</font></b></a> who accompanied them on their road trips.<br><br>
Milwaukee hung around first place the entire month of July with Kansas City and the Saint Paul Saints giving them some competition, but not for long. By August, the streaking Brewers left their competition far behind, clinching the American Association on September 1st when they went 11 games over the pack with 10 games to go.<br><br>
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<div align="center"><font color="gray"><i>1951 Milwaukee Brewer Program<br>
(Author's Collection)</i></font></div><br>
Team Mascot "Owgust" had the look of "Grimm" determination <a href="http://www.borchertfield.com/2011/10/jolly-cholly-as-beer-barrel-man-1951.html" target="_blank">on the cover of the programs that year</a>.<br><br>
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<div align="center"><font color="gray"><i>1951 Milwaukee Brewers<br>
(Original Team Photo - Author's Collection)</i></font></div><br>
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<div align="center"><font color="gray"><i>1951 Team Roster and statistics<br>
(courtesy - Rex Hamann - American Association Almanac)</i></font></div><br>
Milwaukee had 7 of its starters named American Association All Stars for 1951. Catcher <b><font color="red">Al Unser</font></b>, 1st Baseman <b><font color="red">George Crowe</font></b>, Outfielder <b><font color="red">Jim Basso</font></b>, 2nd Baseman <b><font color="red">Bill Reed</font></b>, 3rd Baseman <b><font color="red">Billy Klaus</font></b> and pitchers <b><font color="red">Ernie Johnson</font></b> and <b><font color="red">Murray Wall</font></b>.<br><br>
Lloyd Larson writing for the <i>Milwaukee Sentinel</i> acknowledged the play of the team but gave a large amount of the credit to Charlie Grimm, stating that it takes a good manager to bring out the talent of each individual, and he did that perfectly.<br><br>
The Brewers were a powerhouse and dominated the rest of the American Association in 1951, finishing the season 9 games ahead of their nearest competitor, the Saint Paul Saints.<br><br>
Pitching went deep, led by Ernie Johnson who had a record of 15 wins and only 4 losses with a league leading 2.62 ERA.<br><br>
Murray Wall nearly matched Ernie J's record with a 15 - 5 win loss record.<br><br>
<b><font color="red">Bert Thiel</font></b> pitched in with 14 wins (including a no hitter on August 16th.)<br><br>
<a href="http://www.borchertfield.com/2016/02/vergil-jester-passes-away-at-88.html" target="_blank">Bullpen ace <b><font color="red">Virgil Jester</font></b></a> went 13-6 in 47 games with a 3.21 ERA.<br><br>
<b><font color="red">Charlie Gorin</font></b> had a record of 12-9 with an ERA of 4.38<br><br>
They were peerless in fielding and hitting. (.981 fielding with a .286 team batting average).<br><br>
Rookie of the year, George Crowe led the league in RBI's with 119 and a batting average of .339, slugging 24 round trippers. Arguably worthy of a MVP nod too.<br><br>
Al Unser was voted the league MVP and had 17 home runs and a batting average of .293.<br><br>
Shortstop <b><font color="red">Buzz Clarkson</font></b> batted .343.<br><br>
2nd baseman Bill Reed tallied .311<br><br>
Outfielder <b><font color="red">Bob Thorpe</font></b> netted a .299 BA.<br><br>
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<div align="center"><font color="gray"><i>All Star - MVP Catcher Al Unser with autograph (Author's Collection)</i></font></div><br>
Pitcher Bert Thiel on teammate Al Unser:
<blockquote><font color="#33ccff"><i>"Al was no young chicken, he handled our young pitching staff like an old hen watching her chicks. All of us pitchers give him credit for the year we had. We all marveled at his endurance at his age. He had some power but mostly he put the ball in play. Still had an arm to throw runners out. He was the main cog in the wheel."</i></font></blockquote>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYycvGqpSYNCeqcVu_fJblR4ggOp0p473g_hZd3OShSHF_WCkiOrB0TLCvhU0F_c939E1c3bQloDS5bClKzX0s9RlTcj9xeGLs7VPDtaIw8fhkONEp-KnVavcyWW5HKdgPBA7j6O0Bru4/s1600/1951_7.jpg"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYycvGqpSYNCeqcVu_fJblR4ggOp0p473g_hZd3OShSHF_WCkiOrB0TLCvhU0F_c939E1c3bQloDS5bClKzX0s9RlTcj9xeGLs7VPDtaIw8fhkONEp-KnVavcyWW5HKdgPBA7j6O0Bru4/s420/1951_7.jpg"/></a></div>
<div align="center"><font color="gray"><i>Brewer Catcher Paul Burris with autograph (Author's Collection)</i></font></div><br>
<b><font color="red">Paul Burris</font></b> backed up Al Unser and usually caught the 2nd game in double headers. He was a good receiver who handled the pitchers well.<br><br>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhg6NmB9WL9-DNC3NcRx5LNP9BGhvAhMNmsRLcyB2KmPGRMwnHCt0iz_OAAuaC2kMTot3aN2io014E037kkIhQvh_7nB5bz-3PYNRM7hraiQQjLc6i4rYM7-l0u-D-babbeF0y8q-BXres/s1600/1951_8.jpg"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhg6NmB9WL9-DNC3NcRx5LNP9BGhvAhMNmsRLcyB2KmPGRMwnHCt0iz_OAAuaC2kMTot3aN2io014E037kkIhQvh_7nB5bz-3PYNRM7hraiQQjLc6i4rYM7-l0u-D-babbeF0y8q-BXres/s420/1951_8.jpg"/></a></div>
<div align="center"><font color="gray"><i>All Star - Rookie of the Year First Baseman George Crowe with autograph (Author's Collection)</i></font></div><br>
George was a big guy at 6' 2" and 225lbs. He was a power hitter who had good bat control and knew the strike zone. He hit left handers well.<br><br>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfwBK0AldDahzPLIvNHZBSWw1j8tOWUKc91NZUd_qSOU94UWEAqKBYyFAW9N3owr5zyh9atmxAMOoxd1-AjKEL8UWSNp1XpE9tgNxWNZOqF1idKaeqIE1BKPSGokwosBl1Vuba1pfJpgg/s4000/1951program_trailblazers.jpeg"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfwBK0AldDahzPLIvNHZBSWw1j8tOWUKc91NZUd_qSOU94UWEAqKBYyFAW9N3owr5zyh9atmxAMOoxd1-AjKEL8UWSNp1XpE9tgNxWNZOqF1idKaeqIE1BKPSGokwosBl1Vuba1pfJpgg/s400/1951program_trailblazers.jpeg" /></a></div>
<div align="center"><font color="gray"><i>1st Baseman Len Pearson with his infield teammates (Program Photo Author's Collection)</i></font></div><br>
A winter ball knee injury limited <b><font color="red">Len Pearson</font></b>'s play in 1951 for Milwaukee.<br><br>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqJBv3c2I5MjInhFY7GDv2wHah9l1-4nb-XNgUxt4_cC1AitDhdL8Iz_sQIdWgqeVEtoLY_Oldj1iPpXM_BJmTk1Wm_wPIC-aInsRQTjFzGD9TuwAkRrlu9Nx1-hT0RRoz0dkv9FTlIrg/s1600/1951_9.jpg"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqJBv3c2I5MjInhFY7GDv2wHah9l1-4nb-XNgUxt4_cC1AitDhdL8Iz_sQIdWgqeVEtoLY_Oldj1iPpXM_BJmTk1Wm_wPIC-aInsRQTjFzGD9TuwAkRrlu9Nx1-hT0RRoz0dkv9FTlIrg/s400/1951_9.jpg"></a></div><div align="center"><font color="gray"><i>All Star Second Baseman Billy Reed in the Borchert Field dugout (Author's Collection)</i></font></div><br>
Bert Thiel on teammate Billy Reed:
<blockquote>
<font color="#33ccff"><i>"It was an honor to play with Bill Reed for six years. Bill and I are both from Shawano County (Wisconsin). He was the captain of our ball club, a .300 hitter and a fine second baseman. " ...He knew each pitcher and always seemed to be in the right place to make plays."</i></font></blockquote>
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<div align="center"><font color="gray"><i>Shortstop James "Buster" - "Bus" - "Buzz" Clarkson<br>(Author's Collection)</i></font></div><br>
Charlie Gorin on teammate "Bus" Clarkson:
<blockquote>
<font color="#33ccff"><i>"I remember Clarkson on fielding a ground ball would make the throw and holler -"Do Something with it George" Bus was older and his arm was a little weak, but Crowe ( 1st ) would dig it out of the dirt. Bus made up for his arm with a strong bat"</i></font></blockquote>
Bert Thiel on teammate Buzz Clarkson:
<blockquote>
<font color="#33ccff"><i>"Nobody knew his age, but he could swing that bat and with power."</i></font></blockquote>
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<div align="center"><font color="gray"><i>Shortstop Johnny Logan 1951 photo (Author's Collection)</i></font></div><br>
<b><font color="red">Johnny Logan</font></b> shared shortstop duties with Clarkson. A favorite of Charlie Grimm, Johnny Logan <i>"became great because of hard work...he was able to get the ball away quickly"</i> and Charlie compared him to Pie Traynor. He always hustled and was appreciated for his great sense of humor. A “gutsy” player. Johnny spent part of the season with the Boston Braves.<br><br>
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<div align="center"><font color="gray"><i>Shortstop Johnny Logan Autographed Exhibit card<br>(Author's Collection)</i></font></div><br>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCEzpRb5sZ56qRye5SBMFvTcdt6ebsxqTCYkDG5CSoWWXQmAk0IHUMHkI3oj87v4_gjZ5J9knO84HT0fLBNtF9Za5cgSIQFM3dS3lpeALi3ilBK1PYXOnO4aQYYYT9n65ikHaig-S93p0/s1600/1951_13.jpg" ><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCEzpRb5sZ56qRye5SBMFvTcdt6ebsxqTCYkDG5CSoWWXQmAk0IHUMHkI3oj87v4_gjZ5J9knO84HT0fLBNtF9Za5cgSIQFM3dS3lpeALi3ilBK1PYXOnO4aQYYYT9n65ikHaig-S93p0/s550/1951_13.jpg"></a></div>
<div align="center"><font color="gray"><i>1951 Shortstop Gene Mauch with autograph (Author's Collection)</i></font></div><br>
<b><font color="red">Gene Mauch</font></b> was a great utility player, able to play all infield positions. Good hands and range. He was a spray type hitter who played the game hard and did just about anything to win. Truly knowledgeable on the rule book and actually he once convinced an umpire that his call was a bad one. A skill I am sure he developed further when he went on to manage at the major league level.<br><br>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5ZqN4JFNZP3c1CtjNNimAq5niUwVbsQUwWT3I6kvdflgZ_RhLAHLDssV-kbyscRfGaO7rwhX59cDGZaGgh5ClMoRfTcvfA89sALOfGHVXaBnuxEcuiG20Yfxz1_shpKBiHPTWK46yBLI/s1600/1951_14.jpg" ><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5ZqN4JFNZP3c1CtjNNimAq5niUwVbsQUwWT3I6kvdflgZ_RhLAHLDssV-kbyscRfGaO7rwhX59cDGZaGgh5ClMoRfTcvfA89sALOfGHVXaBnuxEcuiG20Yfxz1_shpKBiHPTWK46yBLI/s400/1951_14.jpg" width="400" height="300" data-original-width="917" data-original-height="688" /></a></div>
<div align="center"><font color="gray"><i>All Star Third Baseman Bill Klaus Photo with autograph (Author's Collection)</i></font></div><br>
A "vacuum cleaner" at 3rd base, with good arm and range. <b><font color="red">Bill Klaus</font></b> was a "pesky" hitter who could hit to all fields.<br><br>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrmpHfrU8Pbr9RDTlKDLD8NLfjkZocaXxA__pHhZUa2wHhy_M5r24VqbQlVOdmY4jOcqlYnJBSjpKpGB91rQFIb3M7UeyJogND6fanSV2etAA-dgFIVsGA57_prMDHjc3TeztVwGWHVHg/s1600/1951_15.jpg"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrmpHfrU8Pbr9RDTlKDLD8NLfjkZocaXxA__pHhZUa2wHhy_M5r24VqbQlVOdmY4jOcqlYnJBSjpKpGB91rQFIb3M7UeyJogND6fanSV2etAA-dgFIVsGA57_prMDHjc3TeztVwGWHVHg/s400/1951_15.jpg" width="400" height="373" data-original-width="753" data-original-height="702" /></a></div>
<div align="center"><font color="gray"><i>Photo Infielder/ Coach - Mark Christman with autograph<br>(Author's Collection)</i></font></div><br>
<b><font color="red">Mark Christman</font></b> was at the end of his career with the Brewers filling in occasionally and pinch hitting. As a coach he worked closely with the young infielders.<br><br>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3azzbGIgnN4dhV557iWdnzeBsvXdceQGCaVl0HLRSI8wI-DazrIYHrk2nm1zOLmULbRQ0fgDq_3jChjfKbw6RDVe7Vut2i3xbS4cz2dwes4mpo2nN0va09hXJwLgYNVz0OKgOHP5RCbo/s1600/1951_16.jpg" ><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3azzbGIgnN4dhV557iWdnzeBsvXdceQGCaVl0HLRSI8wI-DazrIYHrk2nm1zOLmULbRQ0fgDq_3jChjfKbw6RDVe7Vut2i3xbS4cz2dwes4mpo2nN0va09hXJwLgYNVz0OKgOHP5RCbo/s400/1951_16.jpg" width="389" height="400" data-original-width="533" data-original-height="548" /></a></div>
<div align="center"><font color="gray"><i>3rd Baseman Jack Weisenburger with autograph (Author's Collection)</i></font></div><br>
From recent correspondence with <b><font color="red">Jack Weisenburger</font></b>:
<blockquote>
<font color="#33ccff"><i>"I loved playing in Milwaukee, the fans were great and I enjoyed my teammates."</i></font></blockquote>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicJaoSPEld0BOPwSH3wWwlAZoYh0ymPOQaF7z3PNXBZBIwuYFkIkJz7lYLp_EgRPAKcFCsEeGOUovyaC3VbqarWBVXbxYOBKd5rzSc3p9vfoBdw-LUUzxpoLHHyNCxx7Ckqz-vRVM7ABY/s1600/1951_17.jpg"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicJaoSPEld0BOPwSH3wWwlAZoYh0ymPOQaF7z3PNXBZBIwuYFkIkJz7lYLp_EgRPAKcFCsEeGOUovyaC3VbqarWBVXbxYOBKd5rzSc3p9vfoBdw-LUUzxpoLHHyNCxx7Ckqz-vRVM7ABY/s400/1951_17.jpg" width="400" height="323" data-original-width="753" data-original-height="608" /></a></div>
<div align="center"><font color="gray"><i>All Star Center fielder Jim Basso (Author's Collection)</i></font></div><br>
<b><font color="red">Jim Basso</font></b> was a great team player who did well in clutch situations, hitting the long ball when the team needed it. He fielded his position well having average speed and range.<br><br>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBgm8GrHzV4iRTiwQaVJaDEVOgVxJ0wpFiqLr5lYt63VZ_UDpLI0H7cbWid_jcuC-KQAnqHk4kdHFLtKdqAg3YMskW57BKsLdWZuWff8yj4wBWpBogOyGWt7PdECl_MRMOGcuRJnJqwuk/s1600/1951_18.jpg"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBgm8GrHzV4iRTiwQaVJaDEVOgVxJ0wpFiqLr5lYt63VZ_UDpLI0H7cbWid_jcuC-KQAnqHk4kdHFLtKdqAg3YMskW57BKsLdWZuWff8yj4wBWpBogOyGWt7PdECl_MRMOGcuRJnJqwuk/s450/1951_18.jpg"/></a></div>
<div align="center"><font color="gray"><i>Left Fielder Benjamin Robert "Bob" Thorpe with autograph<br>(Author's Collection)</i></font></div><br>
Bob Thorpe was a steady player who covered the outfield well especially the short-left field fence at Borchert Field. A line drive hitter with average power and a good runner who could and did steal bases for the Brewers.<br><br>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6fK-J71DmGKRwd4FzuyrnwWJRmDGtgYLX3XrJl7Ko15OVczFV3tnxPys7c6eUY33oGTJvZCmaO2ZW9zuqADRIi0rtMxvzUCXCDylXMfIpBrwlMYRvp11tAQujUROQbpMHVUOOWveG4Ww/s1600/1951_19.jpg" ><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6fK-J71DmGKRwd4FzuyrnwWJRmDGtgYLX3XrJl7Ko15OVczFV3tnxPys7c6eUY33oGTJvZCmaO2ZW9zuqADRIi0rtMxvzUCXCDylXMfIpBrwlMYRvp11tAQujUROQbpMHVUOOWveG4Ww/s420/1951_19.jpg" /></a></div>
<div align="center"><font color="gray"><i>Outfielder Luis Olmo Signed Photo (Author's Collection)</i></font></div><br>
<b><font color="red">Luis Olmo</font></b> was a valuable part of the Brewer team, a fine fielder with a good arm and could hit with some power. He did the "little things" that helped his team win.<br><br>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjD8r267_surE42BhPqzEHmmy_e6NPVEKVjz7xsZufbbUzbLUxDY7ThVTbQKpUZvqyku4IJekAhwmllpjMHcoCeVhRBSchglD8BcrMLgiUZKo6kKmGF0vUdrJ7DoJ9zoYjJ7enTaOh0kg/s1600/1951_20.jpg" ><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjD8r267_surE42BhPqzEHmmy_e6NPVEKVjz7xsZufbbUzbLUxDY7ThVTbQKpUZvqyku4IJekAhwmllpjMHcoCeVhRBSchglD8BcrMLgiUZKo6kKmGF0vUdrJ7DoJ9zoYjJ7enTaOh0kg/s450/1951_20.jpg" /></a></div>
<div align="center"><font color="gray"><i>Right fielder Bob Montag with autograph (Author's Collection)</i></font></div><br>
An outfielder with good range and arm, <b><font color="red">Bob Montag</font></b>'s long ball hitting was a natural fit for the short left and right field fences at Borchert Field. He also backed up George Crowe at 1st base which he played well.<br><br>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjh98EHoD0ktUJJd_YibPSiKQvnCaFYsZsAKz5h-0XcFphKsGiV9YoPYyJ6QDDhPMzqtspz-czfdQ8oRRMGDuUja8T3FLEHsRs_OxB20566AinXO9Oky4uw37-OGwzWTbC4Xqg5-oXEF08/s1600/1951_21.jpg"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjh98EHoD0ktUJJd_YibPSiKQvnCaFYsZsAKz5h-0XcFphKsGiV9YoPYyJ6QDDhPMzqtspz-czfdQ8oRRMGDuUja8T3FLEHsRs_OxB20566AinXO9Oky4uw37-OGwzWTbC4Xqg5-oXEF08/s475/1951_21.jpg" /></a></div><div align="center"><font color="gray"><i>1951 Photo Outfielder Earl Wooten, 3rd Base Ed Mathews, (w/Paul Burris) (Author's Collection)</i></font></div><br>
A young man wearing the #4 on his jersey appeared late in 1951 and blasted a grand slam home run while with the Brewers. Manager Grimm <i>"recognized the stamp of greatness on him from the start... He had raw power and a great lefty swing"</i>. He was not with the team for long and needed some work on his fielding, but while with the Brewers he averaged .333 in the 12 regular season games he played. Becoming a bit more popular as #41 with the Milwaukee Braves, he went on to greater fame in the Major leagues. He was, of course, Hall of Famer <b><font color="red">Ed Mathews</font></b>.<br><br>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijOBGyOVup4dHJTzXggbXXUd4LZvlpYEN_fzHMAFQEt0iSt82SDISQfgfxmEhlCC-bMtw7xdqKpJTn8YYiSThX4yCOQwEB6peFIrtGCKjSGvYw0J9Je_PUR1BO0ghzqXq4Bzm9juEbJ2Y/s1600/Johnson_color.jpg" ><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijOBGyOVup4dHJTzXggbXXUd4LZvlpYEN_fzHMAFQEt0iSt82SDISQfgfxmEhlCC-bMtw7xdqKpJTn8YYiSThX4yCOQwEB6peFIrtGCKjSGvYw0J9Je_PUR1BO0ghzqXq4Bzm9juEbJ2Y/s565/Johnson_color.jpg"/></a></div>
<div align="center"><font color="gray"><i>All Star Pitcher Ernie Johnson in action at Borchert Field - Courtesy of Bert Thiel (Author's Collection)</i></font></div><br>
<b><font color="red">Ernie Johnson</font></b> was not overpowering, but he was a sinker type pitcher who relied on his control. His slider was his money pitch and he was remarkably effective with changing his speed.<br><br>
In a recent correspondence with Johnson:
<blockquote><font color="#33ccff"><i>"The '51 Brewers were one of the best minor league teams around. Several of the players went on to the majors. We won it all, including 2 sets of playoffs."</i></font></blockquote>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQsKngdDInjIk2Z4qrRrq4dh5VSn6vtgkeoZdVtnKGeK26n3wdal8llLAF78RTMsSse8lHANCjlbfMbSqgqvyQKYMYLq6h7K43Rc8uBgVQtgJthqwKu0Nhf6t2iKxC2kV2QcHggSpvw5M/s1600/1951_22.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQsKngdDInjIk2Z4qrRrq4dh5VSn6vtgkeoZdVtnKGeK26n3wdal8llLAF78RTMsSse8lHANCjlbfMbSqgqvyQKYMYLq6h7K43Rc8uBgVQtgJthqwKu0Nhf6t2iKxC2kV2QcHggSpvw5M/s400/1951_22.jpg" width="254" height="400" data-original-width="461" data-original-height="727" /></a></div>
<div align="center"><font color="gray"><i>ERA leader Ernie Johnson Autographed Card (Author's Collection)</i></font></div><br>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQG8ns4KUOz6n4qnoxQFUSS2qnVDf4rZyZdf-lqLxdggTl4qbBYMKwJG3E4ykm3vHQ4NUCN34O1BqFwOuYw2eTZ3cBQtTdJ9Knc5L2tduhEVgj1issjhCZNB1TeQjwRfboS8vGseNd7BQ/s1600/1951_23.jpg" ><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQG8ns4KUOz6n4qnoxQFUSS2qnVDf4rZyZdf-lqLxdggTl4qbBYMKwJG3E4ykm3vHQ4NUCN34O1BqFwOuYw2eTZ3cBQtTdJ9Knc5L2tduhEVgj1issjhCZNB1TeQjwRfboS8vGseNd7BQ/s500/1951_23.jpg"/></a></div>
<div align="center"><font color="gray"><i>All Star Pitcher Murray Wall with a great shot of Borchert's "Wall" with autograph. (Author's Collection)</i></font></div><br>
<b><font color="red">Murray Wall</font></b>, while not being overly fast, had good movement on all his pitches. He was a excellent fielder at his position. A perennial winner.<br><br>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMhE4hiY0xdD0koddWAHAvMFA1UZDSV1NNGVJFOWWICnRcQ0bJ6Da8Q-EdxymJOnyyKUve2IV5lra_p9BTHWm3kM6uaRuXV7SenUID4NMjXEOCz2E5Ufj5oIbAjYJmSldaAqXtksfSTxQ/s1600/1951_24.jpg"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMhE4hiY0xdD0koddWAHAvMFA1UZDSV1NNGVJFOWWICnRcQ0bJ6Da8Q-EdxymJOnyyKUve2IV5lra_p9BTHWm3kM6uaRuXV7SenUID4NMjXEOCz2E5Ufj5oIbAjYJmSldaAqXtksfSTxQ/s600/1951_24.jpg" width="300" height="400" data-original-width="784" data-original-height="1046" /></a></div>
<div align="center"><font color="gray"><i>Bert Thiel Photo and autograph (Author's Collection)</i></font></div><br>
<b><font color="red">Bert Thiel</font></b> had a good fastball and a sharp curve. His changeup was more of a screwball which was an effective pitch for him against left handed hitters. He had a 14-9 season with an ERA of 3.71 in 1951.<br><br>
Thursday August 16, 1951 was a memorable date for Milwaukee Brewers pitcher Bert Thiel, who pitched the American Association's first no hitter of the season in the first half of a twin bill with Toledo, blanking the Mud Hens in a 7 inning game at Borchert field 5-0. (The game ran 7 innings instead of the usual 9 due to American Association rules having double header games run only 7 innings long.) It was the first no hitter at Borchert field since <b><font color="red">Dennis Gearin</font></b> pitched one against Columbus on August 21, 1926. Thiel, still a resident of Wisconsin, had previously pitched another 7 inning no hit game while at Hartford in the Eastern League the previous summer. Thiel allowed just two base runners, Bobby Mavis on a walk in the second inning. Then after retiring the next 12 batters, Russ Sullivan reached on a error by Buzz Clarkson in the 6th. Thiel contributed 2 strike outs and helped himself offensively with two singles. It was his 12th victory of the season against 8 losses. When asked about the game Thiel said:
<blockquote><font color="#33ccff"><i>"Yes, I knew I had a no hitter all along. I didn't notice any particular tenseness until the last inning, and then I could feel it from the crowd, which was cheering every pitch and even the easy outs. I was really bearing down in the seventh and wasn't upset at all by Buzz Clarkson's fumble of that pop fly, as he tossed him out at second. And what a relief when that third strike slipped past Don Lund's bat for the final out."</i></font></blockquote>
The ball had hardly settled in Paul Burris' big mitt, as all of his teammates charged Thiel to congratulate him.<br><br>
From recent correspondence from Bert Thiel:
<blockquote><font color="#33ccff"><i>"I have wonderful memories playing for Charlie Grimm...and a fine G. M. Red Smith."</i></font></blockquote>
<b><font color="red">Charlie Gorin</font></b> was a strong competitor, having a good fastball and curve and especially effective against left-handed hitters. He had a good pick off move and fielded his position well.<br><br>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiO7zDorTPz9C4KDvDzTIK5sN7TOcV7DnT8u3WiwNQe9OdpMdT138iSU8PrKnR8blHpPUI6Cnle4p2wML9n46Zay3wOueADvhDS19WJsRjK9XYxi9SONKgN2-gJ-vtL0L0QSuofTk81EPE/s1600/1951_25.jpg"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiO7zDorTPz9C4KDvDzTIK5sN7TOcV7DnT8u3WiwNQe9OdpMdT138iSU8PrKnR8blHpPUI6Cnle4p2wML9n46Zay3wOueADvhDS19WJsRjK9XYxi9SONKgN2-gJ-vtL0L0QSuofTk81EPE/s500/1951_25.jpg" ></a></div>
<div align="center"><font color="gray"><i>Charlie Gorin Signed Photo (Author's collection)</i></font></div><br>
From recent correspondence with Charlie Gorin:
<blockquote><font color="#33ccff"><i>"Playing in Milwaukee was my first year in professional baseball... I really enjoyed being in Milwaukee."<br><br>"As players we got along well and enjoyed our teammates. Charlie Grimm was not a driving type individual-he believed in enjoying the game-but play hard."<br><br>"Borchert field was something to describe to my friends."</i></font></blockquote>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPPQFzSQKkiGZquWxBwU_3_SWa7uG3szId6dIaZtWPbnkwp6AETqWJ0Fdml5_LQxvzMWpvZVr7w3ufQhU0NoxNFg75DaYCjNe5MZxOilyVAqAqLeSaCgta4KJRG9muSABangIrUgI7wgw/s1600/1951_26.jpg" ><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPPQFzSQKkiGZquWxBwU_3_SWa7uG3szId6dIaZtWPbnkwp6AETqWJ0Fdml5_LQxvzMWpvZVr7w3ufQhU0NoxNFg75DaYCjNe5MZxOilyVAqAqLeSaCgta4KJRG9muSABangIrUgI7wgw/s675/1951_26.jpg"/></a></div>
<div align="center"><font color="gray"><i>Pitcher Dick Donovan with autograph (Author's Collection)</i></font></div><br>
<b><font color="red">Dick Donovan</font></b> had a good fastball, slider, and curve. When he found the plate consistently, he was a winner. He eventually did, and spent many years in the majors.<br><br>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJh_B_FdcaaU8qYXYqF9m2b6LHhfq6yPhLQnI21Qb7AIrw6Tr6g6WYyiIH_2kimX_SvaJCg8-tSIyFbype0uD3zJsrmmoJdYptzd_ntlrj2R_17iI9k056N6j7fP0qkNPgWPrvGz_dEZg/s1600/jester.jpg"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJh_B_FdcaaU8qYXYqF9m2b6LHhfq6yPhLQnI21Qb7AIrw6Tr6g6WYyiIH_2kimX_SvaJCg8-tSIyFbype0uD3zJsrmmoJdYptzd_ntlrj2R_17iI9k056N6j7fP0qkNPgWPrvGz_dEZg/s520/jester.jpg" /></a></div>
<div align="center"><font color="gray"><i>Relief Pitcher Virgil Jester with autograph (Author's Collection)</i></font></div><br>
Virgil Jester was a "Fine competitor". He was a spot starter along with being a good closer for Milwaukee. He had an above average fastball and his slider was his best breaking pitch.<br><br>
According to fellow pitcher Bert Thiel: "Just wild enough to keep hitters loose".<br><br>
From Virgil Jester:
<blockquote><font color="#33ccff"><i>"Playing in Milwaukee was my first year in professional baseball... I really enjoyed being in Milwaukee."<br><br>“We had a very good triple A ball club. The fans were great, the press was great... Milwaukee was a great place to play ball”</i></font></blockquote>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7da1FmFZzoUHKbvPb7s_j_L-4jDzZiIrXhDBHN9pMPQdbqaoYv8jV1aKwmi9M1FtqUPQskvaL2QM0HjYsVfc2sSWwyWvWSQsDgWMQTuVYmE84Nc1zQmC2wrkg5o_RrpOfxhS2ON1OcQ4/s1600/1951_27.jpg"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7da1FmFZzoUHKbvPb7s_j_L-4jDzZiIrXhDBHN9pMPQdbqaoYv8jV1aKwmi9M1FtqUPQskvaL2QM0HjYsVfc2sSWwyWvWSQsDgWMQTuVYmE84Nc1zQmC2wrkg5o_RrpOfxhS2ON1OcQ4/s400/1951_27.jpg" width="400" height="331" data-original-width="607" data-original-height="503" /></a></div>
<div align="center"><font color="gray"><i>Pitcher Emil Kush (Author's Collection)</i></font></div><br>
Virgil Jester on teammate <b><font color="red">Emil Kush</font></b>:
<blockquote><font color="#33ccff"><i>“I received a lot of pitching help in those days from Emil Kush. He was a lot like a pitching coach on the bench.”</i></font></blockquote>
Bert Thiel echoes Jester on his appreciation for Emil's coaching abilities:
<blockquote><font color="#33ccff"><i>“Emil Kush kept telling me my fastball had more movement from the belt down, how right he was, more ground balls and more double plays."</i></font></blockquote>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKJG0NxCRZ7CmeG2300SrdQPZoFdjdywbL2wD-0j27lmmbjszcMq3OlnHhORdSMUINoYTpxqrfZ0m94D7clhvhPXfJ3MTuB4cxsq-Oj4ZRy4z9FgtC13MFgO6wyc0kOqA7gj9pPIo4Acc/s1600/1951_28.jpg"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKJG0NxCRZ7CmeG2300SrdQPZoFdjdywbL2wD-0j27lmmbjszcMq3OlnHhORdSMUINoYTpxqrfZ0m94D7clhvhPXfJ3MTuB4cxsq-Oj4ZRy4z9FgtC13MFgO6wyc0kOqA7gj9pPIo4Acc/s500/1951_28.jpg"></a></div>
<div align="center"><font color="gray"><i>Pitcher Dick Hoover with Autograph (Author's Collection)</i></font></div><br>
<b><font color="red">Dick Hoover</font></b> was usually used in the middle relief and was a spot starter. He had great control of his pitches. He had an average fastball but a good curve and slider. Exceptionally durable and could pitch often.<br><br>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUvzJ0dFSu7bPBhsMvyOy3pilq7HbTB52rxWgllWMswGsCKRDZ6337SgkP3J_vGksTDNn4gDh-obUbdHqtA9uT3xl58zuIQ8Z9ZIoO5WXELIGYhZ4Mc7_FN-2PQkjjBBgT0dhv6X3q4R0/s1600/1951_29.jpg" ><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUvzJ0dFSu7bPBhsMvyOy3pilq7HbTB52rxWgllWMswGsCKRDZ6337SgkP3J_vGksTDNn4gDh-obUbdHqtA9uT3xl58zuIQ8Z9ZIoO5WXELIGYhZ4Mc7_FN-2PQkjjBBgT0dhv6X3q4R0/s570/1951_29.jpg" /></a></div>
<div align="center"><font color="gray"><i>Pitcher Art Fowler: Another view of "Borchert Orchert" with Red Smith in the background. Photo with Autograph. (Author's Collection)</i></font></div><br>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7vpkBXkf5sYZS2mOncsWZUmFKUGrHkhR8FLCqd5pSeDXD_BvPvqiIT_3S_qMrOjbdxkiQf3jc_GxRREQVZtJQOznbWC7P3B6hTdrRMw6FiTTh7OX1qrHvajtFm1gqPffoKkyS8DJNRTI/s1600/1951_30.jpg"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7vpkBXkf5sYZS2mOncsWZUmFKUGrHkhR8FLCqd5pSeDXD_BvPvqiIT_3S_qMrOjbdxkiQf3jc_GxRREQVZtJQOznbWC7P3B6hTdrRMw6FiTTh7OX1qrHvajtFm1gqPffoKkyS8DJNRTI/s400/1951_30.jpg" width="386" height="400" data-original-width="986" data-original-height="1023" /></a></div><div align="center"><font color="gray"><i>Another Great Panoramic view of Borchert Field - Pitcher Don Liddle with autograph. (Author's Collection)</i></font></div><br>
<b><font color="red">Don Liddle</font></b>'s pitching was limited to just 4 games for Milwaukee in 1951.<br><br>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1uF1Y0B4FP3C79aL11vK8O10PtedaEuKSKBbYToZEpKe_c8ubBqye0EHNXwcmFrAaoXbJmZPC8xE15CLPurUpoVlJRNXglbigTIDux9RDJVFIJasFQdMuWAK2uRznD_gjXugAoXCsQxI/s1600/1951_31.jpg"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1uF1Y0B4FP3C79aL11vK8O10PtedaEuKSKBbYToZEpKe_c8ubBqye0EHNXwcmFrAaoXbJmZPC8xE15CLPurUpoVlJRNXglbigTIDux9RDJVFIJasFQdMuWAK2uRznD_gjXugAoXCsQxI/s400/1951_31.jpg" width="400" height="156" data-original-width="1068" data-original-height="417" /></a></div>
<div align="center"><font color="gray"><i>Pitcher Bob Hall Autograph (Author's Collection)</i></font></div><br>
<b><font color="red">Bob Hall</font></b> pitched in 63 innings in 1951 with an ERA of 4.29<br><br>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhN6ionhUE0jhbNpTpKXTgByUnJ8k21vnBfWOmzVIw1YgCBIuq4ecjfm8Fxny0oxocoj8h6Kc49TqQysSl7sQI4jjpDcRv7M2cOtXPr8KD1ZeWaApCc-cPbMGoamJ1ZwmvfxyGoQrA54P8/s1600/1951_32.jpg" ><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhN6ionhUE0jhbNpTpKXTgByUnJ8k21vnBfWOmzVIw1YgCBIuq4ecjfm8Fxny0oxocoj8h6Kc49TqQysSl7sQI4jjpDcRv7M2cOtXPr8KD1ZeWaApCc-cPbMGoamJ1ZwmvfxyGoQrA54P8/s400/1951_32.jpg" width="400" height="300" data-original-width="902" data-original-height="677" /></a></div>
<div align="center"><font color="gray"><i>Pitcher Norman Roy Signed 3 x 5 and Signed Card (Author's Collection)</i></font></div><br>
The Boston Braves pitcher appeared in just one game for Milwaukee in 1951.<br><br>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpgR2fzcejwwJ7FPWgi9zcN20SSvB4tWH-KjVNh3bjoiJysQxbIME_C4cpbt4tJFHmMJ0o5fSUkNftklwf3EaA9J3wvCv-C5OT83hacHkb4ABmaP4GQkkeU4nstr5fsOA4dxX1o3f_wtM/s1600/1951_33.jpg"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpgR2fzcejwwJ7FPWgi9zcN20SSvB4tWH-KjVNh3bjoiJysQxbIME_C4cpbt4tJFHmMJ0o5fSUkNftklwf3EaA9J3wvCv-C5OT83hacHkb4ABmaP4GQkkeU4nstr5fsOA4dxX1o3f_wtM/s510/1951_33.jpg" /></a></div>
<div align="center"><font color="gray"><i>Pitcher Bob Chipman (Author's Collection)</i></font></div><br>
<b><font color="red">Bob Chipman</font></b> went 1-0, giving up no runs in 7 innings in his only appearance with the Brewers.<br><br>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigNAZEGwXBsGuTLC1XTsVLDg-gtTcFLE61B7kKkq9KRn6GrNG0OwVzLqJzj44H60xfl9A101s9DWNpEDuyywfI5jeubxqv1k4M9tuJYTaSsw_omjCtZO3GsqRrv9YhXrqvW_QUKgD0giY/s1600/1951_34.jpg"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigNAZEGwXBsGuTLC1XTsVLDg-gtTcFLE61B7kKkq9KRn6GrNG0OwVzLqJzj44H60xfl9A101s9DWNpEDuyywfI5jeubxqv1k4M9tuJYTaSsw_omjCtZO3GsqRrv9YhXrqvW_QUKgD0giY/s520/1951_34.jpg" /></a></div><div align="center"><font color="gray"><i>Les Sepkowski Signed Photo (Author's Collection)</i></font></div><br>
Outfielder <b><font color="red">Les Sepkowski</font></b> played in 7 games for the Brewers in 1951.<br><br>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhitIgWCIs389kXKEDmlB9RLN5hXGb2g5Yym6RRcrhty_be1-fGRdqg4xXEfrocmZ6LpniyGRcoUbG4B1vAxV3EHjmJVMAxQnEVPJjx8sYUl8MjYb96LiQr_nwmO1rJ33dfs9Xs663vo9w/s1600/1951_35.jpg"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhitIgWCIs389kXKEDmlB9RLN5hXGb2g5Yym6RRcrhty_be1-fGRdqg4xXEfrocmZ6LpniyGRcoUbG4B1vAxV3EHjmJVMAxQnEVPJjx8sYUl8MjYb96LiQr_nwmO1rJ33dfs9Xs663vo9w/s510/1951_35.jpg"/></a></div>
<div align="center"><font color="gray"><i>Outfielder Howie Moss with Autograph (Author's Collection)</i></font></div><br>
<b><font color="red">Howie Moss</font></b> hit .259 in 1951 for the Brewers in the 19 games he played in.<br><br>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVw9ClsWRCo5Ma02rBSax9ry90Mwr60n4W6rYGqYuR2LC6-ADug5IuVZoDjmWzM6eLqHhkZfUI2xDSB7KW8EgYVrwF_wO2bPr7v2JZkyo4bEHkic-gH008etjqT2SgRvB7UtIhg-uiEo0/s1600/1951_36.jpg"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVw9ClsWRCo5Ma02rBSax9ry90Mwr60n4W6rYGqYuR2LC6-ADug5IuVZoDjmWzM6eLqHhkZfUI2xDSB7KW8EgYVrwF_wO2bPr7v2JZkyo4bEHkic-gH008etjqT2SgRvB7UtIhg-uiEo0/s300/1951_36.jpg" width="269" height="400" data-original-width="336" data-original-height="499" /></a></div>
<div align="center"><font color="gray"><i>Bob Jaderlund</i></font></div><br>
Outfielder <b><font color="red">Bob Jaderlund</font></b> hit .244 in the 37 games he played in for Milwaukee.<br><br>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqnj6ZnRWtrAwhPuJhUAk7mVqv47_UaBLqTkhgO8c-XgzAG61x6XHUESTaQkDRSaj0LSBxFhgEGaipNicSb6TJUv8oqwe5g-AcqTW8mvl2lYLNXwPk8KXNDZL0dPbcvmjxIYs_SC6tQIQ/s1600/1951_37.jpg"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqnj6ZnRWtrAwhPuJhUAk7mVqv47_UaBLqTkhgO8c-XgzAG61x6XHUESTaQkDRSaj0LSBxFhgEGaipNicSb6TJUv8oqwe5g-AcqTW8mvl2lYLNXwPk8KXNDZL0dPbcvmjxIYs_SC6tQIQ/s480/1951_37.jpg" /></a></div>
<div align="center"><font color="gray"><i>Pitcher Sid Schacht</i></font></div><br>
<b><font color="red">Sid Schacht</font></b> Won 4 and lost 1 with a 4.09 ERA in his 77 innings of work for Milwaukee in 1951.<br><br>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyHTrxlNXhuinjeB8wzcuYVEW2egJwovmYCDFV_CKyIpAqR7EBcjzNJVV1QUQdpROKmnGcEu43ZXyzX0sHJEqP4WODCbCUWb7GKx-QaYE9vZYSrzfkm38jGxeRwffYKz4l5XDh3Ydbp-E/s1600/BorchertPostcard.jpg"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyHTrxlNXhuinjeB8wzcuYVEW2egJwovmYCDFV_CKyIpAqR7EBcjzNJVV1QUQdpROKmnGcEu43ZXyzX0sHJEqP4WODCbCUWb7GKx-QaYE9vZYSrzfkm38jGxeRwffYKz4l5XDh3Ydbp-E/s400/BorchertPostcard.jpg" width="400" height="282" data-original-width="850" data-original-height="600" /></a></div><div align="center"><font color="gray"><i>1990 McCarthy Artwork - Borchert Field (Author's Collection)</i></font></div><br>
Finishing on top of the American Association in regular season play had the Milwaukee Brewers looking forward to the playoffs. The <a href="http://www.borchertfield.com/2009/10/other-fall-classic.html" target="_blank">Shaughnessy playoffs</a> (created by and named after the International league President Frank J. Shaughnessy) were created to improve attendance in 1936. It pitted the top four teams in the American Association against each other in a 7-game playoff, virtually a 2nd season for 1st division teams. Only 3 times in the history of the playoffs did the winner of the regular season go on to win it all. A point of contention since these playoffs were instituted. Still, it gave everyone a 2nd chance if they were among the upper tier of teams and kept the fans coming to games, which was what these playoffs were envisioned to accomplish. But, every year, the system was challenged as to its merit allowing possibly the 2nd, 3rd or 4th place teams to represent a league in a playoff that was supposed to mean something. Again in 1951 there was a call to replace it with a major league style post season series.<br><br>
1st place took on 3rd place finishers while the 2nd place team took on the 4th. The winners would then play for the Governor's cup and would represent the American Association as champion and would meet the winner of the International League who held similar playoffs, in the Junior World Series.<br><br>
The Brewers, who handled the Blues easily enough during the season, defeated Kansas City 4 games to 1 in the first round of the playoffs. Ernie Johnson, arguably the best pitcher in the AA having beat the KC team twice during the season, repeated with two victories over the Blues, his second and clinching victory being an 11-3 blowout at Kansas City.<br><br>
The team's next opponent was the St Paul Saints, who had defeated the Louisville Colonels. The Brewers set down the St Paul team 4 games to 2 with a blistering 17-2 final game victory in front of the hometown crowd at Borchert field, again with Ernie Johnson on the mound who struck out nine batters while walking only one. Johnson won two of the four games in this second round, bringing his playoff total to 4 wins, half of the team's 8 victories to that point. Pitcher Murray Wall pitched in with 2 playoff victories over the two series.<br><br>
The Brewers would now face Walter Alston's Montreal Royals (95-57) for the Junior World Series, Milwaukee held a statistical edge over the International League Champions, but the Royals were the early favorites. While both teams led their respective leagues in team fielding and hitting, Milwaukee's team batting average was .286 vs. the Royals .268. and held a 9-point edge in fielding. The Royals had the edge in speed and stolen bases for the season. The first 3 games would be played in Montreal, then move on to Milwaukee.<br><br>
Game 1 was won by the Royals 6-3 as Murray Wall was shelled in the 2nd inning with 4 straight hits, leading to 4 runs. It was enough of a lead for the Royals as their pitcher Chris Van Cuyk gave up only 7 hits and struck out 6. Relief Pitcher Tom LaSorda finished the game for him.<br><br>
In Game 2, the Milwaukee Brewers rallied in the 9th inning to beat the Royals 4-3 thanks to timely hitting by Earl Wooten who singled to drive in Luis Olmo. Wooten took 2nd base when the throw went to the plate. Gene Mauch then singled in the lead run. Left hander Dick Hoover came in to preserve the victory for Virgil Jester who replaced Ernie Johnson when Johnson gave up his 2-0 lead in the 6th and 7th.<br><br>
George "Shotgun" Shuba clouted a 2-run homer in the 2nd inning and repeated the feat with another in the 11th inning to win Game 3 by the score of 5-3. The Royals now led 2 games to 1 as play moved on to the friendly surroundings of Milwaukee's Borchert Field for the remainder of the series.<br><br>
Game 4 went to the Brewers 4-2 on a 6 hitter by Dick Donovan in front of 11,595 fans. The left center field corner was roped off for the overflow crowd. Buzz Clarkson smashed a 3 run home run in the 5th inning as the Brewers evened the series at 2 games apiece. Donovan struggled with walking batters but managed to get out of trouble in the later innings.<br><br>
With their ace on the mound for game 5, Milwaukee breezed to a 6-0 victory with Ernie Johnson pitching a 4-hit shutout. The Brewers were poised just one victory away from the Series title.<br><br>
Game 6 was a game that if you lost faith and gave up and left early or turned off your radio, you would have missed a stunning comeback. The Milwaukee Brewers overcame an 8 run deficit to whip the Montreal Royals and win the minor league's biggest prize, the Junior World Series. Down after two innings by the score of 10-2. They came roaring back. It wasn't surprising that the Brewer's comeback occurred after a rhubarb in the 5th inning, started when Montreal's left fielder Al Gionfriddo had to duck a high inside pitch that he thought was deliberate, thrown by Dick Hoover. Gionfriddo proceeded to drag a bunt down the first base line and when Hoover went to first, he tried to spike Dick's foot. The pushing and shoving started emptying both dugouts. After order was restored, play resumed. It sure seemed to fire up the Brewers who put on a 5 run rally in the bottom half of the inning. The Brewers went on to score again in the 6th and 7th and Montreal was finished.<br><br>
The Milwaukee Brewers had their 3rd Junior World Series, having won it before in 1936 and in 1947. It was the first Series win for Charlie Grimm. As he sat by his locker he said:
<blockquote><font color="#33ccff"><i>"This is the greatest thrill of my life."</i></font></blockquote>
After 34 years in baseball, he had managed three National League pennant winners with the Chicago Cubs, and had twice led the Brewers to American Association flags, but with this series victory, he said it was his biggest thrill.<br><br>
Both teams were well managed and evenly matched. Several of the games could have gone either way. Montreal's Manager Walter Alston said after the game:
<blockquote><font color="#33ccff"><i>"We were beaten by a great ball team."</i></font></blockquote>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSxbjefcAhL4AFg5p0hJVt_bGiGov2RjJIl8A042sHiw32LCgt0WS3BoMC7ddpn_PAu0qVynQxSXDj1wpOrwwvoUwpFW1jijQtPoxWbsDYrDUxlD5Y1JsKzl_oj-Dg_1dLhPYq3EEcIkP3/s4000/1951_JrWorldsSeries_stub.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSxbjefcAhL4AFg5p0hJVt_bGiGov2RjJIl8A042sHiw32LCgt0WS3BoMC7ddpn_PAu0qVynQxSXDj1wpOrwwvoUwpFW1jijQtPoxWbsDYrDUxlD5Y1JsKzl_oj-Dg_1dLhPYq3EEcIkP3/s400/1951_JrWorldsSeries_stub.jpg" width="400" height="208" data-original-width="1204" data-original-height="625" /></a></div><div align="center"><font color="gray"><i>Grandstand ticket from 1951 Junior World Series<br>
Game 5, Borchert Field</i></font></div><br>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMAzasr0JgZq4fEM1ST3Gw5gKhEUmQVs63byNbcGGCZe_pcMlM9HepCx40Xu3sogYTTgfrQKRx_JbRGCt6wo6SRgWG5rynXAeB2klAPEYyfVYqB8N743ia2H-SPZReX1RywnG-Vq5Anw8/s1600/CroweUnser_1951AllStarAward.jpg" ><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMAzasr0JgZq4fEM1ST3Gw5gKhEUmQVs63byNbcGGCZe_pcMlM9HepCx40Xu3sogYTTgfrQKRx_JbRGCt6wo6SRgWG5rynXAeB2klAPEYyfVYqB8N743ia2H-SPZReX1RywnG-Vq5Anw8/s400/CroweUnser_1951AllStarAward.jpg" width="400" height="321" data-original-width="978" data-original-height="785" /></a></div>
<div align="center"><font color="gray"><i>Rookie of the Year and RBI Leader George Crowe and League MVP Al Unser being presented their Junior World Series Trophies<br>(Author's Collection)</i></font></div><br>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPEZodD3wSJqUMvN4hozhjFOdtO6ynNR5AGNsrM-68dTpUgWrHdHdJg2mJElolM1eaQNdXqXFzkdwa2qv8O43c838fyBHNBBMP9BtHDJ5UDd4_qmcNdpwiI8ehCvisoZEtpEFH-Qnnfe4/s1600/1951_38.jpg" ><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPEZodD3wSJqUMvN4hozhjFOdtO6ynNR5AGNsrM-68dTpUgWrHdHdJg2mJElolM1eaQNdXqXFzkdwa2qv8O43c838fyBHNBBMP9BtHDJ5UDd4_qmcNdpwiI8ehCvisoZEtpEFH-Qnnfe4/s400/1951_38.jpg" width="400" height="314" data-original-width="335" data-original-height="263" /></a></div>
<div align="center"><font color="gray"><i>Charlie Grimm's 1951 Junior World Series Trophy<br>(Author's Collection)</i></font></div><br>
As can be seen when comparing Charlie Grimm's trophy with the photo, Charlie's has since lost the original batter which has been replaced by a cup. Also, the glass crystal is absent from the clock face.<br><br>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxJyl0F-9R98mumaOv1tvX4QYYSQCLZERSDmFOLtFep311IfiMvcdyfAAg5V-bEx3WfDg7s1eLo8HDohJ2VeaODgQuOIpq8JLQLoyLBholz2EpRXLEuErOzrNALbnyeoRWauuwqFngndk/s1600/trophies.jpg" ><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxJyl0F-9R98mumaOv1tvX4QYYSQCLZERSDmFOLtFep311IfiMvcdyfAAg5V-bEx3WfDg7s1eLo8HDohJ2VeaODgQuOIpq8JLQLoyLBholz2EpRXLEuErOzrNALbnyeoRWauuwqFngndk/s400/trophies.jpg" width="400" height="157" data-original-width="670" data-original-height="263" /></a></div>
<div align="center"><font color="gray"><i>Comparison of the two trophies</i></font></div><br>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEji2yIhJgqddRJpd4rga4bnnK2TJOL5vKoiJx67o6C5HUYszp2PK0PglkHWvPnuXCWnN_8Ax-iD5PqixpeczHoqG3Gu_g84s1AiOh4yd_hBs606HszVADbBwzNgBqYqZCQpzq_zlXcXtkM/s1600/1951_39.jpg"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEji2yIhJgqddRJpd4rga4bnnK2TJOL5vKoiJx67o6C5HUYszp2PK0PglkHWvPnuXCWnN_8Ax-iD5PqixpeczHoqG3Gu_g84s1AiOh4yd_hBs606HszVADbBwzNgBqYqZCQpzq_zlXcXtkM/s300/1951_39.jpg"/></a></div>
<div align="center"><font color="gray"><i>1951 Junior World Series Logo Medallion (Close up)</i></font></div><br>
Charlie Grimm won 3 National League pennants with the Cubs, he set up another for Gabby Hartnett. His 1943 Brewers won the American Association pennant, but his team lost in the playoffs that year. He was the setup man for Casey Stengel's repeat in 1944 when Casey replaced him later that year. Finally, upon his return in 1951, he won it all for Milwaukee, the American Association Season Pennant, The Governor's Cup and the Junior World Series. Charlie Grimm was deservedly named the American Association's Manager of the Year for 1951.<br><br>
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<div align="center"><font color="gray"><i>1951 Manager of the Year Award (Author's Collection)</i></font></div><br>
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<div align="center"><font color="gray"><i>1951 Manager of the Year Award (close up) (Author's collection)</i></font></div><br>
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<div align="center"><font color="gray"><i>
The wait is over as Brewer Skipper Charlie Grimm finally won the "big one" his first World Series with Milwaukee. (Author's Collection)</i></font></div><br>
<b>CHARLIE MANAGED IN A STYLE ALL HIS OWN</b>
<blockquote><font color="#33ccff"><i>"I was Jolly Cholly and I always thought that a pat on the back, an encouraging word paid off a lot more than a brilliantly executed piece of strategy...<br><br>
that a manager should keep his players relaxed and save the whip for the lion tamer".</i></font></blockquote>
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<div align="center"><font color="gray"><i>1951 Milwaukee Brewers - Courtesy of Bert Thiel<br>(Author's Collection)</i></font></div>
<blockquote><font color="#33ccff"><b>Front Row:</b> Jim Basso, Billy Reed, Tommy Bloomer and Nat Nachess(batboys) Billy Klaus, Sid Schacht.<br><br>
<b>2nd Row:</b> Honorary Coach Art McCance, Bob Montag, George Crowe, Manger Charlie Grimm, Bob Thorpe, Coach Mark Christman, Bert Thiel, Coach Joe Just.<br><br>
<b>3rd Row:</b> Secretary Fred (Shorty) Mendelson, Dick Hoover, Emil Kush, Paul Burris, Virgil Jester, Ernie Johnson, Dick Donovan, Murray Wall, General Manger Red Smith.<br><br>
<b>Top Row:</b> Gene Mauch Luis Olmo, Earl Wooten, Trainer Bob "Doc" Feron, Jim Clarkson, Charlie Gorin, Al Unser.</font>
</blockquote>
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<div align="center"><font color="gray"><i>
Spring Training Brochure from 1952 displays the 1951 Championship Banner with Team Photo (Author's Collection)</i></font></div><br>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6292209952573237829.post-75395979034751295342020-07-23T21:51:00.000-04:002020-07-25T02:24:15.312-04:00Baseball's Back... and So are We!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCKvkshXTU4sMwJO3SI5Osc5RksaLydOa68VZ0QOL558MiasyfX1T0W4teyn0uReuSHsjtsZigqjXyaN8jMxMW5oPdz4x-pFE-3ZUA4u9ZrQFlkOvCxSGULA0GBP9ZV81BwVpig2_pOJ8/s1600/Anthony_Fauci_first_pitch_.jpg"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCKvkshXTU4sMwJO3SI5Osc5RksaLydOa68VZ0QOL558MiasyfX1T0W4teyn0uReuSHsjtsZigqjXyaN8jMxMW5oPdz4x-pFE-3ZUA4u9ZrQFlkOvCxSGULA0GBP9ZV81BwVpig2_pOJ8/s400/Anthony_Fauci_first_pitch_.jpg" width="400" height="225" data-original-width="1600" data-original-height="900" /></a></div><br>
Really didn't know if this day would come, but the 2020 baseball season is now upon us. Dr. Fauci threw out the first pitch in Washington, DC, it landed in Maryland, and now we're off.<br><br>
Apologies for the quiet around this place, but we're back with lots of stories to tell. We begin tomorrow, as the Brewers begin their season, with an article from contributor Paul Tenpenny. And you're going to love it!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6292209952573237829.post-35855857891865892972020-07-19T03:36:00.000-04:002020-07-19T03:36:02.201-04:00The First American Association All-Star TeamThis is the lineup for the very American Association All-Star Game, played at Nicollet Park in Minneapolis eighty-six years ago today on July 19, 1934. Keep in mind that the concept was still new; the very first Major League All-Star Game had been held the previous summer on July 6, 1933, as part of the 1933 Chicago World's Fair.<br><br>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwNM7kRtoXiGTJJXLHh8BAKa1Y1l-Q_NQcE6YUroWUA75Izn4IpV1JVf2eIBt_ySsF-mx0M12Yfn1KzNRO8SPRg_RXy8XHS0kRCAa7enioLiZ6gAGsFOL0pREnAr1a2sYWbrHg7GPBr2Q/s1600/1934_AA_AllStars.jpg"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwNM7kRtoXiGTJJXLHh8BAKa1Y1l-Q_NQcE6YUroWUA75Izn4IpV1JVf2eIBt_ySsF-mx0M12Yfn1KzNRO8SPRg_RXy8XHS0kRCAa7enioLiZ6gAGsFOL0pREnAr1a2sYWbrHg7GPBr2Q/s400/1934_AA_AllStars.jpg"></a></div><blockquote><font color="#33ccff">Back row: George Hockette (LHP), Allan Sothoron (MGR), Earl Webb (RF), Mel Almada (LF-CF), Lin Storti (2B), Ernie Wingard (1B), Fred Bedore (3B), and Jack Kloza (LF). Front Row: Tony Rensa (C), Gene Trow (RHP), Milt Galatzer (CF), Bill Brenzel (C), Jose "Joe" Olivares (SS), Garland Braxton (LHP), and Al Niemic (SS). <font size="1"><i>Photo credit: Bud Holland, via American Association Almanac</i></font></font></blockquote>
Lots of Brewers on this team. Seven of them, out of the fifteen pictured. Plus four Kansas City Blues, one each from the St. Paul Saints, Toledo Mud Hens (hyphenated here), Louisville Colonels, and Indianapolis Indians. Not a Columbus Red Bird in the bunch.<br><br>
You won't find any Minneapolis Millers in this lineup either, as they were the All-Stars' opponents that day. The team in first place at the midway point would host the game at their ballpark, facing off against a team drawn from the best players on the other seven clubs. This is the same format the American Association was still using in 1944 <a href="http://www.borchertfield.com/2014/07/on-this-day-in-1944-all-star-game-in.html" target="_blank">when the Brewers brought an All-Star team to Borchert Field</a>.<br><br>
The <a href="https://almanacpark.blogspot.com/2014/07/the-first-all-star-game.html">American Association Almanac</a> has a great write-up on the inaugural All-Star game. Check it out. And spoiler alert: the Millers bested the Stars in a slugging contest, 13-12. Maybe they were also early adopters of the Home Run Derby?Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6292209952573237829.post-14683143763288024742020-03-04T16:35:00.001-05:002020-03-04T16:42:04.331-05:00Vintage Brew: "An Inside Pitch" - Mickey Heath<hr noshade color="#33ccff"><font color="#33ccff"><b><i>Minor Wilson "Mickey" Heath was the first baseman for the Milwaukee Brewers from 1937 through 1940 (their player/manager for 1939-40), became the voice of the Brewers on local radio stations, and was a willful participant in the promotional antics of Bill Veeck in 1943… but lest we forget, he was also a family man…</i></b></font><hr noshade color="#33ccff"><br>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQdTR-VIL8l7YGgASKHAlDiSXc4oKcQEL5U8h_EoRsHdw9SW7PNWMcVLbx9GUy96-xnOyRTeRendYBReinn9R7Sh-Bkg5JPfo4crAhmm8MXt1HEfFR-gpCyZLR5hG8P7w6RdYE0GgEpf8/s1600/vintagebrew_allstar.jpg"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQdTR-VIL8l7YGgASKHAlDiSXc4oKcQEL5U8h_EoRsHdw9SW7PNWMcVLbx9GUy96-xnOyRTeRendYBReinn9R7Sh-Bkg5JPfo4crAhmm8MXt1HEfFR-gpCyZLR5hG8P7w6RdYE0GgEpf8/s400/vintagebrew_allstar.jpg"></a></div><br><b>"An Inside Pitch" – Mickey Heath</b><br>
<i>by Paul Tenpenny <br>
<span style="font-size:85%;">(Tencentz@aol.com) <br>
Copyright 2020 Tencentzports <br>
Printed with permission of the Author</span></i><br><br>
<font color="#33ccff"><b>Author's Note:</b> while Borcherfield.com has <a href="http://www.borchertfield.com/search/label/Mickey%20Heath">written several stories on Mickey Heath</a>, this one is special because it comes from his family. Nothing pleases us more than to hear from the people associated directly with Milwaukee’s baseball past and I want to personally thank grandson, Robert W. Bigelow for sharing this with us.</font><hr noshade color="#33ccff"><br><br><br>
<font size="5"><b>Memories of a Baseball Brat</b></font><br>
By <b>Dona Heath Bigelow McCauley</b><br><br>
<font size="1">*Adapted from a speech about growing up the daughter of a baseball player.</font><br><br>
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<div align="center"><font size="1" color="gray"><i>Publicity shot of Dona Heath, Mickey Heath and Stan Heath in Milwaukee</i></font></div><br>
My dad was <font color="red"><b>Mickey Heath</b></font>, a first baseman born in Toledo, Ohio in 1903. When he was 9 years old, his father died, leaving his mother alone with 8 children. When he was 12, he went fishing with his brothers, rolled into a campfire and was burned severely over half of his body. The doctors told him that he would never walk without crutches as the muscles of his right leg were so badly scarred that his foot couldn’t reach the ground. This man, my dad, went on to play professional baseball.<br><br>
Dad came from a close-knit family who supported him through an arduous recovery. Though he would wear the scars for the rest of his life, he did recover. It wasn’t long before he was able to play sandlot ball and soon moved on to a local Toledo team called the Daisy Velvet Ice Cream Co.<br><br>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjf0mtXklw2rczF-YFLiizXp0YepWKnQZNCb5mAgwDWuXF-0mQgE0UAlGXCxLA3BBfLxJQE9CholoXczuP5zmXFFhk5frlp9rhauPahugASBSogYdO4fBL_EgmgHvpxtnpje2350xnTV1c/s1600/Heath02.jpg"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjf0mtXklw2rczF-YFLiizXp0YepWKnQZNCb5mAgwDWuXF-0mQgE0UAlGXCxLA3BBfLxJQE9CholoXczuP5zmXFFhk5frlp9rhauPahugASBSogYdO4fBL_EgmgHvpxtnpje2350xnTV1c/s400/Heath02.jpg" width="400"></a></div><div align="center"><font size="1" color="gray"><i>Daisy Velvet Ice Cream Co. team- Mickey Heath leaning in back-still with physical issues from fire</i></font></div><br>
A scout for the Detroit tigers saw him in a game where he hit a home run, a triple and two doubles. For the sum of $175, the scout signed my dad for the month remaining in the 1923 season. I’m sure he would have signed the contract for $1.00. He felt that baseball was what he was born to do.<br><br>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZw9ZwlUvLBSFh0bKDpsG5M3Ys1yP9HoUL-u7zJ7LdNUC7lrnoMjajTgK1uPU1584EvvR6Dk8Hz9ZD5Ji9pcW4MzZysMXYI3gkTHa7qZJe8fI58EFCIhfwplBCYEwGPex449miQSo3Ts8/s1600/Heath03.jpg"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZw9ZwlUvLBSFh0bKDpsG5M3Ys1yP9HoUL-u7zJ7LdNUC7lrnoMjajTgK1uPU1584EvvR6Dk8Hz9ZD5Ji9pcW4MzZysMXYI3gkTHa7qZJe8fI58EFCIhfwplBCYEwGPex449miQSo3Ts8/s400/Heath03.jpg"/></a></div><div align="center"><font size="1" color="gray"><i>Ottumwa Cardinals- (Mississippi Valley League) Mickey still wearing a local Toledo uniform</i></font></div><br>
Dad’s professional baseball career began in Ottumwa and through Birmingham (Barons-Southern Association) and then Toronto.<br><br>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgScIvxTJDhoody7G6VjwLuYVnHN5RBOS74N9Pg5mXQGWX22jJ4p6e458V8s0GbXV2rotvDX2c3b1mjQ3NGcu-eoRgBSAa-kUI6D-eQGB8hIy4R6DWA7UhOvi3L6uT3GfczF12-a_F4Jl4/s1600/Heath04.jpg"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgScIvxTJDhoody7G6VjwLuYVnHN5RBOS74N9Pg5mXQGWX22jJ4p6e458V8s0GbXV2rotvDX2c3b1mjQ3NGcu-eoRgBSAa-kUI6D-eQGB8hIy4R6DWA7UhOvi3L6uT3GfczF12-a_F4Jl4/s533/Heath04.jpg"/></a></div><div align="center"><font size="1" color="gray"><i>Mickey Heath (Toronto Maple Leafs -International League)</i></font></div><br>
While playing in Toronto, he married my mother, Mona. She was a Canadian who loved the game of baseball. According to family lore, she never missed a game. They met on a blind date. Dad was tall, red-headed and had a smile that lit up the room. Many of the wives of players stayed at home while their guys played ball. Mom didn’t. Wherever Dad went, Mom went. It wasn’t long before my brother, Stan, was born in Toledo, Ohio. A year later I joined up in Long Beach, CA while Dad was having great success for the Hollywood Stars of the Pacific Coast League.<br><br>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjccHBZv8gyJfQe-45YG-7wulrNys8jpMwmyn9JqwJblVPNA4Xc7MDv9UVUaId7n-pIBBkLH6LC-hbl8_6OljaAKvVu9GoWdpX_Pc3tAZto6KSBowOYAq9_oT2K0E2FOWN7k4envj92KI0/s1600/Heath05.jpg"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjccHBZv8gyJfQe-45YG-7wulrNys8jpMwmyn9JqwJblVPNA4Xc7MDv9UVUaId7n-pIBBkLH6LC-hbl8_6OljaAKvVu9GoWdpX_Pc3tAZto6KSBowOYAq9_oT2K0E2FOWN7k4envj92KI0/s500/Heath05.jpg"/></a></div><div align="center"><font size="1" color="gray"><i>Mickey Heath - Cincinnati Reds 1931-1932</i></font></div><br>
In 1931, Dad was sent to Cincinnati, the “big leagues”! He did well enough in spring training and in the first few games of the regular season to win the starting spot at first base. In an away game at Pittsburgh very early in the season, the opposing team’s shortstop hit a slow roller to second base, it was picked up and thrown to Dad at first who caught it, but his arm had gone between the runner’s legs and it was broken just above the wrist. The doctors put on a cast and that was the end of his season with Cincinnati. The club paid for us to drive back to Toledo to stay with Dad’s mother.<br><br>
In one of my earliest memories, bolstered by family recollection, the family piled in the car, Dad with a cast up to his shoulder, and Mom a nervous wreck, driving too fast because she really didn’t know how to drive. We were pulled over by a cop and Stan and I started crying. The policeman took one look at the scene and walked away. This is a family story and the only real memory I have, being a toddler, is seeing Dad in the car with the cast on his arm and me crying up a storm. So it must be true.<br><br>
The doctors suggested we go back to Long Beach for the warm climate which we did. Bad luck struck again. Dad pulled the electric cord out of a dried-up Christmas tree and it sparked and set the tree on fire. He started carrying it outside through a laundry room, but it was filled with gas from a blown-out pilot light and the whole tree exploded. I have a distinct memory of Stan and I hosing the burning tree in the front yard and later bringing neighborhood kids in to “show off” my father covered with bandages. Dad went into the next season in very poor health.<br><br>
The Cincinnati club kept him as long as they could but after a tough start, they traded him to Rochester, who traded him to the Columbus Red Birds during the following season. We were in Columbus all of 1934 and then Indianapolis all of 1935. We started 1936 in Indianapolis, but Dad was traded to Montreal during the season. We moved, a lot.<br><br>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKQCughGq1jY9o_WVSwfUGuVDA0AWwo8i1y1sRjbTpE-HlMAdZ07ZuweRXTwq35a0D8qR66BEhx6OvY62B5Pbyp6w21q-SFaOxGpcT98rFySHiwbodRurNh7r6-ct7x_nnWH7QjMcYvyg/s1600/Heath06.jpg"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKQCughGq1jY9o_WVSwfUGuVDA0AWwo8i1y1sRjbTpE-HlMAdZ07ZuweRXTwq35a0D8qR66BEhx6OvY62B5Pbyp6w21q-SFaOxGpcT98rFySHiwbodRurNh7r6-ct7x_nnWH7QjMcYvyg/s533/Heath06.jpg"/></a></div><div align="center"><font size="1" color="gray"><i>Columbus Red Birds - American Association</i></font></div><br>
Unlike Navy or Army brats who move maybe every two or three years, baseball brats move every six months and more often if traded. We would move to one city for spring training and another for the season. The ball club would only pay transportation for Dad, not the family, so he would collect the train fare and use it for gas to drive the whole family. The car would be loaded down with us and everything we owned.<br><br>
Dad would wake us up at 4:30 a.m., pack us all into the car, and off we’d go, stopping only to eat and look for a motel when it was dark. A motel in those days was a group of small cabins outside of town, just like the cabin stayed in by Clark Gable and Claudette Colbert in the movie “It Happened One Night”. Depending on our next ball club, the road trip would take from 4 to 5 days. Mom would sleep the whole way as she hadn’t learned to drive, and Stan and I would take turns teasing each other. We played games and tried <b>not</b> to be like kids stuck in a car for hours. No iPads, no TV to watch, no cell phones. We played “In My Trunk” , “License Plate Poker” and a favorite of mine “Animal, Vegetable, or Mineral “ Our only distraction was when we stopped at gas stations as there was always something out of the ordinary on display, like an anteater or a two-headed snake. On one occasion, I saw the sign advertising the snake a few miles out of town, I couldn’t wait to see it. It had two heads all right, but it was in a jar. I thought it was a dirty trick to play on a kid, but it enticed people to stop and buy their gas, which was the whole idea.<br><br>
During our grade school years, Stan and I averaged three schools a year. I loved the nomadic life. As we arrived at the new schools at odd times of the year, we received special treatment and caused a stir. The Eastern schools were usually more advanced, so we’d repeat classes, making it easier to get good grades. We’d be moved up a grade when we went West and were also given mini-celebrity status by the kids. We’d shine in geography since we’d lived in or passed through most of the states. Of course, it didn’t hurt having a ball player for a father.<br><br>
During the season, we lived mostly in hotels. My mother managed to carry a few things to make each hotel room a bit homey. The rooms usually included a small kitchen, but she didn’t like to cook so our meals were simple.<br><br>
My brother Stan frequently had the job of ballboy, so he was on the field with the players. I was pretty jealous so at all the ballparks I’d pester Dad to let me have a tour of the clubhouse locker room when the players had all left. He always said no as it was off limits to a girl. I did manage to see it, though… the hard way. We were at one of the ballparks and the seats in the family section had folding chairs. During one game, I tilted my chair back and was daydreaming, looking up at the clouds, when suddenly I saw a ball three feet away coming straight for my head. Too late to duck, the foul ball landed on my cheek bone and knocked me out cold. I woke up to see the ball club trainer hovering over me. I sat up, looked around and started laughing. Yep! I had made it into the… locker room.<br><br>
My most vivid memories begin when we settled in with the Milwaukee Brewers.<br><br>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjgaZhaZq_3bAxyJM5HLGmOZmFre3MgYGc93AJeFCUdnEXXvfpBVEuKtc74ZAMq295SpkgiX8MnDuqMeWrwaIfKEiInRE64AAr0PtxnKlNF5Q6WNraePjXGo1DLS6YFFNtEfzDlMo0wxk/s1600/Heath07.jpg"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjgaZhaZq_3bAxyJM5HLGmOZmFre3MgYGc93AJeFCUdnEXXvfpBVEuKtc74ZAMq295SpkgiX8MnDuqMeWrwaIfKEiInRE64AAr0PtxnKlNF5Q6WNraePjXGo1DLS6YFFNtEfzDlMo0wxk/s400/Heath07.jpg" ></a></div><div align="center"><font size="1" color="gray"><i>Milwaukee Brewers Spring Training – Biloxi Mississippi, 1937</i></font></div><br>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqCogQV-5HVxWF-TTD8OQTlTg72p_xj8J3zsKqA82fQMyiAPpNntNN3L6aEKB_NPTG4Y6RJfoay0jbfYU8Hl2ao2lEgQnYUbA8jpo_wMBGwIL_cIeF00pP9-NKqIPqgquFudOCIsMXfEA/s1600/Heath08.jpg"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqCogQV-5HVxWF-TTD8OQTlTg72p_xj8J3zsKqA82fQMyiAPpNntNN3L6aEKB_NPTG4Y6RJfoay0jbfYU8Hl2ao2lEgQnYUbA8jpo_wMBGwIL_cIeF00pP9-NKqIPqgquFudOCIsMXfEA/s533/Heath08.jpg"/></a></div><div align="center"><font size="1" color="gray"><i>Mickey Fielding at First Base</i></font></div><br>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhx5U1JJR9d2UqQje-OwM35L7VUdsjcvLSJNCAU93bAMmkUb492T1VT6AGbFFn4yuH1Ku8MsZWz3tSN-dsfn_P-j5iNYrT6dysJ_gZ-lbPNnhagHDTErzLnGXQLk0KJaCgnTl_wcTC4Bhs/s1600/Heath09.jpg"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhx5U1JJR9d2UqQje-OwM35L7VUdsjcvLSJNCAU93bAMmkUb492T1VT6AGbFFn4yuH1Ku8MsZWz3tSN-dsfn_P-j5iNYrT6dysJ_gZ-lbPNnhagHDTErzLnGXQLk0KJaCgnTl_wcTC4Bhs/s400/Heath09.jpg"/></a></div><div align="center"><font size="1" color="gray"><i>1937 team photo - Mickey in 2nd row, behind Ken Keltner</i></font></div><br>
When we first moved there, we lived at the Ambassador Hotel.<br><br>
Years later, we rented a house in Shorewood, a suburb just outside of Milwaukee. We lived there through our high school years; it was the longest time we had ever stayed in one place. Dad played ball for the Brewers for 4 years.<br><br>
I became a hotel brat both home and away. I would sneak into the hotel’s parties sometime joining the staff serving, and sometime mingling with the guests until someone figured out that I didn’t belong. I helped in the hotel drug store and one day I stole a pack of gum. I had the nickel, but I guess I just wanted to see if I could pull it off.... I didn’t. Mom took me back to the store, I paid the nickel, and believe me I never wanted to be that sorry about anything again. I did figure out how to find kids. I would do this by going to the nearest church in whatever town we were in. It didn’t matter the denomination, because all of them had Sunday school. I’d find the right room and join in the fun crafts and listen.<br><br>
On the road, I think Mom would get bored or lonely. Sometimes, she and I would get in the car and drive to the busiest part of town and park. We’d sit for hours just watching the people walk by. We’d be doing what she called “people watching.” I don’t remember talking, so I don’t know what she got out of it unless it was to just be out of the hotel for a few hours.<br><br>
The craziest thing I ever did was while we were living at the Ambassador Hotel in Milwaukee. I climbed the tall neon sign on top of the hotel roof spelling out the name of the hotel. I had given myself the challenge to climb it and I did …, but that sign was really tall, old, and the ladder to the top was rusted metal. The point was to look at the city from the top, but when I got there, I was too scared to look.<br><br>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsIvq-UWRTb1xwcz55wD88qDvjKUC3zr-wmsCz0WyBxYnOd_lbPHgFLTM86mdkypODnYf86rjJAJutDfNxoJ0anSShXKn9ek-UgamjzcCKTSvvgu65U3uAlHs2Kt1FBcOjN1a-Pl4GtIs/s1600/Heath10.jpg"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsIvq-UWRTb1xwcz55wD88qDvjKUC3zr-wmsCz0WyBxYnOd_lbPHgFLTM86mdkypODnYf86rjJAJutDfNxoJ0anSShXKn9ek-UgamjzcCKTSvvgu65U3uAlHs2Kt1FBcOjN1a-Pl4GtIs/s583/Heath10.jpg"/></a></div><div align="center"><font size="1" color="gray"><i>Dona Heath on the balcony of the Ambassador Hotel, Milwaukee</i></font></div><br>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijCcwR7CIiL58LiIn9cFQOkgmbNX0pEbo8Qic8kUMpfuCHQHS3Ce05NHO3s3AAXePFJiDMjWtsLraVsB-JcSkDgpjma1Hsp0AyklCCGA19rifpqemJbBSabiB2ZhGYh_8SWid1ySGrmtw/s1600/Heath01.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 0em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijCcwR7CIiL58LiIn9cFQOkgmbNX0pEbo8Qic8kUMpfuCHQHS3Ce05NHO3s3AAXePFJiDMjWtsLraVsB-JcSkDgpjma1Hsp0AyklCCGA19rifpqemJbBSabiB2ZhGYh_8SWid1ySGrmtw/s250/Heath01.jpg"/></a></div>Early on, one of the local newspapers wanted a shot of Dad, Stan and me. Stan looks like a budding ball player, Dad a proud father, and me a funny looking kid with burnt hair. Mom heard it was going to be a publicity shoot and she thought I’d look better with curly hair, So she bundled me off to the beauty parlor, where they put rollers in my hair and put me under a dome-like contraption that had clamps on the ends of wires, like a giant jelly fish. They attached the clamps onto the rollers and turned on the heat. I don’t remember it, but Mom said I cried the whole time. I couldn’t hold my head up; it was all so heavy. She held my head up with her hand under my chin. That I remember. When the rollers came off… burnt hair. Mom was horrified, but I didn’t care. When the photographers showed up, I was happy to be with my Dad on the field.<br><br>
One year, Dad hit 30 home runs and for each home run he was given a case of Wheaties, the <i>“breakfast of champions”</i>. A case of those little individual packets. We had Wheaties for breakfast, Wheaties for lunch and Wheaties for dinner. Sometimes a steak. Ballplayers are extremely superstitious and one of Dad’s was - If he had a good day on the field, we had the same dinner every night…. Great if it was steak, but not so great if it was Wheaties. We lived with the usual superstitions, no black cat crossing your path, no hat on the bed, no walking under ladders, spill salt…throw it over your left shoulder. Added to those, we had superstitions like a day without Dad getting a hit, no talking when he came home, and we’d have to wear the same clothes every day until he got a hit. Saved Mom from a lot of laundry.<br><br>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUgegwUe2u9BUR7sHytUPed9fWN8yIFO2EjgQsJaTgD_6aye4p9utZS8qI4roZLR2fuxXYBYVRZ1yxGkFR_Z-J0EsXyTc3sK62FDRPk-2LUquA0gvPgXc7NO0Cl-o6kgx9le1Wmr2uCVA/s1600/Heath11.jpg"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUgegwUe2u9BUR7sHytUPed9fWN8yIFO2EjgQsJaTgD_6aye4p9utZS8qI4roZLR2fuxXYBYVRZ1yxGkFR_Z-J0EsXyTc3sK62FDRPk-2LUquA0gvPgXc7NO0Cl-o6kgx9le1Wmr2uCVA/s400/Heath11.jpg"/></a></div><div align="center"><font size="1" color="gray"><i>As manager of the Milwaukee Brewers, setting the lineup in 1939</i></font></div><br>
Dad would go on to become manager of the team. Once, while Dad was managing the Milwaukee team, Stan came up with the idea of making money by cleaning up the trash at the ballpark, Borchert Field. The idea was that Stan would get his buddies together and after a night game, about 10 pm, they would gather up all the empty beer bottles, paper plates with half eaten hot dogs, peanut shells and candy wrappers. Real trash and plenty of it. Stan and his buddies started out ok but by about midnight they found it wasn’t fun, and no matter what Stan was going to pay them, they all left. Stan came home and woke up Dad, who woke up Mom, and the three of them went out to Borchert Field and worked until the job was done. I was just coming down for breakfast when they got home. Stan headed for bed, but Dad steered him right out the door again. It was time for school. Stan never asked for the job again, and he learned that if you accepted a job, you finished it.<br><br>
Dad would play catch with Stan every chance he could, hoping he would become a ball player but in Stan’s Sophomore year of High School he played football, as quarterback, and it was plain for everyone to see that he was going to be one of the great passers. I hated watching the games, as I’d have to see my brother being tackled, with the other team’s fans chanting “kill the quarterback”. After high school he had a stint in the Navy, came home and went to the University of Nevada in Reno, where he became the Wolf Pack’s first ever All-American. One year, he led the nation in passing. Stan would become an inaugural member of the University of Nevada Athletic Hall of Fame and one of the quarterbacks on Nevada’s Team of the Century. In other words, he was a star. The Green Bay Packers hired him, but his success did not continue. Stan did poorly, lasting only one year. He moved on to play ball in the Canadian League.<br><br>
After his stint as manager, Dad was hired to <a href="http://www.borchertfield.com/2012/10/sports-highlights-with-mickey-heath-1944.html" target="_blank">broadcast the games on the radio</a>.<br><br>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj60YAG3xaZrtrNK5dVwJ8VjTvTZsk1juFYUkhl7hbaz0b5Lxou2fFmG4WYxVTweTgQFjEVSllu4bVqr19flZYNA6QadFmFwweh8DGxvWTBVjg8HFbR8zdoPASpapQeTYWXnbvAvbKe6z4/s1600/Heath12.jpg"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj60YAG3xaZrtrNK5dVwJ8VjTvTZsk1juFYUkhl7hbaz0b5Lxou2fFmG4WYxVTweTgQFjEVSllu4bVqr19flZYNA6QadFmFwweh8DGxvWTBVjg8HFbR8zdoPASpapQeTYWXnbvAvbKe6z4/s400/Heath12.jpg" /></a></div><div align="center"><font size="1" color="gray"><i>Broadcasting on WISN Radio</i></font></div><br>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixHXRfF9jg0dYigJZkEvRE3Z1bDxehGGdLeejt6PfakShUq4HCPbfgaIQjlpYU3VjB0qHRht69I_Y5YJvP8XkgsgBlBTvcS6u9yHPKtqy0LVLWLuEowZC2yPX5OXzH7l6udL3ujEMeosc/s1600/Heath13.jpg"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixHXRfF9jg0dYigJZkEvRE3Z1bDxehGGdLeejt6PfakShUq4HCPbfgaIQjlpYU3VjB0qHRht69I_Y5YJvP8XkgsgBlBTvcS6u9yHPKtqy0LVLWLuEowZC2yPX5OXzH7l6udL3ujEMeosc/s400/Heath13.jpg"/></a></div><div align="center"><font size="1" color="gray"><i>At the mic - WEMP Radio</i></font></div><br>
He would broadcast the home games from a small booth on top of the ballpark's roof. Sometimes I’d sneak past the guards and go up and watch the game with him. It was special, as I had a bird’s eye view of the game and listened to Dad describing it at the same time.<br><br>
No TV for the out of town games, so he came up with the idea to make it fun for the fans by setting up a glass booth in the basement of a local movie theater where the fans could come and watch him broadcast He would get the bare facts of the game on a ticker tape and would then invent the action. <a href="http://www.borchertfield.com/2019/03/vintage-brew-spring-fever-1947.html" target="_blank">He made the game come alive</a>, and <a href="http://www.borchertfield.com/2018/07/brewers-baseball-boosters-club-pin-1940.html" target="_blank">the fans loved him for it</a>.<br><br>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibkfY0z3xMOvsNrlyC5iB115gTEkwhGkihy9-XGSttHQR6tu6wbI38mN0BdkNRxdPanCgdwcOrU2kzL8Ob4741u5FcJtFM4HrJ7L6hJVsobPtTv-52wTWOInUIa97ncPXUFwuYEdEXr5c/s1600/Heath14.jpg"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibkfY0z3xMOvsNrlyC5iB115gTEkwhGkihy9-XGSttHQR6tu6wbI38mN0BdkNRxdPanCgdwcOrU2kzL8Ob4741u5FcJtFM4HrJ7L6hJVsobPtTv-52wTWOInUIa97ncPXUFwuYEdEXr5c/s400/Heath14.jpg"></a></div><div align="center"><font size="1" color="gray"><i>Glass booth in basement of movie theater, broadcasting game off ticker tape for WEMP</i></font></div><br>
He became so popular they named a bread after him: “Heath’s”. I spent many a night doing my homework in the studio listening and watching Dad.<br><br>
In Milwaukee, our lives changed when <font color="red"><b>Bill Veeck</b></font> bought the Brewers. That’s when the fun began. Veeck hired Dad to coach and do promotional work while keeping up his broadcasting.<br><br>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpYvNdz2IB7K8hXI-EFU9rt_7TpqUu0SDrrsO37QP1pVDwWGfzRh0s4RP2s7s6JfoiQvsAGgYK78ZnZQc_bbl3JV_xzGRmnL8mTsGYoAuePfNC5qwZ2AsbrX9y7s_YUWgirf_VYYsO324/s1600/Heath15.jpg"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpYvNdz2IB7K8hXI-EFU9rt_7TpqUu0SDrrsO37QP1pVDwWGfzRh0s4RP2s7s6JfoiQvsAGgYK78ZnZQc_bbl3JV_xzGRmnL8mTsGYoAuePfNC5qwZ2AsbrX9y7s_YUWgirf_VYYsO324/s640/Heath15.jpg" /></a></div><div align="center"><font size="1" color="gray"><i>Mickey and Red Smith packing up Manager Charlie Grimm for Spring Training April 4, 1943 (Author’s Collection)</i></font></div><br>
<a href="http://www.borchertfield.com/2011/12/veecks-brewer-lure.html" target="_blank">Veeck was a showman</a> and his sole focus was to fill the seats at the ballpark. I loved going to the games, since I never knew what he and Dad would cook up to entertain the fans. Veeck declared every day a special occasion where baskets of food, live chickens, live piglets, and cakes of ice were given out to the fans by calling out a seat number. The lucky ones would carry the "prize" back to their seats. Even the live ones. The fans ate it up and filled the stands.<br><br>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0i_6Gt5qPy4As93lbAGeJ4KIYTr4xbF9ThrwXTrKjVF2XKEh1DID9R7oQhRTTxLswICkyHbCrNjqJdtr2qAY3VAhccbh33ZfI46o7uceDpjUEiuz7MLzK4RrhXG0GKJO7LqR7AJips7Q/s1600/Heath16.jpg"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0i_6Gt5qPy4As93lbAGeJ4KIYTr4xbF9ThrwXTrKjVF2XKEh1DID9R7oQhRTTxLswICkyHbCrNjqJdtr2qAY3VAhccbh33ZfI46o7uceDpjUEiuz7MLzK4RrhXG0GKJO7LqR7AJips7Q/s400/Heath16.jpg" /></a></div><div align="center"><font size="1" color="gray"><i>1943 “Band Practice” before a game<br>
(Author’s collection)</i></font></div><br>
They formed a “band” with Charlie Grimm (manager) on banjo, Herschel Martin (outfielder) on an upright piano, and pitcher Hank Oana on ukulele. Veeck would play a sliding whistle, Rudy Schaffer (club secretary) on a single string base wash tub, and a real set of drums for Dad. They would set the band up at home plate before the games and people would come just to see them having fun. Veeck gave Dad a “Mickey Heath Night” because he knew that the fans loved Dad and it would fill the stands. It did. That night Veeck presented Dad with a trophy that was taller than me and we used it as a doorstop.<br><br>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZFvLHU0XTVNtZhFhJkfz2zEoCNXCbuhESii_CD78eIyAsNFCvkSylC52kkBJNeBeq-tdkvookzUo85ahyphenhyphenMwOzh3BjsxekDhTGGyt4LM72KRZOMokg7zS1FL9ddenSFTn8ELPFAVsksnIB/s1600/1944_MickeyHeath_poster.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 0em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZFvLHU0XTVNtZhFhJkfz2zEoCNXCbuhESii_CD78eIyAsNFCvkSylC52kkBJNeBeq-tdkvookzUo85ahyphenhyphenMwOzh3BjsxekDhTGGyt4LM72KRZOMokg7zS1FL9ddenSFTn8ELPFAVsksnIB/s250/1944_MickeyHeath_poster.jpg" /></a></div>Dad <a href="http://www.borchertfield.com/2012/11/1950-pocket-schedule.html" target="_blank">would broadcast the Brewers’ games until 1950</a>, when his baseball career ended. He was, what I called, a minor celebrity. We’d walk down a Milwaukee street and people would yell <b><i>“Hi Mickey!”</i></b> They would come up to him, shake his hand and tell him how much they loved his broadcast of the games. Until he died, he would receive envelopes in the mail every week with an index card and a self-addressed envelope… asking for his autograph. He signed them all.<br><br>
After retiring Dad played golf with a 5 handicap and was a bit of a hustler at 8-ball pool. Like father, like daughter, but I don’t hustle, not yet. We moved to California, and Dad wrote a book titled “Baseball Before Money”. His highest salary was $6,000. Now the salaries are in the multi-millions. I never heard him say he would have preferred to do anything else, though. He loved the game and I loved living it with him. I guess if you asked me now, I’d have to say that my childhood was anything but normal.<br><br>
He taught me to play by the rules, play fair, and always, always play to win.<br><br>
As Dad would say, “Thanks for listening.”<br><br>
Dona<br><Br><br><br>
<hr noshade color="#33ccff"><font color="#33ccff"><b>Editor's Note:</b> I am so thrilled to present this family history to you; this is exactly the kind of tale BorchertField.com was founded to tell. Thank you so much, Dona and Robert, for sharing your memories with us! We will do our best to tell Mickey's stories and keep his legacy alive.<br><Br>
And thank you again to our amazing collaborator Paul Tenpenny, for recording this story and making it available for all baseball fans to enjoy.<br><br>
For more on Mickey Heath, please check out <a href="https://sabr.org/bioproj/person/87052bfe" target="_blank">SABR’s bio on Mickey</a>, written by Robert W. Bigelow JD, PHD.
</font><br><br>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6292209952573237829.post-60579968323114339662020-03-01T21:37:00.000-05:002020-03-04T16:38:45.044-05:00Coming soon....We've been on an unfortunate hiatus for a while, but will resume our regular programming this week. Contributor <font color="red"><b>Paul Tenpenny</b></font> will bring you a very personal story about a Milwaukee baseball legend. No peeking....<br><br>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZFvLHU0XTVNtZhFhJkfz2zEoCNXCbuhESii_CD78eIyAsNFCvkSylC52kkBJNeBeq-tdkvookzUo85ahyphenhyphenMwOzh3BjsxekDhTGGyt4LM72KRZOMokg7zS1FL9ddenSFTn8ELPFAVsksnIB/s1600/1944_MickeyHeath_poster.jpg"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZFvLHU0XTVNtZhFhJkfz2zEoCNXCbuhESii_CD78eIyAsNFCvkSylC52kkBJNeBeq-tdkvookzUo85ahyphenhyphenMwOzh3BjsxekDhTGGyt4LM72KRZOMokg7zS1FL9ddenSFTn8ELPFAVsksnIB/s459/1944_MickeyHeath_poster.jpg"></a></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6292209952573237829.post-6161826250233022212019-08-18T04:56:00.000-04:002019-08-18T04:56:04.596-04:00On This Day - A Spouse Comes to Visit<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg52LMidW2DS4n30LDl75HnLNeqbwO0hBd-0nloq5n-lIxfT2kTJ4J022W1bLGHb-jz2QGqnhXPvuMwcIUuObQSwD-AKifPfouPkGcVPbOPQfWYIU2rd65rhtqdjNAT1bcTuvhdqz8qwNY/s1600/OnThisDay1944.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 0em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg52LMidW2DS4n30LDl75HnLNeqbwO0hBd-0nloq5n-lIxfT2kTJ4J022W1bLGHb-jz2QGqnhXPvuMwcIUuObQSwD-AKifPfouPkGcVPbOPQfWYIU2rd65rhtqdjNAT1bcTuvhdqz8qwNY/s225/OnThisDay1944.png"/></a></div>On this day seventy-five years ago, the <i>Milwaukee Journal</i> published a "ballplayer and spouse" photo of the kind very familiar to baseball fans.<br><br>But this was no ordinary ballplayer, this was the starting right fielder for the <font color="red"><b>Milwaukee Chicks</b></font> baseball club. And her spouse was on leave from the Army and in Milwaukee for a visit.<br><br>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWOpAJ_CPYvcREOFu7jAaaS9rSwQ3eJntg27F5ktvaUEYEELY92i4w-_CvSnqoeNNRv9Un0bNH-nFC65lSYt6oR8Ll9NNe1Alka7Dk9AEjqunsfZXgJ58hIVmwIFVfW34vqnv4wk0sY2U/s1600/1944_SchnittAndHusband.jpg"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWOpAJ_CPYvcREOFu7jAaaS9rSwQ3eJntg27F5ktvaUEYEELY92i4w-_CvSnqoeNNRv9Un0bNH-nFC65lSYt6oR8Ll9NNe1Alka7Dk9AEjqunsfZXgJ58hIVmwIFVfW34vqnv4wk0sY2U/s400/1944_SchnittAndHusband.jpg"/></a></div><br>
This photo is amazing. Not only is it a perfectly distilled image of its era, but it's framed to be very respectful towards Chicks outfielder <b><font color="red">Pat Keagle</font></b>; she sits higher in the frame, not diminished or minimized. It's remarkable how unremarkable it is to our eyes.<br><br>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKgyHtO4zx156EN7dTfPZtz8UrxAXETuyl6Cu12CS8uf-_tpuVCnxGWpMfMcGdtrPswYRQbiZMP4PSf1ZT8ZfJ2_ZhczGt-yxQze5z4_2E7MPyebelfcJyaJ6AXmjggbSuuuinHBtNdTE/s1600/1944_SchnittAndHusband_close.jpg"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKgyHtO4zx156EN7dTfPZtz8UrxAXETuyl6Cu12CS8uf-_tpuVCnxGWpMfMcGdtrPswYRQbiZMP4PSf1ZT8ZfJ2_ZhczGt-yxQze5z4_2E7MPyebelfcJyaJ6AXmjggbSuuuinHBtNdTE/s400/1944_SchnittAndHusband_close.jpg"/></a></div><blockquote><font color="#33ccff">Wives of ballplayers usually sit in the stand, but in the case shown above the situation was reversed Thursday night at Borchert field. Staff Sergt. Richard Keagle of the army air forces came from Luke field, Phoenix, Ariz., to visit his wife, Merle, and attended the game between the Milwaukee Schnitts and Rockford. His wife, who plays right field for the Schnitts, got two hits and scored two runs to help win, 9-6. The Keagles were married a year ago.<br>
<div align="right"><font size="1">—Journal Staff</font></div></font></blockquote>
Known to her friends by her middle name, Keagle was a rookie in 1944. She had traveled from her home in Arizona to attend tryouts for the <font color="red"><b>All-American Girls' Professional Ball League</b></font>, and was assigned to Milwaukee. She made an immediate impact on her new team, becoming one of the best hitters on a very good squad. That year, she led the Chicks in five offensive categories: batting average (.264), home runs (7), hits (107), runs scored (72), and RBI (47).<br><Br>
Keagle sat out the 1945 season following the birth of her son. She had a rocky next few years, returning to the now-Grand Rapids Chicks in 1946, forced to stay in Arizona due to heath concerns in 1947, and playing again in 1948, before hanging up her spikes. She was diagnosed with cancer in 1951 and died at the too-young age of 37.<br><br>
By her teammates' accounts, Pat Keagle was as friendly in the clubhouse as she was fierce at the plate. Good to see the <i>Journal</i> giving her the respectful treatment she deserved.<br><br><br><br>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgT-4ql88Dno4zxeunYTj0KJ-CJhz0g576tGSL1AwtHkjJQLT5XQw-M6rYJ9x1ynUBREh4t_rlEkrLMUn43mgHjPisV7UdryKzJmbinNk0MFlrHlE5fNYwulm85Uyauf1l_9unLp9MLFmA/s1600/Chicks75th_logo.png"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgT-4ql88Dno4zxeunYTj0KJ-CJhz0g576tGSL1AwtHkjJQLT5XQw-M6rYJ9x1ynUBREh4t_rlEkrLMUn43mgHjPisV7UdryKzJmbinNk0MFlrHlE5fNYwulm85Uyauf1l_9unLp9MLFmA/s300/Chicks75th_logo.png"/></a></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6292209952573237829.post-6573342351837426512019-08-12T04:16:00.000-04:002019-08-14T10:52:35.174-04:00On This Day - Red Cross "Thank You" Party<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg52LMidW2DS4n30LDl75HnLNeqbwO0hBd-0nloq5n-lIxfT2kTJ4J022W1bLGHb-jz2QGqnhXPvuMwcIUuObQSwD-AKifPfouPkGcVPbOPQfWYIU2rd65rhtqdjNAT1bcTuvhdqz8qwNY/s1600/OnThisDay1944.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 0em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg52LMidW2DS4n30LDl75HnLNeqbwO0hBd-0nloq5n-lIxfT2kTJ4J022W1bLGHb-jz2QGqnhXPvuMwcIUuObQSwD-AKifPfouPkGcVPbOPQfWYIU2rd65rhtqdjNAT1bcTuvhdqz8qwNY/s225/OnThisDay1944.png"/></a></div>On this day seventy-five years ago, the <font color="red"><b>Milwaukee Chicks</b></font> baseball club hosted a special event at old Borchert Field. The Cream City's entry in the <font color="red"><b>All-American Girls' Professional Ball League</b></font> was doing its part for the war effort (and itself) by bringing Red Cross workers, volunteers, and donors out to the ballpark.<br><br>To add to the festivities, the Chicks also brought back <a href="http://www.borchertfield.com/2019/07/today-in-1944-music-of-spheres.html" target="_blank">their successful partnership with the Milwaukee Symphony orchestra</a>, a combination "double-header" featuring a classical music concert and baseball game.<br><br>
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<td> </td><td align="center"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEims6URG8qPcrfL8ZRyXXx-cr3OD4bSvYvdE5_Xci5vUi4c41_Ne5xHy_kn3rcyhkPv9R0SuIVi5C6IEflV2cNf6-uVNyelbjpmO8gNK9B9zCcaZFJAK9e_idYPgrVUAwuj9hRUL4g0I6I/s1600/1940s_RedCrossPins.jpg" imageanchor="1" ><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEims6URG8qPcrfL8ZRyXXx-cr3OD4bSvYvdE5_Xci5vUi4c41_Ne5xHy_kn3rcyhkPv9R0SuIVi5C6IEflV2cNf6-uVNyelbjpmO8gNK9B9zCcaZFJAK9e_idYPgrVUAwuj9hRUL4g0I6I/s200/1940s_RedCrossPins.jpg" width="200" height="145" data-original-width="1175" data-original-height="850" /></a></td>
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<td></td><td align="center"><font color="#33ccff"><i>Red Cross Pins, c. 1944</i><br>
<div align="right"><font size="1"><a href="https://www.etsy.com/listing/532695558/small-round-vintage-red-cross-i-serve?show_sold_out_detail=1" target="_blank">(Etsy)</a></font></div></font></td>
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The league decided that it would hold a massive "Thank You Party" for the Red Cross. Workers and blood donors alike would receive free admission to Borchert Field just by showing the metal pins that so identified them.<br><Br>
The pins were an integral part of the Red Cross's ad campaign, broadcasting support for the organization and its lifesaving mission.<br><br>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPqHcJpyF1FbNV4hZ1_wp1gATvF9lAkAipRsY-cwL2T0dxPfjjQy5rpfq3_Of0mMNEZQ53rjHfWxaUTWaS5pDdtFo8vBjRDgSiI0Txnzd0Gjh55F5Mrm9uY1iLrpo1Pi7VTYz4iSpvLr8/s1600/ButIHelpTheRedCrossToo.jpg"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPqHcJpyF1FbNV4hZ1_wp1gATvF9lAkAipRsY-cwL2T0dxPfjjQy5rpfq3_Of0mMNEZQ53rjHfWxaUTWaS5pDdtFo8vBjRDgSiI0Txnzd0Gjh55F5Mrm9uY1iLrpo1Pi7VTYz4iSpvLr8/s400/ButIHelpTheRedCrossToo.jpg"/></a></div><div align="right"><font size="1"><a href="https://fineart.ha.com/itm/mainstream-illustration/terry-townsend-american-20th-century-sure-i-m-raising-food-red-cross-poster-illustration-circa-1940sgouache-on/a/5185-72740.s" target="_blank">(Heritage Auctions)</a></font></div><br>
The <i>Milwaukee Sentinel</i> did its part to hype the event:<br><br>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqfqSWi5Sn5qu2C6kBpHQOZknyeQLh8dlt5xX5U8OZLt2RTBzPyYAJzYOhJrVOYYzckRnOlzdGO7QnPYDEkfZn8_8LLeDXRMGNefGA_C4H8JB5sgKVw6fMFMORgrXbS0PLGAbBcHoBZI4/s1600/1944_RedCrossHomer.jpg"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqfqSWi5Sn5qu2C6kBpHQOZknyeQLh8dlt5xX5U8OZLt2RTBzPyYAJzYOhJrVOYYzckRnOlzdGO7QnPYDEkfZn8_8LLeDXRMGNefGA_C4H8JB5sgKVw6fMFMORgrXbS0PLGAbBcHoBZI4/s400/1944_RedCrossHomer.jpg"/></a></div>
<blockquote><font color="#33ccff"><b>RED CROSS HOMER—Three Milwaukee</b> Chicks get a batting lesson from Dick Culler, prize minor league shortstop of the year, as they prepare for their big Red Cross "thank you" night Saturday at Borchert field. All Red Cross members, blood donors and contributors will be admitted free to the game which pits the league leading Chicks against the second-place South Bend Blue Sox. Watching the lesson is Mary Beth Korfmann of the Milwaukee Red Cross motor corps. The Chicks, left to right: Infielder Gladys (Terry) Davis, PItcher Jo Kabick and First Baseman Dolores Klosowski.</font></blockquote>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgeYgTRqEe4SnZN-DuBxQrIxEONauD2wto9i_DpJJmP0KI16mGJRMdmj7S7S3QY_DRBin31CeVqlUIc-UCJfpkS9ULz6ZXvd5itroTyLdncKLCD1yFaW_nibfbd0CtMPs3PlfBH3jYDhk/s1600/1944_DickCuller.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgeYgTRqEe4SnZN-DuBxQrIxEONauD2wto9i_DpJJmP0KI16mGJRMdmj7S7S3QY_DRBin31CeVqlUIc-UCJfpkS9ULz6ZXvd5itroTyLdncKLCD1yFaW_nibfbd0CtMPs3PlfBH3jYDhk/s320/1944_DickCuller.jpg" width="177" height="320" data-original-width="400" data-original-height="725" /></a></div>This is particularly fascinating to me; it's a rare example of a Brewer and Chick player appearing together. Shortstop <font color="red"><b>Dick Culler</b></font> was a fresh face in the Brewer lineup for 1944. He was purchased from the Chicago White Sox, having appeared in 53 games for the South Siders during 1943. Culler was widely praised for his glove work, but unfortunately for him the Sox had another shortstop; Luke Appling, who won the 1943 American League batting title on his way to the Hall of Fame. Culler was given a chance to start in Milwaukee and impressed both at shortstop and at the plate, so much so that the Boston Braves paid Milwaukee handsomely for him after just one season at Borchert Field. To see one of the Brewers' marquee players giving a "batting lesson" to the Chicks is an interesting combination of Milwaukee baseball.<br><br>
Preparations for the event made the <i>Milwaukee Journal</i>'s late-edition front page on Thursday, August 12th:<br><br>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNDghL5SaWGK9dEB0KLE5m6-6y83gigI_IXzi2RBQw35Y8CSlZ-o5_1rq7s3mPIZCk_VmScTm3-SQt3Vj_H7nHFyppQHeKPWuVXDA_4tLDsKwCwLhKE_VK-t-JA7-B6KG4hSXjSoN8y7I/s1600/1944_RedCrossDirector.jpg"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNDghL5SaWGK9dEB0KLE5m6-6y83gigI_IXzi2RBQw35Y8CSlZ-o5_1rq7s3mPIZCk_VmScTm3-SQt3Vj_H7nHFyppQHeKPWuVXDA_4tLDsKwCwLhKE_VK-t-JA7-B6KG4hSXjSoN8y7I/s400/1944_RedCrossDirector.jpg"></a></div><br>
Not only did they get good placement, it's also a pretty good photo of two of our players.<br><br>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHPkoliRSYYJ1irkoSFfGBBNYloxe2W2ekeEgPJeoIL6VL6z4WhTGezWH8wnuzk1fL6pNNdmiWPhvLMMJwlSOREV14Qt4udq_90Wk_Hu_k9jQdIy7S0J123dI08CO7JazmFFLLJPTXsAY/s1600/1944_RedCrossDirector_close.jpg"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHPkoliRSYYJ1irkoSFfGBBNYloxe2W2ekeEgPJeoIL6VL6z4WhTGezWH8wnuzk1fL6pNNdmiWPhvLMMJwlSOREV14Qt4udq_90Wk_Hu_k9jQdIy7S0J123dI08CO7JazmFFLLJPTXsAY/s400/1944_RedCrossDirector_close.jpg"/></a></div>
<blockquote><font color="#33ccff"><b>No, the Milwaukee Girls' Professional</b> ball team isn't trying to sign up Miss Margaret Sharp, executive director of the county Red Cross chapter. These baseball girls are conferring with her about the Red Cross "thank you" party to be given at Borchert field Saturday night. The Milwaukee team will play the South Bend (Ind.) girls' team after a concert. Attendance is free to Red Cross members, workers and blood donors. Sylvia Wronski (left), 2867 N. Hubbard st., pitches. Josephine Figio (center), Milltown, N.J., is an infielder.<br>
<div align="right"><font size="1">—Journal staff</font></div></font></blockquote>
This event was a confluence of the civic-mindedness and social conscience that the league wanted to promote. It was sports at its best, bringing the community together for both entertainment and social good.<br><br>
As the big day approached, the promotion continued.
Milwaukee-based department store chain Boston Store did its part to spread the word; check out the details in this two-page ad from the <i>Milwaukee Journal</i>:<br><br>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIQWi4zxnFin3sKPGnFYQBA3hKRvhF6qVq8FOgR7Xky-Dez9cKvxkFEZEOTtlayKGNhGjQlssewSQJj7bMSV0-WByZnN_D-ahqgj_nRE_HcC8NPFH49YJ2eolDqV5v2AIwZFtk0uQDTDc/s1600/1944_BostonStore_full.jpg"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIQWi4zxnFin3sKPGnFYQBA3hKRvhF6qVq8FOgR7Xky-Dez9cKvxkFEZEOTtlayKGNhGjQlssewSQJj7bMSV0-WByZnN_D-ahqgj_nRE_HcC8NPFH49YJ2eolDqV5v2AIwZFtk0uQDTDc/s400/1944_BostonStore_full.jpg" /></a></div><br>
I see gray was the hot color of the season; "sophisticated and young", "lend(ing) itself to soft, slim silhouettes". How convenient for the Chicks, whose tunics were a very fashionable shade of dove gray.<br><br>
There, in the upper-right corner, we see our ballclub.<br><br>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOWVThyphenhyphenFaRuTgmVhc0mwcGxlxpUZh-Mrz1Sch8BOy4ClLf0Ob6Ed6DzitbNyExyYsj8oUB7WAFbJzm4ththpLAgY2m4oMH4MXfNEFUc4avjXK9Qbucz5QgmRyGCHtHB6nVtwi7q7UhCUE/s1600/1944_BostonStoreRedCrossAd_.jpg"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOWVThyphenhyphenFaRuTgmVhc0mwcGxlxpUZh-Mrz1Sch8BOy4ClLf0Ob6Ed6DzitbNyExyYsj8oUB7WAFbJzm4ththpLAgY2m4oMH4MXfNEFUc4avjXK9Qbucz5QgmRyGCHtHB6nVtwi7q7UhCUE/s400/1944_BostonStoreRedCrossAd_.jpg"/></a></div>
<blockquote><font color="#33ccff"><b>Red Cross "Thank You" Party</b><br>
<ul>
<li>FREE admission to concert and ball game between Milwaukee's own Girls' Ball Team and South Bend team for all Red Cross workers, contributors and blood donors.
<li>PLACE ... Borchert Field.
<li>TIME ... Saturday, August 12th, at 8 P.M.
<li>YOUR admission is your service pin, contributor's card or blood donor's button.
</uL></font></blockquote>
On the day itself, the <i>Journal</i> captured this photo of two Red Cross volunteers coming through the Orchard's turnstiles.<br><br>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCcO5rgKJruIdo4BUaZh0UK7lR_noiQenC8RPd0xv2u0wAXsIViOiPIuSvF7XldmyoiPtq2EAugsmSAm39QIowLImA26C7tu6az6bzSclaoVqxufN5JTfmikDCOm7_ZFkmo1kw8A567aM/s1600/1944_RedCrossUsher.jpg" ><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCcO5rgKJruIdo4BUaZh0UK7lR_noiQenC8RPd0xv2u0wAXsIViOiPIuSvF7XldmyoiPtq2EAugsmSAm39QIowLImA26C7tu6az6bzSclaoVqxufN5JTfmikDCOm7_ZFkmo1kw8A567aM/s505/1944_RedCrossUsher.jpg"/></a></div>
<blockquote><font color="#33ccff"><b>The County Red Cross had a "thank you" party</b> at Borchert field Saturday night. Red Cross workers, members and blood donors were admitted free to the concert and Milwaukee Girls' Professional ball team game. The guardian of the regular pass gate, Henry Tolle, who usually insists on more elaborate credentials, let in Grey Ladies Doris Ehlenfeldt (left), 1439 S. 88th st., and Alice Wirth, 1730 W. Kilbourn av., when they showed their Red Cross buttons.<br><div align="right"><font size="1">—Journal staff</font></div></font></blockquote>
Again with the gray. "Grey Ladies" were volunteers who worked in Red Cross hospitals in non-medical roles. The Red Cross used color-coded uniforms, and the branch officially known as the "Hostess and Hospital Service and Recreation Corps" became identified by their gray dresses. Hence the nickname.<br><br>
This is an unusual glimpse at the everyday Borchert Field experience, the turnstile at the pass gate. It seems appropriate that the guardian of the gate would have a name like <font color="red"><b>Henry Tolle</b></font>. Tolle is a fascinating character; born in Germany, he was a longtime wrestling promoter who leveraged his side job working at Borchert Field into renting the park for his events. He was reported to have once hauled a truckload of dirt from under the Borchert field bleachers to another venue for a mud wrestling match!<br><br>
Mr. Tolle's uniform is also interesting. Formal jacket with military braid at the cuff, and a peaked cap that reads in part "MILWAUKEE". I'd love to get a better look at that.<br><br>
Between the concert and the Red Cross, the evening was a smashing success. The Borchert Field grandstand was filled with 4,409 fans, a good crowd even by Brewers standards. And those forty-four hundred baseball bugs saw the home team march to victory.<br><br>
<blockquote><font color="#33ccff"><div align="center"><font size="5"><b>Schnitts Win; Back in Lead</b></font><br><br>
<font size="4">Blank South Bend</font></div><br>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFwbjjQL5mSJ9ISZoC0cqBPHMwheTzuQU4FNlXQ2H74FaggWzQB3Z-6TW2vysH14Y52vH_VCR9_VFO5tfgAk6x3KL7E5VRtQCyIEiRlG0cDTQ99cy5197rquCye0TOdizVqYWUxCJ_60Y/s1600/1944_RedCross_BoxScore.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFwbjjQL5mSJ9ISZoC0cqBPHMwheTzuQU4FNlXQ2H74FaggWzQB3Z-6TW2vysH14Y52vH_VCR9_VFO5tfgAk6x3KL7E5VRtQCyIEiRlG0cDTQ99cy5197rquCye0TOdizVqYWUxCJ_60Y/s300/1944_RedCross_BoxScore.jpg"/></a></div>The Milwaukee Schnitts regained the undisputed lead in the All-American girls ball league here Saturday night as Connie Wisniewski hurled them to a 3 to 0 shut-out victory over the South Bend Blue Sox. The game was played to a Red Cross "thank you night" crowd of of 4,409 fans.<br><br>
Wisniewski was never in trouble, allowing only four scattered hits, and issuing only one base on balls.<br><br>
Bonnie Baker, South Bend catcher, received the biggest applause of the season as she raced over to the stands after a foul fly and fell over the wall, into the stands, landing in the laps of several spectators.</font></blockquote><br>
Sounds like a scene worthy of <i>A League of Their Own</i>.<br><br>
The Chicks were proving that they could draw decent crowds on occasion; a thousand on <a href="http://www.borchertfield.com/2019/06/on-this-day-autograph-miss.html" target="_blank">the <i>Sentinel</i> paperboys' league day</a>, over four thousand for the Red Cross party. It's a shame that the league couldn't give them enough time to build their sustainable fanbase around these events.<br><br><br><br>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgT-4ql88Dno4zxeunYTj0KJ-CJhz0g576tGSL1AwtHkjJQLT5XQw-M6rYJ9x1ynUBREh4t_rlEkrLMUn43mgHjPisV7UdryKzJmbinNk0MFlrHlE5fNYwulm85Uyauf1l_9unLp9MLFmA/s1600/Chicks75th_logo.png"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgT-4ql88Dno4zxeunYTj0KJ-CJhz0g576tGSL1AwtHkjJQLT5XQw-M6rYJ9x1ynUBREh4t_rlEkrLMUn43mgHjPisV7UdryKzJmbinNk0MFlrHlE5fNYwulm85Uyauf1l_9unLp9MLFmA/s300/Chicks75th_logo.png"/></a></div><br>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6292209952573237829.post-84499753646150888002019-08-11T16:22:00.000-04:002019-08-13T16:57:07.484-04:00On This Day - "Red Cross Homer"<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg52LMidW2DS4n30LDl75HnLNeqbwO0hBd-0nloq5n-lIxfT2kTJ4J022W1bLGHb-jz2QGqnhXPvuMwcIUuObQSwD-AKifPfouPkGcVPbOPQfWYIU2rd65rhtqdjNAT1bcTuvhdqz8qwNY/s1600/OnThisDay1944.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 0em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg52LMidW2DS4n30LDl75HnLNeqbwO0hBd-0nloq5n-lIxfT2kTJ4J022W1bLGHb-jz2QGqnhXPvuMwcIUuObQSwD-AKifPfouPkGcVPbOPQfWYIU2rd65rhtqdjNAT1bcTuvhdqz8qwNY/s225/OnThisDay1944.png"/></a></div>On this day seventy-five years ago, the <i>Milwaukee Sentinel</i> published a fascinating photo, a rare look at the <font color="red"><b>Milwaukee Chicks</b></font> and <font color="red"><b>Milwaukee Brewers</b></font> baseball clubs sharing the Borchert Field diamond.<br><br>
Although the two clubs shared a ballpark, they were hardly partners. The All-American league would have been happy to borrow some of the Brewers' credibility in the marketplace (in fact, an early name for the Chicks was "Brewerettes", much as the fledgling NFL borrowed established baseball names to get itself taken more seriously). The Brewers, for their part, seemed fine with renting their ballpark to the upstart women's league but didn't collaborate any further. Given that, this photo is almost shocking.<br><br>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqfqSWi5Sn5qu2C6kBpHQOZknyeQLh8dlt5xX5U8OZLt2RTBzPyYAJzYOhJrVOYYzckRnOlzdGO7QnPYDEkfZn8_8LLeDXRMGNefGA_C4H8JB5sgKVw6fMFMORgrXbS0PLGAbBcHoBZI4/s1600/1944_RedCrossHomer.jpg"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqfqSWi5Sn5qu2C6kBpHQOZknyeQLh8dlt5xX5U8OZLt2RTBzPyYAJzYOhJrVOYYzckRnOlzdGO7QnPYDEkfZn8_8LLeDXRMGNefGA_C4H8JB5sgKVw6fMFMORgrXbS0PLGAbBcHoBZI4/s400/1944_RedCrossHomer.jpg"/></a></div>
<blockquote><font color="#33ccff"><b>RED CROSS HOMER—Three Milwaukee</b> Chicks get a batting lesson from Dick Culler, prize minor league shortstop of the year, as they prepare for their big Red Cross "thank you" night Saturday at Borchert field. All Red Cross members, blood donors and contributors will be admitted free to the game which pits the league leading Chicks against the second-place South Bend Blue Sox. Watching the lesson is Mary Beth Korfmann of the Milwaukee Red Cross motor corps. The Chicks, left to right: Infielder Gladys (Terry) Davis, PItcher Jo Kabick and First Baseman Dolores Klosowski.</font></blockquote>
This photo was taken in the lead-up to a major event for the Chicks, where they welcomed a few thousand Red Cross employees, volunteers, and donors to Borchert Field.<br><br>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgeYgTRqEe4SnZN-DuBxQrIxEONauD2wto9i_DpJJmP0KI16mGJRMdmj7S7S3QY_DRBin31CeVqlUIc-UCJfpkS9ULz6ZXvd5itroTyLdncKLCD1yFaW_nibfbd0CtMPs3PlfBH3jYDhk/s1600/1944_DickCuller.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgeYgTRqEe4SnZN-DuBxQrIxEONauD2wto9i_DpJJmP0KI16mGJRMdmj7S7S3QY_DRBin31CeVqlUIc-UCJfpkS9ULz6ZXvd5itroTyLdncKLCD1yFaW_nibfbd0CtMPs3PlfBH3jYDhk/s320/1944_DickCuller.jpg" width="177" height="320" data-original-width="400" data-original-height="725" /></a></div>Shortstop <font color="red"><b>Dick Culler</b></font>, seen here twisting himself in knots with a mighty swing, was a fresh face in the Brewer lineup for 1944. He was purchased from the Chicago White Sox, having appeared in 53 games for the South Siders during 1943. Culler was widely praised for his glove work, but unfortunately for him the Sox had another shortstop; Luke Appling, who won the 1943 American League batting title on his way to the Hall of Fame. Culler was given a chance to start in Milwaukee, <a href="http://www.borchertfield.com/2014/04/today-in-1944-brewer-tradition.html" target="_blank">leading off the Brewers' batting order</a>. He impressed at the plate and on the field, so much so that the Boston Braves paid Milwaukee handsomely for him after just one season at Borchert Field. To see one of the Brewers' marquee players giving a "batting lesson" to the Chicks is an interesting combination of Milwaukee baseball.<br><br>
In retrospect, it's a shame that the Brewers and Chicks couldn't collaborate. At the worst, the Brewers would have gotten some additional rental income. At best, they could have helped women's baseball gain a foothold in a major American city, which might have changed history.<br><br><br><br>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgT-4ql88Dno4zxeunYTj0KJ-CJhz0g576tGSL1AwtHkjJQLT5XQw-M6rYJ9x1ynUBREh4t_rlEkrLMUn43mgHjPisV7UdryKzJmbinNk0MFlrHlE5fNYwulm85Uyauf1l_9unLp9MLFmA/s1600/Chicks75th_logo.png"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgT-4ql88Dno4zxeunYTj0KJ-CJhz0g576tGSL1AwtHkjJQLT5XQw-M6rYJ9x1ynUBREh4t_rlEkrLMUn43mgHjPisV7UdryKzJmbinNk0MFlrHlE5fNYwulm85Uyauf1l_9unLp9MLFmA/s300/Chicks75th_logo.png"/></a></div><br>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6292209952573237829.post-30211763342126056582019-08-05T10:49:00.000-04:002019-08-08T11:05:55.368-04:00A Peek Into History?The Chudnow Museum of Yesteryear posted <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/B0tUU5BnO1N/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link" target="_blank">this very intriguing photo</a> on Instagram:<br><br>
<blockquote class="instagram-media" data-instgrm-captioned data-instgrm-permalink="https://www.instagram.com/p/B0tUU5BnO1N/" data-instgrm-version="12" style=" background:#FFF; border:0; border-radius:3px; box-shadow:0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width:540px; min-width:326px; padding:0; width:99.375%; width:-webkit-calc(100% - 2px); width:calc(100% - 2px);"><div style="padding:16px;"> <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/B0tUU5BnO1N/" style=" background:#FFFFFF; line-height:0; padding:0 0; text-align:center; text-decoration:none; width:100%;" target="_blank"> <div style=" display: flex; flex-direction: row; align-items: center;"> <div style="background-color: #F4F4F4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 40px; margin-right: 14px; width: 40px;"></div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center;"> <div style=" background-color: #F4F4F4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 100px;"></div> <div style=" background-color: #F4F4F4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 60px;"></div></div></div><div style="padding: 19% 0;"></div> <div style="display:block; height:50px; margin:0 auto 12px; width:50px;"><svg width="50px" height="50px" viewBox="0 0 60 60" version="1.1" xmlns="https://www.w3.org/2000/svg" xmlns:xlink="https://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"><g stroke="none" stroke-width="1" fill="none" fill-rule="evenodd"><g transform="translate(-511.000000, -20.000000)" fill="#000000"><g><path d="M556.869,30.41 C554.814,30.41 553.148,32.076 553.148,34.131 C553.148,36.186 554.814,37.852 556.869,37.852 C558.924,37.852 560.59,36.186 560.59,34.131 C560.59,32.076 558.924,30.41 556.869,30.41 M541,60.657 C535.114,60.657 530.342,55.887 530.342,50 C530.342,44.114 535.114,39.342 541,39.342 C546.887,39.342 551.658,44.114 551.658,50 C551.658,55.887 546.887,60.657 541,60.657 M541,33.886 C532.1,33.886 524.886,41.1 524.886,50 C524.886,58.899 532.1,66.113 541,66.113 C549.9,66.113 557.115,58.899 557.115,50 C557.115,41.1 549.9,33.886 541,33.886 M565.378,62.101 C565.244,65.022 564.756,66.606 564.346,67.663 C563.803,69.06 563.154,70.057 562.106,71.106 C561.058,72.155 560.06,72.803 558.662,73.347 C557.607,73.757 556.021,74.244 553.102,74.378 C549.944,74.521 548.997,74.552 541,74.552 C533.003,74.552 532.056,74.521 528.898,74.378 C525.979,74.244 524.393,73.757 523.338,73.347 C521.94,72.803 520.942,72.155 519.894,71.106 C518.846,70.057 518.197,69.06 517.654,67.663 C517.244,66.606 516.755,65.022 516.623,62.101 C516.479,58.943 516.448,57.996 516.448,50 C516.448,42.003 516.479,41.056 516.623,37.899 C516.755,34.978 517.244,33.391 517.654,32.338 C518.197,30.938 518.846,29.942 519.894,28.894 C520.942,27.846 521.94,27.196 523.338,26.654 C524.393,26.244 525.979,25.756 528.898,25.623 C532.057,25.479 533.004,25.448 541,25.448 C548.997,25.448 549.943,25.479 553.102,25.623 C556.021,25.756 557.607,26.244 558.662,26.654 C560.06,27.196 561.058,27.846 562.106,28.894 C563.154,29.942 563.803,30.938 564.346,32.338 C564.756,33.391 565.244,34.978 565.378,37.899 C565.522,41.056 565.552,42.003 565.552,50 C565.552,57.996 565.522,58.943 565.378,62.101 M570.82,37.631 C570.674,34.438 570.167,32.258 569.425,30.349 C568.659,28.377 567.633,26.702 565.965,25.035 C564.297,23.368 562.623,22.342 560.652,21.575 C558.743,20.834 556.562,20.326 553.369,20.18 C550.169,20.033 549.148,20 541,20 C532.853,20 531.831,20.033 528.631,20.18 C525.438,20.326 523.257,20.834 521.349,21.575 C519.376,22.342 517.703,23.368 516.035,25.035 C514.368,26.702 513.342,28.377 512.574,30.349 C511.834,32.258 511.326,34.438 511.181,37.631 C511.035,40.831 511,41.851 511,50 C511,58.147 511.035,59.17 511.181,62.369 C511.326,65.562 511.834,67.743 512.574,69.651 C513.342,71.625 514.368,73.296 516.035,74.965 C517.703,76.634 519.376,77.658 521.349,78.425 C523.257,79.167 525.438,79.673 528.631,79.82 C531.831,79.965 532.853,80.001 541,80.001 C549.148,80.001 550.169,79.965 553.369,79.82 C556.562,79.673 558.743,79.167 560.652,78.425 C562.623,77.658 564.297,76.634 565.965,74.965 C567.633,73.296 568.659,71.625 569.425,69.651 C570.167,67.743 570.674,65.562 570.82,62.369 C570.966,59.17 571,58.147 571,50 C571,41.851 570.966,40.831 570.82,37.631"></path></g></g></g></svg></div><div style="padding-top: 8px;"> <div style=" color:#3897f0; font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; font-style:normal; font-weight:550; line-height:18px;"> View this post on Instagram</div></div><div style="padding: 12.5% 0;"></div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: row; margin-bottom: 14px; align-items: center;"><div> <div style="background-color: #F4F4F4; border-radius: 50%; height: 12.5px; width: 12.5px; transform: translateX(0px) translateY(7px);"></div> <div style="background-color: #F4F4F4; height: 12.5px; transform: rotate(-45deg) translateX(3px) translateY(1px); width: 12.5px; flex-grow: 0; margin-right: 14px; margin-left: 2px;"></div> <div style="background-color: #F4F4F4; border-radius: 50%; height: 12.5px; width: 12.5px; transform: translateX(9px) translateY(-18px);"></div></div><div style="margin-left: 8px;"> <div style=" background-color: #F4F4F4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 20px; width: 20px;"></div> <div style=" width: 0; height: 0; border-top: 2px solid transparent; border-left: 6px solid #f4f4f4; border-bottom: 2px solid transparent; transform: translateX(16px) translateY(-4px) rotate(30deg)"></div></div><div style="margin-left: auto;"> <div style=" width: 0px; border-top: 8px solid #F4F4F4; border-right: 8px solid transparent; transform: translateY(16px);"></div> <div style=" background-color: #F4F4F4; flex-grow: 0; height: 12px; width: 16px; transform: translateY(-4px);"></div> <div style=" width: 0; height: 0; border-top: 8px solid #F4F4F4; border-left: 8px solid transparent; transform: translateY(-4px) translateX(8px);"></div></div></div></a> <p style=" margin:8px 0 0 0; padding:0 4px;"> <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/B0tUU5BnO1N/" style=" color:#000; font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; font-style:normal; font-weight:normal; line-height:17px; text-decoration:none; word-wrap:break-word;" target="_blank">I wonder what magic might be on this film labeled, "Milwaukee ball game April 12, 1936"? #borchertfield #milwaukeebrewers #chudnowmuseum #vintageballgame #oldfilm #schusters #kodakfilm #ballgame #mkehistory #milwaukee</a></p> <p style=" color:#c9c8cd; font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; line-height:17px; margin-bottom:0; margin-top:8px; overflow:hidden; padding:8px 0 7px; text-align:center; text-overflow:ellipsis; white-space:nowrap;">A post shared by <a href="https://www.instagram.com/chudnowmuseum/" style=" color:#c9c8cd; font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; font-style:normal; font-weight:normal; line-height:17px;" target="_blank"> Chudnow Museum</a> (@chudnowmuseum) on <time style=" font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; line-height:17px;" datetime="2019-08-03T16:12:11+00:00">Aug 3, 2019 at 9:12am PDT</time></p></div></blockquote> <script async src="//www.instagram.com/embed.js"></script>
Positively giddy with anticipation.<br><br>
Looking at <a href="http://www.borchertfield.com/2016/03/1936-american-association-schedule.html" target="_blank">the 1936 schedule</a>, April 12th was the American Association's opening day. The Brewers were on the road in Louisville, Kentucky to play the Colonels. The AA was experimenting with opening the season on a Sunday, which was a success in Kentucky at least as 10,550 baseball bugs turned out to see the Colonels whallop the Brewers, 6-1.<br><br>
Schuster's was a Milwaukee department store chain. Did some Milwaukee fan travel to Kentucky with a camera?<br><br>
I'm told that the Chudnow Museum has three small rolls of film, maybe fifteen minutes in total. The film has yet to be digitized, but we may see it at an upcoming event. The prospect of watching part of a Brewer game is mouth-watering, even a loss.<br><br>
More details as I get them, but for now we can enjoy knowing that our Brews will come alive soon!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6292209952573237829.post-61345607988839530892019-07-31T05:08:00.000-04:002019-07-31T05:08:00.405-04:00"Baseball, Maestro, Please", 1944<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgT-4ql88Dno4zxeunYTj0KJ-CJhz0g576tGSL1AwtHkjJQLT5XQw-M6rYJ9x1ynUBREh4t_rlEkrLMUn43mgHjPisV7UdryKzJmbinNk0MFlrHlE5fNYwulm85Uyauf1l_9unLp9MLFmA/s1600/Chicks75th_logo.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 0em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgT-4ql88Dno4zxeunYTj0KJ-CJhz0g576tGSL1AwtHkjJQLT5XQw-M6rYJ9x1ynUBREh4t_rlEkrLMUn43mgHjPisV7UdryKzJmbinNk0MFlrHlE5fNYwulm85Uyauf1l_9unLp9MLFmA/s200/Chicks75th_logo.png"/></a></div>Seventy-five years ago, in the summer of 1944, the <font color="red"><b>Milwaukee Chicks</b></font> of the <font color="red"><b>All-American Girls Professional Ball League</b></font> were involved in a most unusual promotion. The ballclub paired with the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra in <a href="http://www.borchertfield.com/2019/07/today-in-1944-music-of-spheres.html" target="_blank">a series of "double-headers"</a>, classical music concerts with baseball games.<br><br>
The brainchild of league founder <font color="red"><b>Philip K. Wrigley</b></font>, ably abetted by Chicks general manager <font color="red"><b>Eddie Stumpf</b></font>, these concerts were created in the hope of drawing attention to the league. And in that respect, at least, they were phenomenally successful.<br><br>
The promotion was noticed by none other than <i>Time</i> magazine, in its issue dated July 31, 1944.<br><br>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGw8ESVh-8aIu4ao20ByzAD_jkyNzEb-pTu7VQJZpYZaogo2rw7YpbHPqWVnjSGhXQGeOxwqFdWIiac2cmae0cu2o01A5Q92apcDFsXOF3_lvtLXKic_gWtHAkzFavfg8xFRhyphenhyphenLlGZWpQ/s1600/TimeMagazine_07311944.jpg"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGw8ESVh-8aIu4ao20ByzAD_jkyNzEb-pTu7VQJZpYZaogo2rw7YpbHPqWVnjSGhXQGeOxwqFdWIiac2cmae0cu2o01A5Q92apcDFsXOF3_lvtLXKic_gWtHAkzFavfg8xFRhyphenhyphenLlGZWpQ/s516/TimeMagazine_07311944.jpg"></a></div><br>
The Sport section begins on page 40 of the magazine; this is the first article in that section.<br><br>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjX_JBi4ke9YKr22V1naTXRBTjlh6HUByX1yD1sE9agb1EA7Zli5kac43Py9Rni2HRwQTHvrzxUUQTL1M2NAMMSzrJoHo-zGOqo5mHrhC6zCWqcmFb4ndECbgBNYt4zA8m7ZbfcNSPEbsY/s1600/TimeMagazine_07311944_p40.jpg"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjX_JBi4ke9YKr22V1naTXRBTjlh6HUByX1yD1sE9agb1EA7Zli5kac43Py9Rni2HRwQTHvrzxUUQTL1M2NAMMSzrJoHo-zGOqo5mHrhC6zCWqcmFb4ndECbgBNYt4zA8m7ZbfcNSPEbsY/s516/TimeMagazine_07311944_p40.jpg"/></a></div><br>
The transcript gives us a peek into the league, at least this one person's impression:
<blockquote><font color="#33ccff"><hr width="100%" color="#33cccff">
<div align="center"><b><font size="5">S P O R T</font></b></div>
<hr width="100%" color="#33cccff"><br>
<font size="4"><b>Baseball, Maestro, Please</b></font><br><br>
"Music and baseball don't mix ordinarily but women and music mix."<br><br>
Thus promoter Eddie Stumpf, after one of the strangest double-headers in baseball history. At Milwaukee's Borchert Field, General Manager Stumpf's Milwaukee Chicks had met their Minneapolis rivals in the All-American Girls Professional Ball League after a one-hour prelude of classical music (Grieg's <i>Heart Wounds</i>, Ravel's <i>Pavane pour une Infante Défunte</i>, etc.) by the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra.<br><br>
Hot dog and pop sales came to a hushed pause during the concert. Shushed by indignantly reverent ushers, the fidgety fans sat in silence, stretched their voices in relief after the sacred ceremony of music. Philip Knight Wrigley, backer of the League and chief matchmaker in its marriage to music, was solemnly enthusiastic. He has long been eager to try any scheme, however undignified, which might promote his Midwestern softball carnival.<br><br>
<font size="3"><b>Model Upbringing.</b></font> When Wrigley thought up the Girls League last year, he was dead set on having it feminine as well as female. Screening out tomboy candidates, he hired Beautician Helena Rubenstein to give the survivors chic. But she never quite succeeded.<br><br>
Neither did the League. Only four teams played last year: the Rockford (Ill.) Peaches, South Bend Blue Sox, Racine (Wis.) Belles, Kenosha (Wis.) Comets. In a 108-game schedule, they drew some 200,000 fans and a $125,000 gate, but wound up $75,000 in the hole.<br><br>
This year conditioning was supervised by a former Powers model, Ruth Tiffany, who runs a Chicago charm studio. Assisted by the League's public-relations director, Gertrude Hendricks, who once taught the construction of form-fit corsets, she cajoled some 120 candidates through a fortnight of spring training on 1) conversation techniques, 2) etiquette, 3) posture, 4) dress, 5) make-up and hair-do for the outdoor girl, 6) how to attract the right kind of man as against the wolf. Before hitting the road, the players pledged themselves not to smoke in public or appear in bars, arranged to stop in private homes instead of hotels.<br><br>
<font size="3"><b>Bouncing Box Office.</b></font> The first results were sensational. With Milwaukee and Minneapolis added to the roster, box-office takes for the opening games were 300 to 900% higher than last year. But by the time the diamond darlings reached the halfway mark last week, season attendance was slumping close to last year's average.<br><br>
It seemed unlikely to be boosted any higher by Wrigley's idea of mixing bats and batons. Only 659 people attended last week' double-header, first of a series of four. Sporting and musical experts agreed that some ball fans might be converted into music lovers, but that the reverse possibilities were dubious.</font></blockquote>
This presumably went to press before the league <a href="http://www.borchertfield.com/2019/07/on-this-day-girls-give-up-at-minneapolis.html" target="_blank">gave up on the Minneapolis market</a>, or our unnamed critic would have mentioned it.<br><br>
Well, I guess all publicity is good publicity. Even even it did come with a dose of sexist <i>Time</i> snark.
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6292209952573237829.post-47592227280150953112019-07-26T11:03:00.002-04:002019-07-26T11:03:26.636-04:00On This Day - "About the Girls"<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg52LMidW2DS4n30LDl75HnLNeqbwO0hBd-0nloq5n-lIxfT2kTJ4J022W1bLGHb-jz2QGqnhXPvuMwcIUuObQSwD-AKifPfouPkGcVPbOPQfWYIU2rd65rhtqdjNAT1bcTuvhdqz8qwNY/s1600/OnThisDay1944.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 0em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg52LMidW2DS4n30LDl75HnLNeqbwO0hBd-0nloq5n-lIxfT2kTJ4J022W1bLGHb-jz2QGqnhXPvuMwcIUuObQSwD-AKifPfouPkGcVPbOPQfWYIU2rd65rhtqdjNAT1bcTuvhdqz8qwNY/s225/OnThisDay1944.png"/></a></div>On this day seventy-five years ago, on July 26, 1944, the <i>Milwaukee Journal</i>'s sports editor <font color="red"><b>R. G. Lynch</b></font> devoted his column <i>"Maybe I'm Wrong"</i> to printing letters from his readers.<br><br>What's notable for us is that two of the five letters in Lynch's mailbag were about our <font color="red"><b>Milwaukee Chicks</b></font> baseball club. struggling to bring the <font color="red"><b>All-American Girls' Professional Ball League</b></font> to Milwaukee.<br><br>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibHDXDWNZcci5cjOx62KAbDHq37TjJp6R7uJ8N-Bcjf5W17DgBbOnJNc0kz6OHL8uMOAlSu8gdU2Ht1Oslvzf-Jizsz6jT3GrqkpGqNIFHgxslIHpdaLrSwVjp4NZgVVTfFFF6HjjnB4g/s1600/1944_Mailbag_AboutTheGirls.jpg"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibHDXDWNZcci5cjOx62KAbDHq37TjJp6R7uJ8N-Bcjf5W17DgBbOnJNc0kz6OHL8uMOAlSu8gdU2Ht1Oslvzf-Jizsz6jT3GrqkpGqNIFHgxslIHpdaLrSwVjp4NZgVVTfFFF6HjjnB4g/s755/1944_Mailbag_AboutTheGirls.jpg"/></a></div>
<blockquote><font color="#33ccff"><table width="100%" border="1" bordercolor="#33ccff" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="18">
<tr>
<td align="center"><font size="6"><b>Maybe I'm Wrong</b></font></td>
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</table>
<div align="center"><font size="2"><b>By R. G. LYNCH</b></font><br>
<font size="2">[Sports Editor]</font><br><br>
<font size="4">About the Girls</font></div><br>
FROM "A New Fan," E. Lake View av,: I attended the girls' game at Borchert field last Wednesday and heard the Milwaukee symphony orchestra.
My attitude was a critical one but I came away a fan. The girls were attractive in their neat uniforms and they played a clever game of baseball. Dr. Julius Ehrlich and his orchestra played very well indeed. I do hope, and I believe many others will hope with me, that Dr. Ehrlich will include some of the semiclassics with his symphonic music in programs to come, for we all like to hear familiar and loved music beautifully played.<br><br>
The fact that we attended the concert - game combination again Thursday should be sufficient evidence that we loved it. We had not seen a professional baseball game for several years but the entire family turned out for this.
</font></blockquote>
Excellent feedback, and exactly the response that league founder <font color="red"><b>Philip K. Wrigley</b></font> was hoping for when he <a href="http://www.borchertfield.com/2019/07/today-in-1944-music-of-spheres.html" target="_blank">paired his league with Milwaukee's classical music scene</a>. For this one anonymous Whitefish Bay family, at least, Wrigley's novel experiment was a roaring success.<br><br>
The second letter Lynch printed was also positive, but more along the lines of offering constructive criticism.
<blockquote><font color="#33ccff"><div align="center"><font size="4">Lower Prices</font></div><br>
FROM A. G. Heinmiller, 342 N. Water st.: Maybe symphony concerts will help to bring up the attendance at the girls' baseball games, but I think a reasonable price might be a bigger encouragement for the fans to come out. I'm a pretty loyal fan, myself, but I haven't been able to make myself pay 95c to see a game that lasts about 1 hour 15 minutes, in which they make all the way from 5 to 15 errors, when I can see the Brewers for the same price. I think a 50c price plus tax would show as much net revenue and bring out a crowd. Or why not try a two for one plan a few times?</font></blockquote>
This <a href="http://www.borchertfield.com/2019/07/on-this-day-goshawhimmity-if-i-dont-get.html" target="_blank">isn't a new suggestion</a>, but it's a very sensible one. It seems short-sighted to price the brand-new Chicks at the same prices the Brewers could command, considering that the Brews had a forty-year head start and were playing at a level right below the Major Leagues.<br><Br>
We know the Chicks had several free-or-reduced-price specials for <a href="http://www.borchertfield.com/2019/06/on-this-day-autograph-miss.html" target="_blank">paperboy baseball leagues</a> and for Red Cross blood donors. And that is a great start to get people through the turnstiles, but we hear a constant refrain that the ticket prices were making it hard to bring them back again.<br><Br>
I'm also fascinated by A. G. Heinmiller's description of the games themselves. We knew that AAGPBL games, at least in Milwaukee, were fast-paced affairs, with lots of baserunning and lots of errors. But seventy-five minutes? That's astounding.<br><br><br><br>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgT-4ql88Dno4zxeunYTj0KJ-CJhz0g576tGSL1AwtHkjJQLT5XQw-M6rYJ9x1ynUBREh4t_rlEkrLMUn43mgHjPisV7UdryKzJmbinNk0MFlrHlE5fNYwulm85Uyauf1l_9unLp9MLFmA/s1600/Chicks75th_logo.png"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgT-4ql88Dno4zxeunYTj0KJ-CJhz0g576tGSL1AwtHkjJQLT5XQw-M6rYJ9x1ynUBREh4t_rlEkrLMUn43mgHjPisV7UdryKzJmbinNk0MFlrHlE5fNYwulm85Uyauf1l_9unLp9MLFmA/s300/Chicks75th_logo.png"/></a></div><br>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6292209952573237829.post-32422381556155442772019-07-24T07:26:00.000-04:002019-07-24T07:26:04.093-04:00On This Day - "Want to Laugh at a Millionaire?"<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg52LMidW2DS4n30LDl75HnLNeqbwO0hBd-0nloq5n-lIxfT2kTJ4J022W1bLGHb-jz2QGqnhXPvuMwcIUuObQSwD-AKifPfouPkGcVPbOPQfWYIU2rd65rhtqdjNAT1bcTuvhdqz8qwNY/s1600/OnThisDay1944.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 0em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg52LMidW2DS4n30LDl75HnLNeqbwO0hBd-0nloq5n-lIxfT2kTJ4J022W1bLGHb-jz2QGqnhXPvuMwcIUuObQSwD-AKifPfouPkGcVPbOPQfWYIU2rd65rhtqdjNAT1bcTuvhdqz8qwNY/s225/OnThisDay1944.png"/></a></div>In the summer of 1944, the <font color="red"><b>Milwaukee Chicks</b></font> baseball club was struggling to survive in Milwaukee. The <font color="red"><b>All-American Girls' Professional Ball League</b></font> team was doing well on the diamond but struggling at the box office. The last thing they could afford was a feud with one of the most powerful newspaper columnists in Milwaukee. But that's just what they got.<br><br>
The first shot was fired by <font color="red"><b>R. G. Lynch</b></font>, who was not only a columnist but the sports editor of the <i>Milwaukee Journal</i>. At the end of his column "Maybe I'm Wrong", on Sunday, July 16, 1944, Lynch took square aim at Wrigley, his symphony "double-headers", and even the AAGPBL itself.<br><br>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-OBmcQFgKfhsRs-ftK7wXX0FW3k-84dCmxP8M26hPXLN02aoz5FMrGW2ziD_Rk8nOvfFgliEjS-gZown8lMvBSzmvD7JD56N1ns94jaEyZ3yNn1c-jtqSUZauJ96lxOvU_vYW-h4p1L4/s1600/1944_LaughAtAMillionaire.jpg"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-OBmcQFgKfhsRs-ftK7wXX0FW3k-84dCmxP8M26hPXLN02aoz5FMrGW2ziD_Rk8nOvfFgliEjS-gZown8lMvBSzmvD7JD56N1ns94jaEyZ3yNn1c-jtqSUZauJ96lxOvU_vYW-h4p1L4/s425/1944_LaughAtAMillionaire.jpg"/></a></div><br>
<blockquote><font color="#33ccff"><table width="100%" border="1" bordercolor="#33ccff" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="18">
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<td align="center"><font size="6"><b>Maybe I'm Wrong</b></font></td>
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<div align="center"><font size="2"><b>By R. G. LYNCH</b></font><br>
<font size="2">[Sports Editor]</font><br><br>
<font size="4">Want to Laugh at a Millionaire? Go Ahead!</font></div><br>
Recipe for girls' baseball popularity: Separate the bull fiddle of one symphony orchestra. Beat the musicians until stiff and bull fiddle until splintered. Fold in one girls' ball club. Pour into ball park well greased with newspaper advertising and bake three July nights and one afternoon.<br><br>
You don't like the recipe? You think symphony music and glorified soft ball will not mix any better than pickles and cream? Well, the recipe was concocted by a millionaire businessman, Phil Wrigley. He is the prime backer of the All-American Girls' Professional Ball league which moved into Milwaukee and Minneapolis this year after a fairly successful start in four smaller cities last season. The league is simply dripping red ink in the two big towns. Wrigley recently decided to so something about it. He reasoned that Brewer fans got enough baseball watching the Brewers so the girls would have to interest others. A lot of persons with no interest at all in girls' baseball would have to be enticed out to the field to see the new game. What would be the bait to get them out?<br><br>
"Hire the Milwaukee symphony orchestra," ordered Wrigley.<br><br>
The men he pays to carry out his ideas tried to substitute a name dance band, but it was no go. Wrigley wanted symphony and, besides, Kay Kyster, Horace Heidt and the rest of the maestros of dance orchestras were unavailable.<br><br>
So the Milwaukee symphony orchestra will play a one hour concert Wednesday night at Borchert field, starting at 7:30, and after that the girls will play ball. The same combination will be offered Thursday and Friday nights. Next Sunday afternoon, a musical sandwich will be on the bill of fare, with the orchestra playing between games of a double header.<br><br>
Mr. Wrigley's minions hope that the music lovers who attend the concerts will not get up and walk out when the girl ballplayers take the field. Mr. Wrigley's minions, confidentially, think he is nuts, but they would not be quoted for anything—not because P. K. would fire them (he is not that way at all), but because they gave thought before that some of the millionaire gum man's ideas were screwy and have seen those nutty ideas pay off. </font></blockquote>
"Maybe I'm Wrong", indeed.<br><br>
It's a bit rich that the Lynch should turn up his nose at the league being "well greased with newspaper advertising", considering how much his employer was charging the league to run its ads before every single home game. As they did with the established Brewers. Heck, there's an ad for a Brewer game <i>literally next to his column</i>.<br><br>
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<td> </td>
<td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJCRV_Og9jxkaTFIjy1G-4G4n31GYE9ENjk9NK9MY5uDJShOyq4oNg6p8lP9dcTLzQYVNQJCq91pkozF3IuQiUk0CBjLy6D0jV_cQKaQGQG1D07UOkFf73UPXEsaQ3iIGI2s6IGopj5tU/s1600/PKWrigley.jpg" imageanchor="1" ><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJCRV_Og9jxkaTFIjy1G-4G4n31GYE9ENjk9NK9MY5uDJShOyq4oNg6p8lP9dcTLzQYVNQJCq91pkozF3IuQiUk0CBjLy6D0jV_cQKaQGQG1D07UOkFf73UPXEsaQ3iIGI2s6IGopj5tU/s275/PKWrigley.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
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<td> </td>
<td align="center"><font color="#33ccff"><i>Philip K. Wrigley</i></font></td>
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<td> </td>
<td align="right"><font color="gray" size="1">(National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum)</font></td>
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We should not be surprised that <font color="red"><b>Philip K. Wrigley</b></font> quickly learned that he was being mocked by one of the two major daily newspapers in his newest and largest AAGPBL city. Nor should we surprised that he didn't like it. What may be surprising is his reaction; he dictated, in the words of the <i>Journal</i>, "a letter of four and one-half pages, single space". He sent his rant to the <i>Journal</i> before reconsidering and quickly forwarding a second communiqué, one that took his first letter off the record.<br><br>
Lynch agreed not to publish the full original letter, but he did extensively mine it for his next column. The following Sunday, Lynch led with an in-depth review of, and response to, Wrigley's missive.<br><br>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibQcqGcAYMhZLgnQ3CSqw1ZKBnkbgoAQ-zZTwfIbDxXiqeNyWbVTVNasOkYd7WYf4Ejm5QUG5qe2JFf9VX1MmB0HiVCVeOPnQwQ0BqiUXMcIxpcy8Sj9M9XjNhqIZt-MI57LpMSNoh7Rg/s1600/1944_MrWrigleyMakesAPoint.jpg"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibQcqGcAYMhZLgnQ3CSqw1ZKBnkbgoAQ-zZTwfIbDxXiqeNyWbVTVNasOkYd7WYf4Ejm5QUG5qe2JFf9VX1MmB0HiVCVeOPnQwQ0BqiUXMcIxpcy8Sj9M9XjNhqIZt-MI57LpMSNoh7Rg/s1220/1944_MrWrigleyMakesAPoint.jpg"/></a></div>
<blockquote><font color="#33ccff"><table width="100%" border="1" bordercolor="#33ccff" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="18">
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<td align="center"><font size="6"><b>Maybe I'm Wrong</b></font></td>
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</table>
<div align="center"><font size="2"><b>By R. G. LYNCH</b></font><br>
<font size="2">[Sports Editor]</font><br><br>
<font size="4">Mr. Wrigley Makes a Point, but Too Subtly</font></div><br>
PHIL WRIGLEY, the chewing gum and baseball man, read the comment in this column last Sunday about girls' baseball and the symphony orchestra and decided this reporter, in common with a good many others, did not understand his thinking, so he sat down and dictates a letter of four and one-half pages, single space. We enjoyed that letter and wish that our readers could enjoy it too. Unfortunately, we sent along another note as an afterthought to say that the letter was not intended for publication. However, we got permission to quote from it, so that the readers may understand why we—and probably they—did not follow Wrigley's thinking with regard to the girls' league or the symphony orchestra. It is about the most subtle thinking we have come across in a long time. The idea behind the girls' league is shrewd and the thought behind the symphony orchestra is rare, indeed!<br><Br>
"From the broad point of view," Wrigley wrote, "I think it can be said that softball is a substitute for baseball and as such has been frowned upon by professional baseball, but, as I have seen it, it is a substitute by necessity and not by choice. Nine times out of 10 it is played because it takes less space, less skill and less equipment than baseball, but it has one great advantage and that is it makes millions of people familiar with the fundamentals of and skill necessary for professional baseball. I do not think that anyone can argue that our national pastime is not more enjoyable and better entertainment when you at least have some idea of what it is all about."<br><Br>
<div align="center"><font size="4">A Girls' Sport</font></div><br>
With soft ball becoming a substitute for baseball, this seemed to Wrigley a liability which could be turned into an asset by proper handline, "which meant recognition of the fact that because of its limitation it was not in competition with baseball but, on the contrary, through its wider possibilities, it could act as a stepping stone, or feeder, to baseball, both from the players' standpoint and that of the spectator."<br><br>
Wrigley decided that the best way to mark a sharp distinction between baseball and soft ball was to label soft ball a girls' sport.<br><br>
"The standards of baseball," he wrote, "are set by men, and it seems logical, therefore, to set the standards of soft ball by girls. This fact alone can prevent competition between the two sports and, at the same time, offer the so-called weaker sex... an opportunity to take part in our national pastime without being considered a freak."<br><br>
The girls' league is in its second season and Wrigley, who created it, has not seen a league game. He explains:<br><br>
"I am primarily a professional baseball man and for that reason I have not gone to any of the league games because I knew that I would immediately start drawing comparisons between girls' ball and baseball. This has been proven by the two exhibition games I have seen, because I immediately drew a comparison and was disappointed and, as a sports editor, I imagine you are having the same trouble. We all seem to need a basis from which to start and it seems to be human nature to follow the beaten path and make comparisons, rather than to start from scratch."<br><br>
It was to avoid comparison and competition that the league started last year in cities where there was no organized baseball, he said, and went on:<br><br>
"This year the league stuck its neck out by going into two cities that had professional baseball teams and by using the baseball parks—first, because they were the only places available, and, secondly, on what may be a mistaken theory of economics. Anyone who would either rent of build a hotel or office building, or a home for that matter, to be used 77 days out of the year, should have his head examined, but for a baseball club it is considered absolutely sound....<br><br>
<div align="center"><font size="4">No Comparison</font></div><br>
"The results this year have shown that it was a mistake to go into the Milwaukee and Minneapolis ball parks.... If you tried to play professional football on an ice hockey rink, you would immediately draw a comparison between ice hockey and football and naturally to the detriment of football, because both the press and the public would look at it through the eyes of and compare it with hockey....<br><br>
"When you compare girls' ball with baseball, you are at the same disadvantage. Girls' ball is not in competition with, nor should it be compared with baseball any more than it is in competition with or should be compared with a symphony orchestra. That is the point we want to make, although probably nobody will get it, but at least we should get a new audience who will judge girls' ball on its own merit and not in comparison with baseball."<br><br>
Apparently, Wrigley is going to stick to this problem as grimly as he stuck to his Chicago Cubs until he put them on the right road by signing Charley Grimm as manager, for it was announced Saturday that the symphony orchestra concerts would resume when the Schnitts begin their next home stand August 11 and continue the rest of the season, except when the orchestra has conflicting engagements.</font></blockquote>
It's not particularly surprising that Lynch continued to sneer at Wrigley and his league. But Wrigley's letter is stunning, and I'm not at all surprised that he (or his lawyers, or his battery of public relations professionals) tried to hold the <i>Journal</i> back from publishing his "letter of four and one-half pages, single space".<br><br>
What's particularly stunning to me is Wrigley's admission that he hadn't watched a single league game in the year-and-a-half the AAGPBL had been in existence. And the two exhibition games he did watch made him think the product was inferior to men's baseball.<br><br>
Wrigley's letter forces us to challenge our impressions and assumptions about him. Maybe Garry Marshall's portrayal of "Walter Harvey" in <i>A League of Their Own</i> was more on the mark than I realized: a disinterested and absentee owner more worried about filling potentially-vacant ballpark dates than in advancing the sport, or blazing a new trail, or the cause of equality, or... virtually anything.<br><br>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhX0lIysNggs7Mg5ycrxuVyVI5VmuOc6c8YyWTm8zi-aM-xcbls80_T7KqkWptRck2UOYhZrxtAIR3dd7YV8O-1yAL7xCusp-aReX4gUi6OEZ-D-5NGbrw0aR0pAk6pIcKsCk9Gyg6zmv8/s1600/Lowenstein-Harvey.jpg"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhX0lIysNggs7Mg5ycrxuVyVI5VmuOc6c8YyWTm8zi-aM-xcbls80_T7KqkWptRck2UOYhZrxtAIR3dd7YV8O-1yAL7xCusp-aReX4gUi6OEZ-D-5NGbrw0aR0pAk6pIcKsCk9Gyg6zmv8/s400/Lowenstein-Harvey.jpg"/></a></div><br>
In the film, Harvey founds the league as a backstop because he's afraid the war will rob him of his male workforce. No more men to play baseball? No worries, bring the women in. And then, when his fears prove unfounded, the candy magnate is content to toss them aside.<br><Br>
<font color="#33ccff" face="courier"><div align="center">HARVEY</div>
<blockquote><blockquote>We're winning the war. Our situation changed. Roosevelt himself said, "Men's baseball won't be shut down." So we won't need the girls next year.<br><br>
I love these girls. I don't need them, but I love them. Look at that. Come on. Let's go. Oh, look at me. I'm full of peanuts! I've got peanuts all over myself.</blockquote></blockquote>
<div align="center">LOWENSTEIN</div>
<blockquote><blockquote>This is what it's gonna be like in the factories too, I suppose, isn't it? "The men are back, Rosie. Turn in your rivets." We told them it was their patriotic duty to get out of the kitchen and go to work. And now when the men come back, we'll send them back to the kitchen.</blockquote></blockquote>
<div align="center">HARVEY</div>
<blockquote><blockquote>What should we do, send the boys returning from war back to the kitchen? Come on.</blockquote></blockquote>
<div align="center">LOWENSTEIN</div>
<blockquote><blockquote>Do you know how dedicated these girls are? What they go through?<br><br>
They play with sprained ankles, broken fingers. They ride a bus sometimes all night to play a double-header the next morning.</blockquote></blockquote>
<div align="center">HARVEY</div>
<blockquote><blockquote>I'll make it up to them.</blockquote></blockquote>
<div align="center">LOWENSTEIN</div>
<blockquote><blockquote>What? With Harvey Bars?</blockquote></blockquote>
<div align="center">HARVEY</div>
<blockquote><blockquote>I'm getting tired of listening to you, Ira.</blockquote></blockquote></font>
That does sound like the Wrigley who wrote to the <i>Milwaukee Journal</i>.<br><br>
<table align="right">
<tr>
<td> </td>
<td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAOz5cqRATvVZEvXGZ-h2YqmLLIrIg8R2u1nlqRHXVzuNH73vrFfv6nTbbw9lA-0jGPk2Noh98AH4WqgTpRb4wVhv7QnHCVaY-0DT_tkUcAJB7xf6OELo4pQ-DgCZ3hyphenhyphenMi39_m7ARyVCo/s1600/KenSells.jpg" imageanchor="1" ><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAOz5cqRATvVZEvXGZ-h2YqmLLIrIg8R2u1nlqRHXVzuNH73vrFfv6nTbbw9lA-0jGPk2Noh98AH4WqgTpRb4wVhv7QnHCVaY-0DT_tkUcAJB7xf6OELo4pQ-DgCZ3hyphenhyphenMi39_m7ARyVCo/s270/KenSells.jpg"/></a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td> </td>
<td align="center"><font color="#33ccff"><i>Ken Sells</i></font></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td> </td>
<td align="right"><font color="gray" size="1">(AAGPBL Players Association)</font></td>
</tr>
</td>
</table>In the film, the league only survives because Ira Lowenstein, played by David Strathairn, takes it over from his boss. This, too, had its roots in reality. The Lowenstein character was based on <font color="red"><b>Ken Sells</b></font>, who was the assistant general manager of the Cubs when Wrigley tapped him to run the AAGPBL. Sells served as the first President of the league, running the day-to-day for the disinterested Wrigley. Sells began the transition from a single-entity league to the franchise model common to baseball, where individual operators would buy and run their own teams. That was the point when the league stopped being dependent upon the whims of a chewing-gum magnate and began to run like a real league.<br><br>
So maybe we give Wrigley a little too much credit. Father of the league, to be sure, but a distant and removed one. It's worth noting that others were responsible for getting Wrigley's brainchild onto the diamond, and keeping it there. Others, presumably, who actually watched the games.<br><br><br><br>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgT-4ql88Dno4zxeunYTj0KJ-CJhz0g576tGSL1AwtHkjJQLT5XQw-M6rYJ9x1ynUBREh4t_rlEkrLMUn43mgHjPisV7UdryKzJmbinNk0MFlrHlE5fNYwulm85Uyauf1l_9unLp9MLFmA/s1600/Chicks75th_logo.png"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgT-4ql88Dno4zxeunYTj0KJ-CJhz0g576tGSL1AwtHkjJQLT5XQw-M6rYJ9x1ynUBREh4t_rlEkrLMUn43mgHjPisV7UdryKzJmbinNk0MFlrHlE5fNYwulm85Uyauf1l_9unLp9MLFmA/s300/Chicks75th_logo.png"/></a></div><br>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6292209952573237829.post-62260087928026727532019-07-23T05:26:00.000-04:002019-07-23T05:26:00.174-04:00On This Day - "The Tying Run 'Squeezes' Home"<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg52LMidW2DS4n30LDl75HnLNeqbwO0hBd-0nloq5n-lIxfT2kTJ4J022W1bLGHb-jz2QGqnhXPvuMwcIUuObQSwD-AKifPfouPkGcVPbOPQfWYIU2rd65rhtqdjNAT1bcTuvhdqz8qwNY/s1600/OnThisDay1944.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 0em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg52LMidW2DS4n30LDl75HnLNeqbwO0hBd-0nloq5n-lIxfT2kTJ4J022W1bLGHb-jz2QGqnhXPvuMwcIUuObQSwD-AKifPfouPkGcVPbOPQfWYIU2rd65rhtqdjNAT1bcTuvhdqz8qwNY/s225/OnThisDay1944.png"/></a></div>Today, we continue our "On This Day" series in 1944, following the <font color="red"><b>Milwaukee Chicks</b></font> and their 1944 <font color="red"><b>All-American Girls Professional Ball League</b></font> championship season as it happened.<br><br>
From the archives of the <i>Milwaukee Journal</i> comes this amazing action shot. Is there anything more exciting in baseball than a play at the plate?<br><br>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdfR6cW08DQhtQJHqijD4R2LZZ95gEu2ZM12tOPJT5ZOrnsXL2Uj6PZeTUeuK8XVYVK8rkF6a5DhFwYtszYlwPQAqMZDjN-NA10Rb2wQBRZ_jQrxcSQEP3I17DrX7fDfzwfWz5QDIf908/s1600/1944_TyingRunSqueezes.jpg"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdfR6cW08DQhtQJHqijD4R2LZZ95gEu2ZM12tOPJT5ZOrnsXL2Uj6PZeTUeuK8XVYVK8rkF6a5DhFwYtszYlwPQAqMZDjN-NA10Rb2wQBRZ_jQrxcSQEP3I17DrX7fDfzwfWz5QDIf908/s400/1944_TyingRunSqueezes.jpg"/></a></div>
<blockquote><font color="#33ccff"><b>The tying run "squeezes" home</b> in the fifth inning of Sunday's first game between the Milwaukee and Rockford girls' teams at Borchert field.
Thelma (Pigtails) Eisen scores on a bunt by Doris Tetzlaff of the Milwaukee Schnitts as Catcher Dorothy Green of the Peaches takes the throw. Milwaukee lost both games.<br>
<div align="right"><font size="1">—Journal Staff</font></div></font></blockquote>
The composition of the photo is gorgeous. The long stride of Chicks left fielder <font color="red"><b>Thelma Eisen</b></font> burning past the plate, the Rockford Peaches catcher hunched over behind her. Not for the first time do I wish we could see the original photos rather than just the rough microfiche scans.<br><br>
Even with this pair of losses, the Chicks were clawing their way back to respectability after a rough start to the season. Unfortunately for them, Milwaukee's other baseball team was dominating its league. Check out the article just to the left of our dynamic action photo:<br><br>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKjIPEWJbBpTvCsseKxebtvgMLtLzZjHmBEC7NnSOkxO1IzDgO731S8B5-VWiGP5_OBqAB4FnRMbK-BA6968eldNTnJMxwtSSPgkGbPwTF1zQrdkYByOKKWhdzvauJUzaJxpQgFISgLvg/s1600/Journal_July241944.jpg"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKjIPEWJbBpTvCsseKxebtvgMLtLzZjHmBEC7NnSOkxO1IzDgO731S8B5-VWiGP5_OBqAB4FnRMbK-BA6968eldNTnJMxwtSSPgkGbPwTF1zQrdkYByOKKWhdzvauJUzaJxpQgFISgLvg/s400/Journal_July241944.jpg"/></a></div><br>
By this point, the attendance was a serious concern to the league. It's not hard to figure out why the Chicks were struggling at the ticket office. The AAGPBL had matched its ticket prices to those of the long-established (and much-beloved) Brewers, and the Chicks couldn't play the same quality of baseball.<br><br>
This newspaper provides the perfect example. On this day, the Chicks dropped both halves of a double-header, and fell to the middle of the AAGPBL standings. The Brewers, on the other hand, won both games in <i>their</i> double-header and were pulling away from the pack with a ten-game lead over second-place Columbus. Brewer manager <font color="red"><b>Casey Stengel</b></font> had his club playing .700 ball(!), with a record at that point of 68-29.<br><br>
Hard to sell tickets in that environment. We like to think that all our local sports teams are brothers and sisters, fighting together for the glory of our city, but in reality they are competitors for the time, attention, and most of all <u>money</u> of the local fans. And in Milwaukee in 1944, it would have been hard for <i>anyone</i> to compete with the mighty Brewers, much less a brand-new startup in a league still trying to prove itself.<br><br>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgT-4ql88Dno4zxeunYTj0KJ-CJhz0g576tGSL1AwtHkjJQLT5XQw-M6rYJ9x1ynUBREh4t_rlEkrLMUn43mgHjPisV7UdryKzJmbinNk0MFlrHlE5fNYwulm85Uyauf1l_9unLp9MLFmA/s1600/Chicks75th_logo.png"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgT-4ql88Dno4zxeunYTj0KJ-CJhz0g576tGSL1AwtHkjJQLT5XQw-M6rYJ9x1ynUBREh4t_rlEkrLMUn43mgHjPisV7UdryKzJmbinNk0MFlrHlE5fNYwulm85Uyauf1l_9unLp9MLFmA/s300/Chicks75th_logo.png"/></a></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6292209952573237829.post-17524545005509143392019-07-23T04:41:00.000-04:002019-07-23T04:41:01.253-04:00On This Day - "Girls Give Up at Minneapolis"<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg52LMidW2DS4n30LDl75HnLNeqbwO0hBd-0nloq5n-lIxfT2kTJ4J022W1bLGHb-jz2QGqnhXPvuMwcIUuObQSwD-AKifPfouPkGcVPbOPQfWYIU2rd65rhtqdjNAT1bcTuvhdqz8qwNY/s1600/OnThisDay1944.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 0em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg52LMidW2DS4n30LDl75HnLNeqbwO0hBd-0nloq5n-lIxfT2kTJ4J022W1bLGHb-jz2QGqnhXPvuMwcIUuObQSwD-AKifPfouPkGcVPbOPQfWYIU2rd65rhtqdjNAT1bcTuvhdqz8qwNY/s225/OnThisDay1944.png"/></a></div>Today, we continue our "On This Day" series in 1944, following the <font color="red"><b>Milwaukee Chicks</b></font> and their 1944 <font color="red"><b>All-American Girls Professional Ball League</b></font> championship season as it happened.<br><br>
We've tracked some wonderful and compelling moments so far, from <a href="http://www.borchertfield.com/2019/05/on-this-day-max-shows-annabelle-how-to.html" target="_blank">Spring Training</a> to <a href="http://www.borchertfield.com/2019/05/on-this-day-in-1944-play-ball.html" target="_blank">Opening Day</a> to <a href="http://www.borchertfield.com/2019/06/diamond-lassies-1944.html" target="_blank">behind-the-scenes pics</a> at Borchert Field to <a href="http://www.borchertfield.com/2019/07/today-in-1944-music-of-spheres.html" target="_blank">"double-header" concerts with the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra</a>. From <a href="http://www.borchertfield.com/2019/07/on-this-day-chicks-wow-em-at-wrigley.html" target="_blank">triumphs</a> to <a href="http://www.borchertfield.com/2019/06/on-this-day-we-regret-to-inform-you.html" target="_blank">personal tragedies</a>. But on this day seventy-five years ago, on Sunday, July 23, 1944, the <i>Milwaukee Journal </i>brought its readers the worst news of the season so far:<br><br>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJ0d-QT7gWY1XOjAUumnH7xOpZg4mC1b8txqmD2LAhaunftWqd2EPG_yk1XhOfYWK9ght9BHuEoRb7RRQmd-ng7wwBC3TALYb-MDWij3AsugtLb1TKg_rGHh2HoUNbuz55lu8iUblr6_s/s1600/1944_GirlsGiveUpMinneapolis.jpg"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJ0d-QT7gWY1XOjAUumnH7xOpZg4mC1b8txqmD2LAhaunftWqd2EPG_yk1XhOfYWK9ght9BHuEoRb7RRQmd-ng7wwBC3TALYb-MDWij3AsugtLb1TKg_rGHh2HoUNbuz55lu8iUblr6_s/s522/1944_GirlsGiveUpMinneapolis.jpg"/></a></div>
<blockquote><font color="#33ccff"><font size="5"><b>Girls Give Up at Minneapolis</b></font><br><br>
<div align="center"><font size="4">Drop Home Schedule</font></div><br>
The All-American Girls' Professional Ball league has given up in Minneapolis. The Lakers, representing that city, will continue to play but only as a road team, which will add six games to the schedules at Kenosha and South Bend and four games to the schedules at Milwaukee and Rockford.<br><br>
Minneapolis and Milwaukee were added to the league this season. President Ken Sells explained Saturday that Minneapolis "apparently is not yet ready for for this new sport. Attendance has not been large enough to warrant continuing there this summer."<br><Br>
The Milwaukee Schnitts swapped Marie Kaczmierczak for Josephine Figlio of Racine Saturday. Both are infielders. The Lakers signed Margaret Callaghan, a third baseman from the Pacific coast.<br><Br>
Milwaukee and Racine, after their league game Thursday afternoon, will go to soldiers' home to play an exhibition game at 6:30 p. m.<br><Br>
The Lakers defeated the Schnitts Saturday night, 5-4, at Borchert field. The Schnitts stole 14 bases.</font></blockquote>
The Journal fails to even acknowledge the follow-up question: What about Milwaukee? They were also struggling at the box office, possibly because the league insisted on <a href="http://www.borchertfield.com/2019/07/on-this-day-goshawhimmity-if-i-dont-get.html" target="_blank">pricing their tickets</a> at the same level as the popular and established Brewers. But were they struggling enough to put a second season at risk? The paper is silent.<br><br>
So Minneapolis was out of the league. The Millerettes/Lakers had earned a new nickname, one that would follow them through the remainder of the 1944 season: the "Minneapolis Orphans". The AAGPBL's grand experiment with major cities was on the ropes.<br><br><br><br>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgT-4ql88Dno4zxeunYTj0KJ-CJhz0g576tGSL1AwtHkjJQLT5XQw-M6rYJ9x1ynUBREh4t_rlEkrLMUn43mgHjPisV7UdryKzJmbinNk0MFlrHlE5fNYwulm85Uyauf1l_9unLp9MLFmA/s1600/Chicks75th_logo.png"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgT-4ql88Dno4zxeunYTj0KJ-CJhz0g576tGSL1AwtHkjJQLT5XQw-M6rYJ9x1ynUBREh4t_rlEkrLMUn43mgHjPisV7UdryKzJmbinNk0MFlrHlE5fNYwulm85Uyauf1l_9unLp9MLFmA/s300/Chicks75th_logo.png"/></a></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6292209952573237829.post-70796114171077577342019-07-22T11:54:00.000-04:002019-07-22T11:59:25.649-04:00On This Day - "Lakers Pound Out 5-4 Win Over Chicks"<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg52LMidW2DS4n30LDl75HnLNeqbwO0hBd-0nloq5n-lIxfT2kTJ4J022W1bLGHb-jz2QGqnhXPvuMwcIUuObQSwD-AKifPfouPkGcVPbOPQfWYIU2rd65rhtqdjNAT1bcTuvhdqz8qwNY/s1600/OnThisDay1944.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 0em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg52LMidW2DS4n30LDl75HnLNeqbwO0hBd-0nloq5n-lIxfT2kTJ4J022W1bLGHb-jz2QGqnhXPvuMwcIUuObQSwD-AKifPfouPkGcVPbOPQfWYIU2rd65rhtqdjNAT1bcTuvhdqz8qwNY/s225/OnThisDay1944.png"/></a></div>Today, we continue our "On This Day" series in 1944, following the <font color="red"><b>Milwaukee Chicks</b></font> and their 1944 <font color="red"><b>All-American Girls Professional Ball League</b></font> championship season as it happened.<br><br>
On this day, seventy-five years ago, the Chicks dropped a game to the visiting Minneapolis Millerettes/Lakers. And the <i>Milwaukee Sentinel</i> was there to catch it. But the day's most important contribution to AAGPBL history may have happened off the diamond.<br><br>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwhx8t6koVK0z5gel5UduZEHVzp7XeC1KdSBklS6wD8SbgzXnpvxK7VYuLiUerfWKmAgl_irTAOJAf-72DhMkdBqJb432qxo8n_Pe2DtUD0h85VR8P3x0G-SLDr7SijZeZV5qBR1SZ1ns/s1600/1944_LakersPoundOutWin.jpg"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwhx8t6koVK0z5gel5UduZEHVzp7XeC1KdSBklS6wD8SbgzXnpvxK7VYuLiUerfWKmAgl_irTAOJAf-72DhMkdBqJb432qxo8n_Pe2DtUD0h85VR8P3x0G-SLDr7SijZeZV5qBR1SZ1ns/s400/1944_LakersPoundOutWin.jpg"/></a></div><br>
<blockquote><font color="#33ccff"><font size="6"><b>Lakers Pound Out 5-4 Win Over Chicks</b></font><br><br>
<hr color="#33ccff" width="100px"><br>
<div align="center"><font size="1">By STONEY McGLYNN</font></div><br>
Dottie Wiltse, curve balling mound ace of the Minneapolis Lakers, was a little too tough for Max (Mother) Carey's Milwaukee Chicks last night at Borchert field as the Lakers too a 5 to 4 verdict in the series finale to even the series at two wins each.<br><br>
Connie Wisniewski, Milwaukee ace, was the opposing pitcher, but 11 hits and some sieve-like defensive play mixed sufficiently well for the Lakers to annex the the triumph.<br><br>
With two out in the ninth Vickie Panos singled, stole second and third. Pat Keagle walked and stole second, Panos counting on the play. Ty Eisen drilled a sharp single to left, to score Keagle and went to third on Helen Callaghan's futile, foolish attempt to nail her at first. With the tying run at the hot corner, Doris Tetzlaff rolled sharply to the shortstop Treza who came up with the ball and retiring her at first to end the game.<br><br>
In the seventh the fans got on Umpire Jack Rice for calling Alma Ziegler out at third. Everybody but Rice saw she was standing on the bag when tagged, but he was blocked out by two other players.<br><br>
The Chicks and the Rockford Peaches play a twin bill this afternoon, preceded by a one hour concert by the Milwaukee Symphony orchestra led by Dr. Julius Ehrlich.</font></blockquote>
Love a bottom-of-the-ninth rally, shame they couldn't finish it off.<br><br>
This was the third of the four <a href="http://www.borchertfield.com/2019/07/today-in-1944-music-of-spheres.html" target="_blank">crossover-doubleheaders between the Chicks and the Milwaukee Symphony</a>.<br><br>
The picture is amazing, especially for a night . The photographer was set up just feet off the basepaths. Perhaps it have been taken with <a href="http://www.borchertfield.com/2018/12/the-stroboscope-light-stops-hal-peck.html" target="_blank">the same stroboscopic process</a> its rival the <i>Milwaukee Journal</i> introduced in the early 1940s.<br><br>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnC4C8rEcKfFqfTuf0JCKykekGhGG-NEOTd1A2zt7PYZoGiTCXpI7KqssJVDOPAJl00r5K46J99A0Y3QF5d1u_uWQsbIIQruoEygYeS2N_5S8VULKXG8cAYBP0ZhNXqGhrvhDW351PPq0/s1600/1944_LakersPoundOutWin_close.jpg"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnC4C8rEcKfFqfTuf0JCKykekGhGG-NEOTd1A2zt7PYZoGiTCXpI7KqssJVDOPAJl00r5K46J99A0Y3QF5d1u_uWQsbIIQruoEygYeS2N_5S8VULKXG8cAYBP0ZhNXqGhrvhDW351PPq0/s400/1944_LakersPoundOutWin_close.jpg"/></a></div><blockquote><font color="#33ccff"><font size="1">UMPIRE CHARLEY ULLENBERG DOROTHY (MICKEY) MAGUIRE</font><br><br>
<div align="center"><i>Minneapolis' Helen Gallaghan lays down a successful bunt in last night's game against the Chicks at Borchert field</i></div><br>
<div align="right"><font size="1">Photo by Tony Neuman Sentinel Staff Photographer</font></div></font></blockquote>
Elsewhere on the page, <i>Sentinel</i> Sports Editor <font color="red"><b>Stoney McGlynn</b></font> casually dropped a bombshell in the middle of one of his columns:
<blockquote><font color="#33ccff">(by the way the name Chicks has been adopted by the team as the official club name and the name Schnitts is out just like schnitts were back in the Volstead era.)</font></blockquote>
That parenthetical phrase is fascinating. The team started the season with no official nickname, only being referred to as "Milwaukee" in newspaper ads and league publicity materials. The first nickname floated was "Brewerettes" after the popular local club, as was done in Minneapolis with their Millers and Millerettes. The two major Milwaukee dailies each jumped in; the Sentinel <a href="http://www.borchertfield.com/2019/06/on-this-day-chicks-become-chicks.html" target="_blank">coined "Chicks"</a>, after a then-popular movie "Mother Carey's Chickens", and the Journal <a href="http://www.borchertfield.com/2019/05/on-this-day-schnits-open-play-here.html" target="_blank">responded with "Schnitts"</a> (initially spelled with just one 't'), for a short pour of draft beer.<br><br>
Of course, McGlynn <i>would</i> say that; his paper wanted bragging rights for their name achieving currency. But is it true?<br><br>
We certainly know that the players were using the name to refer to themselves, at least by the time <a href="http://www.borchertfield.com/2019/06/for-boss-1944.html" target="_blank">they commissioned a trophy</a> for manager <font color="red"><b>Max Carey</b></font> for a celebration in early September. We also know that in publications printed after the season the league was also using the name, even before the relocation to Grand Rapids was announced. Perhaps this was indeed when the name first took hold.<br><br>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgT-4ql88Dno4zxeunYTj0KJ-CJhz0g576tGSL1AwtHkjJQLT5XQw-M6rYJ9x1ynUBREh4t_rlEkrLMUn43mgHjPisV7UdryKzJmbinNk0MFlrHlE5fNYwulm85Uyauf1l_9unLp9MLFmA/s1600/Chicks75th_logo.png"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgT-4ql88Dno4zxeunYTj0KJ-CJhz0g576tGSL1AwtHkjJQLT5XQw-M6rYJ9x1ynUBREh4t_rlEkrLMUn43mgHjPisV7UdryKzJmbinNk0MFlrHlE5fNYwulm85Uyauf1l_9unLp9MLFmA/s300/Chicks75th_logo.png"/></a></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6292209952573237829.post-59627668290151949172019-07-20T04:54:00.000-04:002019-07-20T04:54:00.272-04:001949 Ticket StubThis 1949 ticket stub, from a Wednesday night double-header seventy years ago today, is a recent addition to the BorchertField.com archives.<br><br>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjG5F9fDUItzIZrsGRi8erffj_2nG8t-Wh4J8GBpqQ9wTn83nZoKDBOFruzZG8M6bOWlV_27ip6vsxpOWIi5aEsk7eDEM53aLcXzpRfKn4BVDAhyUjEBhzFaKJGtlI6AeDOqYKR-I6Sg_Q/s1600/1949_July20_TicketStub.jpg"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjG5F9fDUItzIZrsGRi8erffj_2nG8t-Wh4J8GBpqQ9wTn83nZoKDBOFruzZG8M6bOWlV_27ip6vsxpOWIi5aEsk7eDEM53aLcXzpRfKn4BVDAhyUjEBhzFaKJGtlI6AeDOqYKR-I6Sg_Q/s400/1949_July20_TicketStub.jpg"/></a></div><br>
A West Box seat, Box 5, Row 9, Seat 7. Sounds like it would be a pretty good seat. It cost $1.66 including taxes, which, adjusting for inflation, would be $17.90 in April 2019 dollars. Such a deal.<br><br>
The ticket itself is a fairly simple one, with two-color printing on one side. The reverse is blank.<br><br>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnBNPZuwoDQgj6yf2bpXYQBdBYBOPkqKV28PbHFom4IIc5krJr2r8AKuQnJGVhfIsoJttu2DeQOkjC6t5-xLvPthbcAYsvoTldULBacULNczVX-atVxvf95tErMWCv0sRM65inNgKQQ2g/s1600/1949_July20_TicketStub_reverse.jpg"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnBNPZuwoDQgj6yf2bpXYQBdBYBOPkqKV28PbHFom4IIc5krJr2r8AKuQnJGVhfIsoJttu2DeQOkjC6t5-xLvPthbcAYsvoTldULBacULNczVX-atVxvf95tErMWCv0sRM65inNgKQQ2g/s400/1949_July20_TicketStub_reverse.jpg"/></a></div><br>
What's special about this particular stub is that the ticket-taker left just enough of the ticket body to show us an element of the design I've never before seen; a tiny Brews mascot <font color="red"><b>Owgust</b></font> in catcher's gear!<br><br>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_rC_SxSbSrtpTekyusP_5nHgoq27k7SZn2VvrofQNQF5vz0JNbQc19Y-AMQqoiq7UjPPuG0jOCb9lsIlvBG-y0rEWJr5UuNoB3LEF2ftsnPFkECJWrBq7XGtyLnZlLszNiL0K9jShp24/s1600/1949_July20_TicketStub_Owgust.jpg"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_rC_SxSbSrtpTekyusP_5nHgoq27k7SZn2VvrofQNQF5vz0JNbQc19Y-AMQqoiq7UjPPuG0jOCb9lsIlvBG-y0rEWJr5UuNoB3LEF2ftsnPFkECJWrBq7XGtyLnZlLszNiL0K9jShp24/s400/1949_July20_TicketStub_Owgust.jpg"/></a></div><br>
We'll have to guess at the rest of the design, but I would bet it's part of a matched set of pitcher and catcher, as featured on the masthead of <a href="http://www.borchertfield.com/p/brewer-news-newsletter-archive.html" target="_blank">the club's newsletter <i>Brewer News</i></a>, and <a href="http://www.borchertfield.com/p/score-card-archive.html" target="_blank">on the inside of every score card</a>, throughout the 1940s.<br><br>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9v9zzsrGcAusw6rWV3I2N9qGOtynUkFnR86eIR_iti6YSNlCcKdAYDx4-68szglCv3ktC9hYH8I9rmCk7Btkz0Tfcqs1d3ZVzO-NrtajnIELRy_5Y7vTd8f8D7FEfV2VTHvLuAvt1GPVP/s1600/1944BrewerNews_Vol2No4_1.jpg"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9v9zzsrGcAusw6rWV3I2N9qGOtynUkFnR86eIR_iti6YSNlCcKdAYDx4-68szglCv3ktC9hYH8I9rmCk7Btkz0Tfcqs1d3ZVzO-NrtajnIELRy_5Y7vTd8f8D7FEfV2VTHvLuAvt1GPVP/s450/1944BrewerNews_Vol2No4_1.jpg"/></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSXWqv51uvlGO8I5EgAJdy3q5BiOovp11qE81izA_Ey7DwwaERmWscj4sAIPhOp_AmchAOcZbcnaSAkPPsJA-HeKk1EcLBpq6L7c1C3Ne2rnAgKi4tD2uDSZvUrcE-hmjzxbSFiBGiK2-C/s1600/1944_AllStarProgram3.jpg"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSXWqv51uvlGO8I5EgAJdy3q5BiOovp11qE81izA_Ey7DwwaERmWscj4sAIPhOp_AmchAOcZbcnaSAkPPsJA-HeKk1EcLBpq6L7c1C3Ne2rnAgKi4tD2uDSZvUrcE-hmjzxbSFiBGiK2-C/s345/1944_AllStarProgram3.jpg"/></a></div><br>
I've never seen these figures on ticket stub, however. The stubs I have in my collection are too short, with too much of the ticket body removed. Here's one from six seasons before our 1949 stub, and one from three years after:<br><br>
<table align="center">
<tr>
<td><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsTv7K1XkafzqMPyhfHpLu9adjPNqCKcrSG9Z6w-gZqxU6-EUmZrFWaqrNpxi3CZU_Qapjz2dHyJJE9t79s9OXxOKObAzjPYdmlFoziCptlrnmba5b0lVJpnlCW3jL1xcJZOc1cwSWqGxh/s1600/1943_GrandStand_stub.jpg"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsTv7K1XkafzqMPyhfHpLu9adjPNqCKcrSG9Z6w-gZqxU6-EUmZrFWaqrNpxi3CZU_Qapjz2dHyJJE9t79s9OXxOKObAzjPYdmlFoziCptlrnmba5b0lVJpnlCW3jL1xcJZOc1cwSWqGxh/s320/1943_GrandStand_stub.jpg"></a></div></td>
<td><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj93aJn4jMSGXqBZ6azQFYEqrUMU6JpMb44QZ_F7xIUKNtDiaOA7HadYzn02mRT7P-r58h8ComT22IXgRV66_9gg71n0RnKWXWZUxJufayEAaKVn_QS5j2i2ww0ebBPYDdEgu5MnNbOWKA/s1600/1952_BoxSeatStub.jpg"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj93aJn4jMSGXqBZ6azQFYEqrUMU6JpMb44QZ_F7xIUKNtDiaOA7HadYzn02mRT7P-r58h8ComT22IXgRV66_9gg71n0RnKWXWZUxJufayEAaKVn_QS5j2i2ww0ebBPYDdEgu5MnNbOWKA/s320/1952_BoxSeatStub.jpg"/></a></div></td>
</tr>
</table><br>
That 1952 stub has the exact same layout as our 1949, but there's not enough of either ticket body to see a full design, Owgust or no. I love that they kept this layout, almost certainly a stock style from the Arcus Ticket Company in Chicago.<br><br>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMQX38rGnJ0gVn6pyFwGflM0ynwcnx2AI8NMLj3F_JsRFnAU6vMm-9cTRIM9Nhy8GiVi9YOVT6PsQbb5w7rn7xret0NmJWx4XROjirdDa2qgTJsjaX4dOhICpFFiPeDC9B-T004VOtxSc/s1600/TicketStub_comparison.gif"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMQX38rGnJ0gVn6pyFwGflM0ynwcnx2AI8NMLj3F_JsRFnAU6vMm-9cTRIM9Nhy8GiVi9YOVT6PsQbb5w7rn7xret0NmJWx4XROjirdDa2qgTJsjaX4dOhICpFFiPeDC9B-T004VOtxSc/s500/TicketStub_comparison.gif"></a></div><br>
The only difference, besides date and seat location, is the Brewer official identified. In 1949 it was <font color="red"><b>D'Arcy "Jake" Flowers</b></font>, a former infielder who followed up his fifteen-year playing career (10 of it in the majors) with a stint as a minor-league manager and a big league coach before talking over as the Brewers' president. He had come to Milwaukee in 1947 when <font color="red"><b>Lou Perini</b></font> <a href="http://www.borchertfield.com/2009/05/looking-mighty-brave.html" target="_blank">brought the Brewers into the Boston Braves organization</a>. By 1952, the club was run by <a href="http://www.borchertfield.com/2012/05/red.html" target="_blank">longtime Brewer catcher/coach <font color="red"><b>"Red" Smith</b></font></a>.<br><br>
Seventy years ago, this ticket was in the pocket of one of the 7,962 baseball fans at the old wooden ballpark who saw the hometown Brews take two games from the league-leading St. Paul Saints, 3-2 and then 5-3.<br><br>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgP3oWvbRUbtHkl9z_jEKs75QPXwluphCeJNEcygrC8a9QX5V-bAZ0wTc_NAxNiFtWrX623_yM1XwduC6Emad0ZxUz19YUHfK7Tvz7YcN7LNhVrx7iid8inbEcZaPq98eym_rgYK9VHW5k/s1600/1944_July20_BoxScores.jpg"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgP3oWvbRUbtHkl9z_jEKs75QPXwluphCeJNEcygrC8a9QX5V-bAZ0wTc_NAxNiFtWrX623_yM1XwduC6Emad0ZxUz19YUHfK7Tvz7YcN7LNhVrx7iid8inbEcZaPq98eym_rgYK9VHW5k/s560/1944_July20_BoxScores.jpg"/></a></div><br>
A wonderful find, a grand addition to the collection.
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6292209952573237829.post-20097551733762972382019-07-19T10:11:00.000-04:002019-07-19T10:49:22.647-04:00Today in 1944 - "The Music of the Spheres"<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg52LMidW2DS4n30LDl75HnLNeqbwO0hBd-0nloq5n-lIxfT2kTJ4J022W1bLGHb-jz2QGqnhXPvuMwcIUuObQSwD-AKifPfouPkGcVPbOPQfWYIU2rd65rhtqdjNAT1bcTuvhdqz8qwNY/s1600/OnThisDay1944.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 0em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg52LMidW2DS4n30LDl75HnLNeqbwO0hBd-0nloq5n-lIxfT2kTJ4J022W1bLGHb-jz2QGqnhXPvuMwcIUuObQSwD-AKifPfouPkGcVPbOPQfWYIU2rd65rhtqdjNAT1bcTuvhdqz8qwNY/s225/OnThisDay1944.png"/></a></div>This summer of 2019, we have been charting the season of the <font color="red"><b>Milwaukee Chicks</b></font> baseball club as it happened.<br><br>
And it was on this day in 1944 that something entirely unprecedented happened.<br><br>
The newest members of the <font color="red"><b>All-American Girls Professional Ball League</b></font> were involved in an equally-new kind of promotion; a series of "double-headers" with the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra, a ballgame paired with classical music concert. It was an inspired gimmick. one that I bet Brewer owner <font color="red"><b>Bill Veeck</b></font>, master of the promotional stroke, wished he had thought of first.<br><br>
Here's how the double-headers were advertised in the local papers.<br><br>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgqmnfiQPOUm_g91_V4mpM6QccFlbOqTUC1oScjIptT6uu035jmdjZIqUzKG4mmnj-4hiaRAhmEbD8DGeVQUzr_8pkHhDa1N_jtLHfc-IZLnVJh2c2yW4ujfQJGUJytyX2LwbK9-_nMMI/s1600/1944_BigDoubleEntertainment.jpg"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgqmnfiQPOUm_g91_V4mpM6QccFlbOqTUC1oScjIptT6uu035jmdjZIqUzKG4mmnj-4hiaRAhmEbD8DGeVQUzr_8pkHhDa1N_jtLHfc-IZLnVJh2c2yW4ujfQJGUJytyX2LwbK9-_nMMI/s700/1944_BigDoubleEntertainment.jpg"/></a></div><br>
This particular example was a third-page ad in the <i>Milwaukee Journal</i>, printed on Tuesday, July 18, 1944, the afternoon before the first concert.<br><br>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0gzexOUS2VwOjujraYpyp5R2VXXQn0-A_Cbb865ux1oGI_dDcqR7JTSqDmsKpdOelg-PAXkPMPCg9MHTp0P9usf1vBsROgaZCR2PrSG9nqrSRVcrXVJy5jjUCVKPths-e-xOb6vq1Akc/s1600/1944_Journal_BigDoubleEntertainment_full.jpg"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0gzexOUS2VwOjujraYpyp5R2VXXQn0-A_Cbb865ux1oGI_dDcqR7JTSqDmsKpdOelg-PAXkPMPCg9MHTp0P9usf1vBsROgaZCR2PrSG9nqrSRVcrXVJy5jjUCVKPths-e-xOb6vq1Akc/s540/1944_Journal_BigDoubleEntertainment_full.jpg" /></a></div><br>
You can't say the league wasn't promoting its newest innovation.<br><br>
The first announcement <a href="http://www.borchertfield.com/2019/07/on-this-day-girls-will-play-with-music.html" target="_blank">had been made</a> on July 7th:<br><br>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDP51h9iJOEZ846f96uWFErgFRFjkb9hnYTpTPHfv9uW6UNJFLk5EV40Kc0S_GhCShMQlEcJk6pB_hpfQJzgO-jkS2Mv-X5JacinJe1SEWaZbUhqH7FUhGbHaQ1oBVk_nD0km38VwJ85o/s1600/1944_GirlsWillPlayWithMusic.jpg"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDP51h9iJOEZ846f96uWFErgFRFjkb9hnYTpTPHfv9uW6UNJFLk5EV40Kc0S_GhCShMQlEcJk6pB_hpfQJzgO-jkS2Mv-X5JacinJe1SEWaZbUhqH7FUhGbHaQ1oBVk_nD0km38VwJ85o/s400/1944_GirlsWillPlayWithMusic.jpg" width="400" height="245" data-original-width="1600" data-original-height="978" /></a></div><br>
<blockquote><font color="#33ccff"><div align="center"><font size="5"><b><i>Listen to Baseball Symphony; Girls Will Play, With Music</i></b></font></div><br>
Something new in entertainment, a combination of music by a symphony orchestra and baseball games featuring professional girl ballplayers, will be offered July 19, 20, 22 and 23 at Borchert field. Announcement of the combination was made in Chicago Saturday by Philip K. Wrigley, sponsor of the All-American Girls Professional Baseball league.<br><br>
The Milwaukee Symphony orchestra, directed by Dr. Julius Ehrlich, will play popular and semi-classical music for one hour each evening before the ball game begins. The Milwaukee girls' baseball team, playing their first season, will play the Minneapolis girls' club on the first three evenings and a double header with Rockford on July 23.<br><br>
Wrigley said that because girls baseball is new in Milwaukee, the symphony concert is being offered as an additional attraction. The Milwaukee symphony was selected, he said, because of its outstanding reputation with Milwaukee music lovers.<br><br>
In contrast to this, according to the league's press representative, the girl baseball teams "bawl out the umpires, slide for bases, hit right or left handed and do all the other things that the best professional men's club members do, except chew tobacco."</font></blockquote>
This shows a bit of Wrigley's desperation. For its sophomore season, the league had taken the leap from its original quartet of Rockford, South Bend, Racine, and Kenosha into the much larger Milwaukee and Minneapolis. By mid-season, the two new clubs for 1944 were having trouble drawing patrons, failing to compete against the established American Association clubs. Wrigley's experimentation with major cities looked to be a failure, but he was going to go down swinging.<br><br>
From a promotional standpoint, the concerts were instantly successful. Both of Milwaukee's major daily papers <a href="http://www.borchertfield.com/2019/07/on-this-day-twain-shall-meet.html" target="_blank">covered the details</a> when they were announced on July 16th, just days before Opening Night.<br><br>
The afternoon <i>Milwaukee Journal</i> had the most prominent coverage. In the Arts Section, nestled in between articles on an upcoming New York Center concert and the Nazi theft of a painting by Pieter Bruegel the Elder, we have this piece on Wrigley's double-headers.<br><br>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgE6KfbcV_izpUHEg7Eeu7LC4B_J1ny1WU2aaFIu1jN5lPuXMxHjWwpKhf3eZIKQsobu_Dm6XiNoxCgdqVvwhYYobLLb6UD0WmfFG9_LlKIywZMNbuTfyEK2PPjlpK9sVudxuKVWCm_QfY/s1600/1944_WillBeCombined.jpg"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgE6KfbcV_izpUHEg7Eeu7LC4B_J1ny1WU2aaFIu1jN5lPuXMxHjWwpKhf3eZIKQsobu_Dm6XiNoxCgdqVvwhYYobLLb6UD0WmfFG9_LlKIywZMNbuTfyEK2PPjlpK9sVudxuKVWCm_QfY/s545/1944_WillBeCombined.jpg"/></a></div><br>
Befitting its position in the paper, the Journal was extremely interested in the programing, and what its music-loving readers could expect at the old wooden ballpark.<br><br>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8Kfip-6b9yk3ZjlF8u0ixYA3Nne8AlaTdrYHbkHWmcX3WNGxE0XumpJAp7GK08ctkW5rxzmm_JebTHoJpcVqdHyNS2M6JM80AyMhChVMzfNYmbx994gnyv8SJM72p-q5m125hqMrFOs0/s1600/1944_WillBeCombined_close.jpg"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8Kfip-6b9yk3ZjlF8u0ixYA3Nne8AlaTdrYHbkHWmcX3WNGxE0XumpJAp7GK08ctkW5rxzmm_JebTHoJpcVqdHyNS2M6JM80AyMhChVMzfNYmbx994gnyv8SJM72p-q5m125hqMrFOs0/s400/1944_WillBeCombined_close.jpg"/></a></div><br>
<blockquote><font color="#33ccff"><font size="5"><i>Orchestra Music, Ball Games Will Be Combined This Week</i></font><br><br>
SOMETHING out of the ordinary in music will be offered here this week when the Milwaukee symphony orchestra, under Dr. Julius Ehrlich, begins a series of four "pop" concerts at Borchert baseball field, in connection with the ball games of the All-American Girls' Professional Baseball League.<br><br>
The idea is that of Philip K. Wrigley, the chewing gum and sports leader, who is promoting the girls' ball teams.<br><br>
The orchestra will play on a stand near second base, and a large acoustical shell will amplify the music.<br><br>
On Wednesday at 7:30p. m. the orchestra will play "The Star Spangled Banner," the "Blue Danube" waltz, Sousa's "Hands Across the Sea," Weber's "Oberon" overture, the first movement of Schubert's "Unfinished" symphony, Grieg's "Heart Wounds" and "The Last Spring" and Ravel's popular "Pavanne for a Dead Princess."<br><br>
Thursday at 7:30 p. m. the music will include the wedding march from "A Midsummer Night's Dream," the "Fledermaus" overture, Liszt's "Preludes," Waldteufel's "Espana" waltz and Beethoven's "Congratulations" minuet.<br><br>
At 7:30 p. m. Friday the musicians will play the "Night in Venice" overture of Strauss, Lanner's "Court Ball" dances, Tchaikovsky's "Romeo and Juliet" fantasy and the "Stars and Stripes Forever" of Souza.<br><br>
The final program will be held next Sunday afternoon, July 23, between games of a double-header.</font></blockquote>
The following morning, the <i>Milwaukee Sentinel</i> had its preview, although on the very bottom of its radio page, not the fine arts.<br><br>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQE-JdPLRrtdgfkYyuIUmsKY5IZPUTUdzql_0H_zB6xd6J91MP64q9aCmr1UKS8SqFizfmToAHrus0oHfOm7Do0fpu54zp-g1wVLYU4FIsowSUWW_3KZkG9WSYQBGJA7gUpijgxFels-8/s1600/1944_LatestCulturalOffering.jpg"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQE-JdPLRrtdgfkYyuIUmsKY5IZPUTUdzql_0H_zB6xd6J91MP64q9aCmr1UKS8SqFizfmToAHrus0oHfOm7Do0fpu54zp-g1wVLYU4FIsowSUWW_3KZkG9WSYQBGJA7gUpijgxFels-8/s512/1944_LatestCulturalOffering.jpg"/></a></div><br>
The <i>Sentinel</i> didn't offer quite so detailed a preview of the program as the <i>Journal</i>'s arts section offered, and the paper also seemed to have missed the initial announcement the week before. But they do win the award for purple prose.<br><br>
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<blockquote><font color="#33ccff"><font size="5"><b>Symphonies for Ball Fans Latest Cultural Offering</b></font><br><br>
<hr color="#33ccff" width="100px"><br>
Just to prove that baseball fans do wash behind their ears, and that people who like symphony music may not be hot-house orchids with an allergy to sports, P. K. Wrigley announced yesterday that the twain shall meet.<br><br>
They'll meet at the Brewers' park, at 7:30 p. m. next Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, when the Milwaukee symphony orchestra, directed by Dr. Julius Ehrlich, will give "pop" concerts before the girls' baseball games, and on Sunday afternoon, July 23, between games.<br><br>
The orchestra will play familiar excerpts from Schubert, Grieg, Ravelle, Strauss and Souza, from a sound equipped shell used successfully in a Lawrence Tibbet program. If the first concerts are well received, baseball officials and Milwaukee Friends of Music said others will be arranged during the remainder of the baseball season.</font></blockquote>
When the big day came, the <i>Milwaukee Sentinel</i> was full of opinions. If you know <i>Sentinel</i> editor <font color="red"><b>Stoney McGlynn</b></font>, you know <a href="http://www.borchertfield.com/2019/07/on-this-day-goshawhimmity-if-i-dont-get.html" target="_blank">he had opinions</a>.<br><br>
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<blockquote><font color="#33ccff"><div align="center"><font size="6">The SPORTS PARADE</font><br><br>
<font size="1">By STONEY McGLYNN</font></div><br>
MRS. O'LEARY had her cow and, apparently, the Milwaukee Girls' All-American Ball League Chicks will have their double symphony - afield and with music.<br><br>
Not that there is any apparent connection, but there should be as much connection between the O'Leary bovine and double symphony as there is between the combination baseball-softball of the Chicks and the dulcet tones poured forth by the Piccolo Petes and Trombone Tommies of Dr. Julius Ehrlich's Milwaukee Symphony orchestra, which are slated to double hitch for four performances at Borchert field, the first of which is tonight at 7:30.<br><Br>
<font size="4"><i><b>A Stumpf Air?</b></i></font><br><br>
Having known Mr. Eddie Stumpf, the Chicks business manager, for a number of years your reporter strongly suspected an air of the Stumpf promotional technique in the somewhat fantastic setup. Not that Mr. Stumpf has an ear for music, because, having heard his rendition of "The Moon Comes Over the Mountain," I know that Bach Beethoven and Bing, or barroom quartets of any consequence, have nothing to fear from Mr. Stumpf in a musical way, but primarily because Mr. Stumpf has delved deeply into the promotional fields and angles and might be expected to come up with anything, not excluding a combination of grand opera, a grunt and groan mat match and a Ku Klux rally all at one and the same time.<br><br>
However, I learn the twin offering is the brain child of Mr. Phil Wrigley, the mint who makes a mint out of mint and some of his business associates. Anyone with the kind of moola that Mr. Wrigley has at his beck and call has no business being criticized by me although a fifth grade teacher with whom I've had considerable trials and tribulations over two (2) years, always ordained that gum chewing could never be listed among the finer accomplishments even sans any lip smacking or bubble popping components. She, no doubt was somewhat backward in reads the ads which stated gum chewing was good for the digestion even though it has never been [illegible] a tonic for green apple [illegible].<br><br>
<div align="center">* * *</div><br>
<font size="4"><i><b>A Strange 'Wedding'</b></i></font><br><br>
THE Chicks-Ehrlich combination at least has one [illegible] virtue. It has occasioned [illegible] of comment, and, as in this case has made the public print with regularity and gusto, all of which is attracting attention to the Chicks, the primary object is the strange wedding of Bach, Beethoven and Brahms with baseball, blond babes, beer and torrid [illegible] wow.<br><br>
Mr. Wrigley and his business advisers evidently are aware of Milwaukee's aptitude for and a deep appreciation of music both instrumental and vocal. Therefore the music lovers will pour into Borchert field to hear the musical outpourings of the [illegible] and, also, remain over to take advantage of bargain basement baseball, become converted to the baseball abilities of such gorgeous and talented gals such as Pat Keagle, Tommy Thompson, Alma Ziegler, Betty Whiting and Jo Kabick, just to mention a few of Max (Mother) Carey's chicks and pack Borchert field for the remainder of the season.<br><br>
However, I strongly suspect that the music lovers will remain music lovers after the game and return to their native habitats where they can carry forth with music to their heart's content, enjoy their beer and schnizel or what what you, and get their baseball out of the papers. <br><Br>
<div align="center">* * *</div><br>
<font size="4"><i><b>Betting on Babes</b></i></font><br><br>
BUT, once again, who is to tell Mr. Wrigley he is wrong? His dad quit a good soap flake business, which was giving [illegible] gum as a premium, to [illegible] gum and ended up with [illegible] pot, including Catalina island and the Chicago Cubs, although [illegible] time, or until Charlie Grimm is rehired to pilot the club. [illegible] liability and trading bait [illegible] good used car business.<Br><br>
Methinks, as stated before, the right kind of prices would popularize the Chicks, who [illegible] stage setting (ya know, [illegible] glamor) variety of baseball entertainment and can [illegible] the game like all get [illegible] quicker than the pipings of any Piccolo Pete.<br><br>
Come what may I sincerely hope Mr. Phil Wrigely [illegible] junk the baseball babes [illegible] et al like his dad did [illegible] gum. I'm strictly sport [illegible] and hardly know a Bach [illegible] bock although under [illegible] conditions can out [illegible] Parleee Vous almost any [illegible] of the first AEF.<br><br>
But bring on Bach, Beethoven and Brahms. I'm betting on the Baseball Babes at the right price.</font></blockquote>
The microfiche scan is terrible, with much of the final paragraph's text illegible. But I'm not sure we're missing all that much.<br><br>
The rest of the coverage on the page is much more interesting. Written by <i>Sentinel</i> music critic <font color="red"><b>Edward P. Halline</b></font>:<br><br>
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<blockquote><font color="#33ccff"><font size="5"><b>Symphony Orchestra Bait Set for Glamor Gal Baseball Tonight</b></font><br><br>
<div align="center"><font size="1">By EDWARD P. HALLINE<br>
Sentinel Music Critic</font></div><br>
The august princes and princesses who used to hire the Bachs, Haydn and Mozarts to perform music solely for their princely entertainment may be expected to turn over in their graves tonight.<br><br>
A man who owes his fortune not to royal birth, but to the clicking jaws of millions, is hiring a symphony orchestra to perform the music of celebrated composers for the ears of a gum chewing, peanut crunching and pop drinking crowd of baseball fans.<br><br>
This strange marriage of music and sport will take place at the Milwaukee Brewers' Borchert field at 7:30, when the Milwaukee Symphony orchestra of 60 pieces marches into the infield to take its place on a tarpaulin stage in front of an improvised sound reflector.<br><br>
<b>A WRIGLEY IDEA</b><br><br>
The music, directed by the orchestra's conductor, Dr. Julius Ehrlich, will be Weber, Schubert, Grieg, Ravel, Johann Strauss and John Philip Sousa.<br><br>
The sport directed by Manager Max Carey and others, will be the new and colorful variety played by the Milwaukee Girls' ball team against its Minneapolis rival in the All-American Girls' Professional ball league. The game starts at 8:30, thereby giving the fans one full symphonic hour.<br><br>
This unprecedented idea was not hatched by a screwball or even a philanthropist, but by a hardheaded business man, Philip K. Wrigley, chewing gum magnate, owner of the Chicago cubs and chief backer of the glamor girl ball league.<br><br>
<b>WANTS TO MAKE FANS</b><br><br>
Curiously enough, Wrigley isn't trying to make music lovers out of the fans. That's up to the orchestra. He wants to make fans out of the music lovers.<br><br>
The crowds drawn by his nimble young ladies have proved much too small here so far, and so Wrigley proposes to draw upon the untapped baseball market of symphony goers.<br><br>
Even Dr. Ehrlich, dubious at first, was entranced when he saw the Milwaukee Chicks play the other day. It was the first game he had ever seen, and he found it had rhythm, color and some interesting harmonic combinations in the general noise and confusion.<br><br>
It may be assumed he detected some resemblance to modern ballet, but it will be a long time before baseball fans are called baseballetomaniacs.<br><br>
<b>MUSIC FOR MASSES</b><br><br>
Dr. Ehrlich, who had long conducted in Europe before coming here, was particularly impressed with this newest idea of music for the masses. Only in democratic America, he said, could this happen.<br><br>
Anyway, it's going to happen again tomorrow and Saturday at 7:30 p. m., Sunday at 1:30 p. m., between two games of a double-header, and on other occasions if the marriage of sport and music outlasts this Borchert field honeymoon.</font></blockquote>
And so the stage was set.<br><br>
The coverage the next day tells us how the event was received. The <i>Sentinel</i> led the way with this fantastic photo of three of the performers:<br><br>
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I love the posed photo of the maestro signing a baseball.<br><br>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrf8TY8NrEmBZXCiDFK6lYJNEgYteDGI7o9LSDnxw3mc_KdBVCV2U0YY9voI7-VZmp347kWzh5KbFj2_e8fr2Zj7UFubq6VZ8C4JtcgR45kocDZgTQD87osvrrprlyk3gvpjGkjzgFbDA/s1600/1944_MilwaukeeSentinel_MusicHathCharms_close.jpg"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrf8TY8NrEmBZXCiDFK6lYJNEgYteDGI7o9LSDnxw3mc_KdBVCV2U0YY9voI7-VZmp347kWzh5KbFj2_e8fr2Zj7UFubq6VZ8C4JtcgR45kocDZgTQD87osvrrprlyk3gvpjGkjzgFbDA/s485/1944_MilwaukeeSentinel_MusicHathCharms_close.jpg"/></a></div><blockquote><font color="#33ccff"><font size="5">MUSIC HATH CHARMS</font><br><br>
And quite a case could be made out for the charms which went with the music last night at Borchert field as a symphonic concert and a girls' baseball game were offered to the public. Getting an autograph from Dr. Julius Ehrlich, conductor, were Josephine Kabick (left) and Viola Thomson of the Milwaukee Chicks. The slick Chicks then won from Minneapolis, 5-4.<br>
<div align="right"><font size="1">Sentinel photo.</font></div></font></blockquote>
The game review itself, by <i>Sentinel</i> music critic Edward P. Halline, is so delightful it has to reproduced in full.
<blockquote><font color="#33ccff"><font size="3"><u>Slick Chicks Vie With Strauss</u></font><br><br>
<font size="5"><b>Concert, Girls Baseball Provide an Occasion</b></font><br><br>
<font size="1">by EDWARD P. HALLINE</font><br><Br>
The fabled music of the spheres was heard at Borchert field last night. The music was provided by Dr. Julius Ehrlich and the Milwaukee Symphony orchestra. The spheres were propelled with astonishing grace and swiftness by the nine nimble Chicks of the Milwaukee Girls' Baseball team and their rivals from Minneapolis.<br><br>
In other words, long haired music and shoulder bob baseball exchanged fraternal greetings, and the podium and the pitcher's box were almost synonymous.<br><br>
The results: Victory for Weber, Schubert, Grieg, Ravel, Johann Strauss, Sousa and the Chicks, by 5-4.<br><br>
<b>ATMOSPHERE OF CHURCH</b><br><br>
Such was the marriage of the muse and the softball sister of the game played by Amos Rusie, "Iron Man" McGinnitty and the tempestuous John McGraw.<br><br>
Though Borchert field has rung with raucous and vulgar shouts from time immemorial, it had the hushed atmosphere of a church when Dr. Erlich and his musicians got the "Oberon" overture under way. Customers were continually filling in and those who talked aloud were vehemently shushed by the ushers.<br><br>
There were whispers and murmurs, of course, but nothing more than the rustle of quiet comments which fly from pew to pew at a church wedding. The solemn expressions and grave demeanor of Chief Usher Byron Morris and his underlings fitted exactly such an occasion.<br><br>
Of the 800 in the audience when the game finally began, about 600 were on hand for the music. The hardbitten baseball fans who came a little too early had a sort of baffled look as they grimly marched to their seats to the strains of the first movement of Schubert's "Unfinished" symphony or Grieg's "Heart Wounds".<br><br>
The concert over, Dr. Ehrlich stayed to see if the game had any musical possibilities. Well, the gray clad Chicks and their pink hued foes from Minneapolis danced and raced about the diamond with all the zeal and abandon of topnotch ballet companies.<br><br>
For premiere danseuse, blond Pat Keagle, the Chicks' shortstop, was unmatched. She flung herself through the air to make impossible catches.<br><br>
The crowd had its obvious fun, mock wolf howls for the glamor girls and delighted laughs when any came to an undignified embrace of Mother Earth.<br><br>
<b>ERROR HELPS CHICKS</b><br><br>
As for the game itself, it ended on somewhat of a sour note for Dottie Wiltse of the Lakers, who threw wild to second base in the ninth attempting to pick Mickey Maguire off and the Chicks' catcher scored the winning run. Connie Wisniewski, returning to action after a long absence due to a knee injury, had difficulty fielding bunts and this helped Minneapolis tie the score in the sixth with a three run rally.<br><br>
The victory started the Chicks off on the right road in the opening game of the second half of the split season.<br><br>
Chicks, Lakers and orchestra will all play a return engagement again tonight.</font></blockquote>
The box score tells the story. The Chicks jumped out to an early lead, the Lakers came back to tie it in the sixth, and the Chicks put it away with a walk-off in the bottom of the ninth. Can't ask for a more exciting game than that!<br><br>
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The afternoon <i>Milwaukee Journal</i> put its coverage right on the front page of the paper.<br><br>
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Beneath that rather confusing headline, the uncredited writer gives us our best sense of the concert in rich and vivid detail.<br><br>
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<blockquote><font color="#33ccff"><font size="5"><b><i>Symphony Goes to Bat at Baseball Park; Scorekeeper Is Not So Sure It Was a Hit</i></b></font><br><br>
<div align="center"><font size="1"><i>Picture on Picture Page</i></font></div><Br>
There are not many cities in this world where a symphony orchestra has presented a concert from home plate in a baseball park. Nor are there many baseball parks where a leather lunged vendor will walk silently up to a customer, tap him on the back and whisper gently, "Wanna hot dawg, mister?"<br><br>
That, however, is what happened at Borchert field Wednesday as the Milwaukee Symphony orchestra opened a series of four concerts in connection with the ball games of the All-American Girls' Professional Baseball league.<br><Br>
The spectators, 700 of them scattered throughout the 9,200 seat grandstand, seemed to outnumber the orchestra only by about three to one as Conductor Julius Ehrlich began operations from the catcher's box. A weak pat-pat of applause greeted Ehrlich's raised baton.<br><br>
Although the program called for "audience participating" in the "Star Spangled Banner," the symphony's soprano, Eleanor German, sang mostly alone. The applause for the orchestra thickened, however, as the audience got into the swing of things, nibbling hot dogs and drinking cold beer or pop as they listened to von Weber's "Oberon" overture. Incoming fans, some talking and laughing as they entered the stand, were quickly shhhhhh'd and stared into silence as they wandered up the ramp.<br><br>
<div align="center"><b>Watches His Watch</b></div><br>
Only a few of the more conservative fans were not pleased. One gentleman in the last row drank his root beer, tore his paper napkin into little shreds, and glanced at his watch several times as the orchestra played the first movement of Schubert's "Unfinished Symphony." "Good thing he didn't finish it," he growled, looking at his watch again.<br><br>
But most of the fans loved it. Grieg's remorseful "Heart Wounds" drew as much applause as a good peg from short to first would have received, and his "The Last Spring," played by the entire orchestra, received a two bagger hand.<br><br>
Strauss, the orchestra, and Conductor Ehrlich received an extra special handicap for the "Blue Danube." Jack May, 4221 N. 46th st., smiled broadly and stated, "Long hair music? I can take it or leave it along. But this I like."<br><br>
Then came "Hands Across the Sea," by Sousa. Midway in the march, the flood lights went up, and the audience uttered the familiar "Ahhhhh," which could be heard above the music. The symphony continued, and a cool night breeze, stirring the flags of all of the United Nations which were mounted on the top of the acoustical shell behind the orchestra, drew the audience's attention back to "Hands Across the Sea."<br><br>
<div align="center"><b>Shouts "Bravo"</b></div><br>
As the orchestra finished the last bars of the concert, one coatless patron sitting along the third base foul line waved a beer bottle and shouted "Bravo!" The rest of the audience just applauded as hard as 700 could applaud.<br><br>
As the musicians filed back under the grandstand to remove instrument cases and music folders from the "ump" room, one remarked angrily "Only in a ball park would somebody shout 'Bravo' for Sousa"!<br><br>
But after all, as one of the cellists pointed out, if Nero could fiddle for a fire, surely a symphony could play marches for a sports event.<br><br>
The concerts will continue before the games Thursday and Saturday, and between the double header Sunday. And Viola Thompson, who came from Greenville, S.C. to pitch for the Milwaukee girls' team, "put one right over the plate" when she said, "I'm glad they are coming back. Good music is good music, whether it is in Carnegie hall or the Brewer ball park."<br><br>
<i>(The Milwaukee girls won, 5-4. Details in Sports Section.)</i></font></blockquote>
Outstanding. Really brings the scene to life.<br><br>
Compared to the front page, the Sports Section offered a relatively pedestrian review of the game.<br><br>
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One brief mention of the concert marks this summary of the Schnitts beating the Lakers (and mind you, this is about three years before the NBA team would adopt the moniker).<br><br>
<blockquote><font color="#33ccff"><font size="5"><b>Schnitts Beat Lakers, 5-4</b></font><br><br>
<div align="center"><font size="4">Throw Loses Game</font></div><br>
Milwaukee got away to a winning start in the second half schedule of the All-American Girls Professional Ball league Wednesday night, beating Minneapolis, 5-4, at Borchert field. The Milwaukee symphony orchestra played for some 700 patrons before the game. Dottie Wiltse of the visitors lost her own ball game by throwing wild to first base in the ninth, trying to pick Catcher Dorothy Maguire off base, and the Schnitts' catcher scored before the ball could be recovered.<br><br>
Connie Wisniewski pitched for Milwaukee for the first time since her knee was injured and the Lakers took advantage of her disability to turn bunts into hits, which made the game close.<br><br>
Racine defeated Kenosha, 5-2.</font></blockquote>
A good start to the second half of the 1944 season. The Chicks would need Wisniewski fully healthy to make a run at the second-half title and with it the AAGPBL playoffs.<br><br>
But as promised on the first page of the <i>Journal</i>, right under the headline, they were saving the best for last. On the back page of the paper they had a photo section, mostly featuring the Democratic Presidential Convention.<br><br>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpBstDb1qHplkvns4Sve1XZ4bOTB-xEZRw5QrgoMH0t9TLPy6zNok5WvwOD__QxI8PlBuhHz-9TaXX0NNqADlPvZTaSYyIXy7QmRtzA4AXJB_pMtKzLx8FN5hklpLmKpS-gr1mp1ci_Ow/s1600/1944_MusicUnderTheStars_full.jpg" ><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpBstDb1qHplkvns4Sve1XZ4bOTB-xEZRw5QrgoMH0t9TLPy6zNok5WvwOD__QxI8PlBuhHz-9TaXX0NNqADlPvZTaSYyIXy7QmRtzA4AXJB_pMtKzLx8FN5hklpLmKpS-gr1mp1ci_Ow/s540/1944_MusicUnderTheStars_full.jpg"/></a></div><br>
In the lower right-hand corner, the photos we were promised. A tantalizing peek at the Orchard as concert hall.<br><br>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHzuVLWEwUdIn17LCNBEtYj1RY1vHr_apiDSZCnVEXCLCQ0tuAMIvtOIAxt1xKwZKapU4rQXaJ_rCrTiQXCTqwhkhLJ8FTRkJIt0EceSVyimI6JLJiST29EG7DoV8LDXinrVcbw3EHfck/s1600/1944_MusicUnderTheStars.jpg"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHzuVLWEwUdIn17LCNBEtYj1RY1vHr_apiDSZCnVEXCLCQ0tuAMIvtOIAxt1xKwZKapU4rQXaJ_rCrTiQXCTqwhkhLJ8FTRkJIt0EceSVyimI6JLJiST29EG7DoV8LDXinrVcbw3EHfck/s420/1944_MusicUnderTheStars.jpg"></a></div><br>
Amazing. These four deserve a closer look.<br><br>
<div align="center"><font color="#33ccff" size="4"><i>'Music Under the Stars'—at Borchert Field</i></font></div><br>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeLNrIUdzD58f_8eAMkWNW1AlZpSiIAVAB4mezXb6FRffNzKHAg2q2Jzw0EXkpsCDvz7r5JInBZdO-_jpSevqPXCQICgMBQtXJ11gy0yTmd-KbXdSUhq-e2-oGd8Khggq46RHWsPZ4TSE/s1600/1944_MusicUnderTheStars1.jpg"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeLNrIUdzD58f_8eAMkWNW1AlZpSiIAVAB4mezXb6FRffNzKHAg2q2Jzw0EXkpsCDvz7r5JInBZdO-_jpSevqPXCQICgMBQtXJ11gy0yTmd-KbXdSUhq-e2-oGd8Khggq46RHWsPZ4TSE/s400/1944_MusicUnderTheStars1.jpg"/></a></div>
<blockquote><font color="#33ccff"><b>You wouldn't have believed it. </b>But some 700 persons saw the Milwaukee symphony and the Milwaukee Schnitts, the girls' baseball team, get together and entertain Wednesday night at Borchert field.<br><br>
Yes sir, the orchestra gave an hour's program, then the gals beat Minneapolis in baseball. Still dubious? They're making music and runs again Thursday, Saturday and Sunday.<br>
<div align="right"><font size="1"><i>—All Journal Staff</i></font></div></font></blockquote>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglCCSnJVXrZVC3cXh3MroR1XdkFkvwWlpb6lpVgGVGpY62UwUX2w2BqTFirCJpchnPex-Z3Vh9c4FiuL2z7qEqEr3GW7w_qR6mqzrw9h_sIvLEnt0MrYExHqJBe7AqiXl8mRK8PP3a58E/s1600/1944_MusicUnderTheStars2.jpg"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglCCSnJVXrZVC3cXh3MroR1XdkFkvwWlpb6lpVgGVGpY62UwUX2w2BqTFirCJpchnPex-Z3Vh9c4FiuL2z7qEqEr3GW7w_qR6mqzrw9h_sIvLEnt0MrYExHqJBe7AqiXl8mRK8PP3a58E/s400/1944_MusicUnderTheStars2.jpg"/></a></div>
<blockquote><font color="#33ccff"><b>A Borchert field visitor in two moods. </b>He is Dan Cameron, 823 N. Cass st. Left, he listens to the symphonietta. Right, he gives vent to his feelings as the Schnitts push across a run. Is Dan fan or music lover?</font></blockquote>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgp0nklXtndVQPzEvXIVKs-87Sieo2GDDgTffBhGW4hvdWVBJjRlbhKUh3050y3m4ALA6b5s19bZRKwa_wO25eAQcpP-Cublo93-g8um1m5fe-CwtLowoMLuw3eKuQCR-_G4Y2JDhfsT4k/s1600/1944_MusicUnderTheStars3.jpg"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgp0nklXtndVQPzEvXIVKs-87Sieo2GDDgTffBhGW4hvdWVBJjRlbhKUh3050y3m4ALA6b5s19bZRKwa_wO25eAQcpP-Cublo93-g8um1m5fe-CwtLowoMLuw3eKuQCR-_G4Y2JDhfsT4k/s400/1944_MusicUnderTheStars3.jpg"/></a></div>
<blockquote><font color="#33ccff">First the gals came in, now it's highbrow orchestra. These Borchert field maintenance crewmen—(from left) Frank Prohaska, Harry Wienke and Johnny Heim—still can hardly believe it.</font></blockquote>
Stunning. How lucky we are to have these moments preserved by the newspapers. And now the Journal's front-page headline makes more sense.<br><br>
Ultimately, the concerts were not enough to draw the crowds that could have saved the Chicks in Milwaukee. But wherever the idea came from, be it Stumpf or Wrigley or an anonymous marketing advisor somewhere, this particular combination of local cultural institutions is as wonderful as it was brief, a bright shining moment in Milwaukee baseball (and musical) history.<br><br>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgT-4ql88Dno4zxeunYTj0KJ-CJhz0g576tGSL1AwtHkjJQLT5XQw-M6rYJ9x1ynUBREh4t_rlEkrLMUn43mgHjPisV7UdryKzJmbinNk0MFlrHlE5fNYwulm85Uyauf1l_9unLp9MLFmA/s1600/Chicks75th_logo.png"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgT-4ql88Dno4zxeunYTj0KJ-CJhz0g576tGSL1AwtHkjJQLT5XQw-M6rYJ9x1ynUBREh4t_rlEkrLMUn43mgHjPisV7UdryKzJmbinNk0MFlrHlE5fNYwulm85Uyauf1l_9unLp9MLFmA/s300/Chicks75th_logo.png"/></a></div><br>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6292209952573237829.post-28931259754789739822019-07-18T04:34:00.000-04:002019-07-18T04:34:01.887-04:00On This Day - the Chicks Wow 'Em at Wrigley<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg52LMidW2DS4n30LDl75HnLNeqbwO0hBd-0nloq5n-lIxfT2kTJ4J022W1bLGHb-jz2QGqnhXPvuMwcIUuObQSwD-AKifPfouPkGcVPbOPQfWYIU2rd65rhtqdjNAT1bcTuvhdqz8qwNY/s1600/OnThisDay1944.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 0em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg52LMidW2DS4n30LDl75HnLNeqbwO0hBd-0nloq5n-lIxfT2kTJ4J022W1bLGHb-jz2QGqnhXPvuMwcIUuObQSwD-AKifPfouPkGcVPbOPQfWYIU2rd65rhtqdjNAT1bcTuvhdqz8qwNY/s225/OnThisDay1944.png"/></a></div>Seventy-five years ago today, the <font color="red"><b>Milwaukee Chicks</b></font> were enjoying a quick break between the first and season halves of the 1944 <font color="red"><b>All-American Girls Professional Ball League</b></font> season.<br><br>
The Chicks had <a href="http://www.borchertfield.com/2019/05/on-this-day-chicks-drop-two.html" target="_blank">gotten off to a slow start</a>, plagued with a <a href="http://www.borchertfield.com/2019/06/on-this-day-signing-cast.html" target="_blank">series of injuries</a>. But as the first half of the season drew to a close, the injured players started returning to the diamond and the Chicks clawed their way to a record of 31-27, good for third place in the league. The winners of each half of the season would face off in the postseason championship series, and the Kenosha Comets had secured their playoff spot with the first-half flag. However, with the Chicks healthy and hitting their stride, they hoped to make a good run at the second-half title.<br><br>
First things first, however, and before they could start their second-half campaign they had an All-Star game to play. Well, not an All-Star game itself, but a different showcase for the league.<br><br>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTD3BBy-ug-Vy5mOneqX4p8jn40z6vh6_VdCpjdgzX_eRgqLK0qmeIrZL9jPBNqHLvJpQM0u8wNO-Ma2ZtejG8TS1VD2Lv8fW_VkMapee5Ps0oYOAUxECDBiyQQsQ1yyE3DuckKTeTTi4/s1600/All-American_Girls_Professional_Baseball_League_logo.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTD3BBy-ug-Vy5mOneqX4p8jn40z6vh6_VdCpjdgzX_eRgqLK0qmeIrZL9jPBNqHLvJpQM0u8wNO-Ma2ZtejG8TS1VD2Lv8fW_VkMapee5Ps0oYOAUxECDBiyQQsQ1yyE3DuckKTeTTi4/s250/All-American_Girls_Professional_Baseball_League_logo.png"/></a></div>There had been an All-Star Game in the league's inaugural season. Held at Wrigley Field on July 1, 1943, the near-sellout crowd saw a game of "Wisconsin Versus the World", with a team comprised of the best players from Racine and Kenosha squaring off against their compatriots from South Bend and Rockford. This was also notable for being the first night game at Wrigley, held under temporary lights brought in for the occasion.<br><br>
For 1944, the All-Star format was scrapped in favor of a pair of exhibition games. The Milwaukee Chicks were chosen to compete, leading off in a contest with the South Bend Blue Sox. The second game was to feature the other two Wisconsin teams, Racine versus Kenosha, all in a benefit for the American Red Cross.<br><br>
And while we don't have a handy photo of either game, at least this picture, taken during a Cubs/Giants game just ten days earlier, gives us a great sense of what the ballpark looked like at the time.<br><br>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7fSBEIvnI9XI1NtPnCppSIW-f55NfpknZvt8U5mYQ2-fKrUQ7CjD6p-k_1u933lT846b_dfPB1pXrQGYotXmPhrhROwcsxfYYrlVNw_lhtkz-keikL5vKWrhirl-4hXnXt1ERZrFEtho/s1600/WrigleyField_1944.jpg"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7fSBEIvnI9XI1NtPnCppSIW-f55NfpknZvt8U5mYQ2-fKrUQ7CjD6p-k_1u933lT846b_dfPB1pXrQGYotXmPhrhROwcsxfYYrlVNw_lhtkz-keikL5vKWrhirl-4hXnXt1ERZrFEtho/s400/WrigleyField_1944.jpg"/></a></div><div align="right"><font color="gray" size="1">Heritage Auctions</font></div><br>
The Milwaukee papers differed somewhat in their assessment of the crowd, but they agreed that the event itself was a success. First up was the morning <i>Milwaukee Sentinel</i>, which estimated 20,000 in attendance as the Chicks beat the Blue Sox by a score of 20-11.<br><br>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3XU03kIJWTzeKay7AuK_BpHnJVIxLppSVyI3ptsFmH2NUbESsHBE22b4WSW3x_cXlVte7Jy8EEZNtKhM7Lv_9oy74ejAg2k0pU8d-TkDxFitMWi4-zdjVh1t4VTU5dtf93zHGbb2mcf8/s1600/1944_20000Witness.jpg"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3XU03kIJWTzeKay7AuK_BpHnJVIxLppSVyI3ptsFmH2NUbESsHBE22b4WSW3x_cXlVte7Jy8EEZNtKhM7Lv_9oy74ejAg2k0pU8d-TkDxFitMWi4-zdjVh1t4VTU5dtf93zHGbb2mcf8/s400/1944_20000Witness.jpg"></a></div>
<blockquote><font color="#33ccff"><font size="5"><b>20,000 Witness Win of Chicks</b></font><br><br>
CHICAGO, July 18 (Special)<br><br>
Shortstop Pat Keagle and Center Fielder Vickie Panos stole the show here tonight at Wrigley field when the Milwaukee Chicks defeated the South Bend Blue Sox, 20 to 11, in an All-American Girls' Ball league exhibition game played before over 20,000 fans.<br><br>
The Chicks' infielder rapped out line drive triples her first two times to the plate. Holding an 8 to 7 lead going into the last of the sixth the Chicks counted 11 times that inning to clinch the verdict at the expense of Catherine Bennett, losing pitcher.</font></blockquote>
What an exciting game that must have been.<br><br>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixyjXUVW2ODf4F822M76-C92Lu6hiXF1i4Zek1ArwpF-qaiZaduWWWHXbKla-2tw-5Ss7rqyD2QsDq9VH8sUNlfc81pwra4qjrx990beXGG-a_kH24yIrI1MB4I474Wb12itTWMb65ssc/s1600/1944_AllStarExhibition_boxscore.jpg"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixyjXUVW2ODf4F822M76-C92Lu6hiXF1i4Zek1ArwpF-qaiZaduWWWHXbKla-2tw-5Ss7rqyD2QsDq9VH8sUNlfc81pwra4qjrx990beXGG-a_kH24yIrI1MB4I474Wb12itTWMb65ssc/s400/1944_AllStarExhibition_boxscore.jpg"/></a></div><br>
That afternoon, the <i>Journal </i>offered a ever-so-slightly less rosy estimate of the crowd, but not the game itself.<br><br>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9KUTGhyphenhyphenffHzjnXZWdZbFkihIKNz0a-HYwL_pxU1FfFJh2_w76hzlmpCzBi7ZQqBvy67fo7Hizjrtpv2RAIQWmpZfuPfgSqsXQOnlurroqWGnb9nE7a7J-N7Eni8BA5EjLj-xAAUXQElo/s1600/1944_16000Watch.jpg"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9KUTGhyphenhyphenffHzjnXZWdZbFkihIKNz0a-HYwL_pxU1FfFJh2_w76hzlmpCzBi7ZQqBvy67fo7Hizjrtpv2RAIQWmpZfuPfgSqsXQOnlurroqWGnb9nE7a7J-N7Eni8BA5EjLj-xAAUXQElo/s400/1944_16000Watch.jpg"></a></div>
<blockquote><font color="#33ccff"><font size="5"><b>16,000 Watch Schnitts Win</b></font><br><br>
<font size="4">Beat South Bend, 20-11</font><br><br>
<div align="center"><font size="1">Journal Special Correspondence</font></div><br>
Chicago. Ill. – The Milwaukee Schnitts put on a slugging exhibition for 16,000 spectators at Wrigley field Tuesday night in the All-American Girls Professional Ball league Red Cross show. The Schnitts defeated South Bend, 20-11, getting 16 hits off Kay Bennett, while Sylvia Wronski held the losers to 13. Pat Keagle of Milwaukee hit two triples. The Schnitts made 11 runs in the sixth inning.<br><br>
Racine and Kenosha played the second game, which was called after three and one-half innings with the score tied at 6, so that the teams could make trains.</font></blockquote>
The capacity of Wrigley Field was just over 38,000. Even a crowd of 16,000 would have looked pretty good in that park.<br><br>
The Chicks most certainly had to make a train home; they had a big event at Borchert Field planned for the following evening, an event the likes of which nobody in baseball had ever seen before.<br><br>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgT-4ql88Dno4zxeunYTj0KJ-CJhz0g576tGSL1AwtHkjJQLT5XQw-M6rYJ9x1ynUBREh4t_rlEkrLMUn43mgHjPisV7UdryKzJmbinNk0MFlrHlE5fNYwulm85Uyauf1l_9unLp9MLFmA/s1600/Chicks75th_logo.png"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgT-4ql88Dno4zxeunYTj0KJ-CJhz0g576tGSL1AwtHkjJQLT5XQw-M6rYJ9x1ynUBREh4t_rlEkrLMUn43mgHjPisV7UdryKzJmbinNk0MFlrHlE5fNYwulm85Uyauf1l_9unLp9MLFmA/s300/Chicks75th_logo.png"/></a></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6292209952573237829.post-81160084942096414162019-07-16T12:28:00.001-04:002019-07-16T12:28:42.030-04:00On This Day - "The Twain Shall Meet"<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg52LMidW2DS4n30LDl75HnLNeqbwO0hBd-0nloq5n-lIxfT2kTJ4J022W1bLGHb-jz2QGqnhXPvuMwcIUuObQSwD-AKifPfouPkGcVPbOPQfWYIU2rd65rhtqdjNAT1bcTuvhdqz8qwNY/s1600/OnThisDay1944.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 0em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg52LMidW2DS4n30LDl75HnLNeqbwO0hBd-0nloq5n-lIxfT2kTJ4J022W1bLGHb-jz2QGqnhXPvuMwcIUuObQSwD-AKifPfouPkGcVPbOPQfWYIU2rd65rhtqdjNAT1bcTuvhdqz8qwNY/s225/OnThisDay1944.png"/></a></div>On this day in 1944, exactly seventy-five years ago, readers of the major Milwaukee dailies picked up their newspapers to read some coverage of the <font color="red"><b>Milwaukee Chicks</b></font> of the <font color="red"><b>All-American Girls Professional Ball League</b></font>.<br><br>Which itself wouldn't have been unusual, except for the location of the coverage. The Chicks were being mentioned not in the sports pages, but rather the <i>arts sections</i>.<br><br>
The afternoon <i>Milwaukee Journal</i> had the most prominent coverage. Nestled in between articles on an upcoming New York Center concert and the Nazis stealing a painting by Pieter Bruegel the Elder, we have this piece on <font color="red"><b>Philip K. Wrigley</b></font>'s latest idea to promote his baseball league;<a href="http://www.borchertfield.com/2019/07/on-this-day-girls-will-play-with-music.html" target="_blank"> a double-header featuring a Chicks game and classical music concert</a>.<br><br>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgE6KfbcV_izpUHEg7Eeu7LC4B_J1ny1WU2aaFIu1jN5lPuXMxHjWwpKhf3eZIKQsobu_Dm6XiNoxCgdqVvwhYYobLLb6UD0WmfFG9_LlKIywZMNbuTfyEK2PPjlpK9sVudxuKVWCm_QfY/s1600/1944_WillBeCombined.jpg"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgE6KfbcV_izpUHEg7Eeu7LC4B_J1ny1WU2aaFIu1jN5lPuXMxHjWwpKhf3eZIKQsobu_Dm6XiNoxCgdqVvwhYYobLLb6UD0WmfFG9_LlKIywZMNbuTfyEK2PPjlpK9sVudxuKVWCm_QfY/s545/1944_WillBeCombined.jpg"/></a></div>
<blockquote><font color="#33ccff"><font size="5"><i>Orchestra Music, Ball Games Will Be Combined This Week</i></font><br><br>
SOMETHING out of the ordinary in music will be offered here this week when the Milwaukee symphony orchestra, under Dr. Julius Ehrlich, begins a series of four "pop" concerts at Borchert baseball field, in connection with the ball games of the All-American Girls' Professional Baseball League.<br><br>
The idea is that of Philip K. Wrigley, the chewing gum and sports leader, who is promoting the girls' ball teams.<br><br>
The orchestra will play on a stand near second base, and a large acoustical shell will amplify the music.<br><br>
On Wednesday at 7:30p. m. the orchestra will play "The Star Spangled Banner," the "Blue Danube" waltz, Sousa's "Hands Across the Sea," Weber's "Oberon" overture, the first movement of Schubert's "Unfinished" symphony, Grieg's "Heart Wounds" and "The Last Spring" and Ravel's popular "Pavanne for a Dead Princess."<br><br>
Thursday at 7:30 p. m. the music will include the wedding march from "A Midsummer Night's Dream," the "Fledermaus" overture, Liszt's "Preludes," Waldteufel's "Espana" waltz and Beethoven's "Congratulations" minuet.<br><br>
At 7:30 p. m. Friday the musicians will play the "Night in Venice" overture of Strauss, Lanner's "Court Ball" dances, Tchaikovsky's "Romeo and Juliet" fantasy and the "Stars and Stripes Forever" of Souza.<br><br>
The final program will be held next Sunday afternoon, July 23, between games of a double-header.</font></blockquote>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8Kfip-6b9yk3ZjlF8u0ixYA3Nne8AlaTdrYHbkHWmcX3WNGxE0XumpJAp7GK08ctkW5rxzmm_JebTHoJpcVqdHyNS2M6JM80AyMhChVMzfNYmbx994gnyv8SJM72p-q5m125hqMrFOs0/s1600/1944_WillBeCombined_close.jpg"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8Kfip-6b9yk3ZjlF8u0ixYA3Nne8AlaTdrYHbkHWmcX3WNGxE0XumpJAp7GK08ctkW5rxzmm_JebTHoJpcVqdHyNS2M6JM80AyMhChVMzfNYmbx994gnyv8SJM72p-q5m125hqMrFOs0/s400/1944_WillBeCombined_close.jpg"/></a></div><br>
The following morning, readers of <i>Milwaukee Sentinel</i> would also learn about the upcoming event, although the <i>Sentinel</i>'s article was placed on the radio page, not the fine arts.<br><br>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQE-JdPLRrtdgfkYyuIUmsKY5IZPUTUdzql_0H_zB6xd6J91MP64q9aCmr1UKS8SqFizfmToAHrus0oHfOm7Do0fpu54zp-g1wVLYU4FIsowSUWW_3KZkG9WSYQBGJA7gUpijgxFels-8/s1600/1944_LatestCulturalOffering.jpg"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQE-JdPLRrtdgfkYyuIUmsKY5IZPUTUdzql_0H_zB6xd6J91MP64q9aCmr1UKS8SqFizfmToAHrus0oHfOm7Do0fpu54zp-g1wVLYU4FIsowSUWW_3KZkG9WSYQBGJA7gUpijgxFels-8/s512/1944_LatestCulturalOffering.jpg"/></a></div>
<blockquote><font color="#33ccff"><font size="5"><b>Symphonies for Ball Fans Latest Cultural Offering</b></font><br><br>
<hr color="#33ccff" width="100px"><br>
Just to prove that baseball fans do wash behind their ears, and that people who like symphony music may not be hot-house orchids with an allergy to sports, P. K. Wrigley announced yesterday that the twain shall meet.<br><br>
They'll meet at the Brewers' park, at 7:30 p. m. next Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, when the Milwaukee symphony orchestra, directed by Dr. Julius Ehrlich, will give "pop" concerts before the girls' baseball games, and on Sunday afternoon, July 23, between games.<br><br>
The orchestra will play familiar excerpts from Schubert, Grieg, Ravelle, Strauss and Souza, from a sound equipped shell used successfully in a Lawrence Tibbet program. If the first concerts are well received, baseball officials and Milwaukee Friends of Music said others will be arranged during the remainder of the baseball season.</font></blockquote>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtj8U3_Cvfbpf_j9vHAvC3Ocwm6-1rqp7txdn89u-ImJMS3UlkTj1Az5eXWN8YohcWmzr2MtbkFx1XVdBdi5JklVpKSMNiIKGvAf0041YhZi2JdyXj1rcrPiA2aMNhDsuIJjFrZFpiUmw/s1600/1944_LatestCulturalOffering_close.jpg"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtj8U3_Cvfbpf_j9vHAvC3Ocwm6-1rqp7txdn89u-ImJMS3UlkTj1Az5eXWN8YohcWmzr2MtbkFx1XVdBdi5JklVpKSMNiIKGvAf0041YhZi2JdyXj1rcrPiA2aMNhDsuIJjFrZFpiUmw/s400/1944_LatestCulturalOffering_close.jpg" /></a></div><br>
The <i>Sentinel</i> didn't have quite so detailed a preview of the program as the <i>Journal</i>'s arts section offered, and the Sentinel seemed to have missed the initial announcement the week before. But they do win the award for purple prose.<br><br>
And it's good to see the local papers reporting on this newest development in the Chicks' story.<br><br>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgT-4ql88Dno4zxeunYTj0KJ-CJhz0g576tGSL1AwtHkjJQLT5XQw-M6rYJ9x1ynUBREh4t_rlEkrLMUn43mgHjPisV7UdryKzJmbinNk0MFlrHlE5fNYwulm85Uyauf1l_9unLp9MLFmA/s1600/Chicks75th_logo.png"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgT-4ql88Dno4zxeunYTj0KJ-CJhz0g576tGSL1AwtHkjJQLT5XQw-M6rYJ9x1ynUBREh4t_rlEkrLMUn43mgHjPisV7UdryKzJmbinNk0MFlrHlE5fNYwulm85Uyauf1l_9unLp9MLFmA/s300/Chicks75th_logo.png"/></a></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6292209952573237829.post-31413874563364150692019-07-12T16:32:00.000-04:002019-07-12T16:32:47.578-04:00On Pins and Needles<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgT-4ql88Dno4zxeunYTj0KJ-CJhz0g576tGSL1AwtHkjJQLT5XQw-M6rYJ9x1ynUBREh4t_rlEkrLMUn43mgHjPisV7UdryKzJmbinNk0MFlrHlE5fNYwulm85Uyauf1l_9unLp9MLFmA/s1600/Chicks75th_logo.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 0em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgT-4ql88Dno4zxeunYTj0KJ-CJhz0g576tGSL1AwtHkjJQLT5XQw-M6rYJ9x1ynUBREh4t_rlEkrLMUn43mgHjPisV7UdryKzJmbinNk0MFlrHlE5fNYwulm85Uyauf1l_9unLp9MLFmA/s200/Chicks75th_logo.png" width="200" height="200" data-original-width="1000" data-original-height="1000" /></a></div>One of the most famous elements of the <font color="red"><b>All-American Girls Professional Baseball League</b></font>'s legacy is the uniform.<br><br>
You remember the scene from <i>A League of Their Own</i>; with the tryouts at Harvey Field complete, and the four team rosters set, the newly-minted professional ballplayers are introduced to their uniforms. And the reaction is strong.
<blockquote><font color="#33ccff"><i>"You can't slide in that!"</i><br><br>
<i>"That's a dress!"</i><br><br>
<i>"It's </i>half<i> a dress!"</i><br><br>
<i>"Excuse me, that's not a baseball uniform."</i></font></blockquote>
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="225" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/HLAJ9qZviM0" width="400"></iframe><br><br>
The women are bluntly told <font color="#33ccff"><i>"If you can't play ball in this, you can't play ball with us,"</i></font> and that's the end of their objections, if not the end of their problems.<br><br>
In real life, the short-skirted tunics were similarly emblematic of the league, and similarly challenging to its players.<br><br>
League founder <font color="red"><b>Philip K. Wrigley</b></font> gave the job of designing the AAGPBL's uniforms to <font color="red"><b>Otis Shepard</b></font>, who had served as the art director for both Wrigley's eponymous chewing gum empire and his Chicago Cubs. Shepard had overhauled the Cubs' uniforms several times, starting in 1937, and had introduced many innovations to the sport: the first zippered jersey, the first vest, the and first (and still only) pleated pants, and in 1941 the game's first powder blue road uniform. Uni Watch published <a href="https://uni-watch.com/2014/02/14/incredible-chicago-tribune-article-on-the-1937-cubs-uniforms/" target="_blank">a great breakdown</a> of Shepard's work for the North Siders a couple years ago.<br><br>
Shepard turned his considerable talents towards the creation of something entirely new: a women's baseball uniform that connoted both athleticism and upper-class sophistication. The resulting uniform was intended to showcase the femininity of its players, to erase any concerns that the ballplayers were unladylike in the minds of either fans or the parents of young women wanting to join the league.<br><br>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQLEgVO0jaYV0VkZRY1-x98SCvIviCKh-SEcLyTLw3yGiNcEI8QZvm2k_eENcpkt8Mk7ihw9TTHRJoBZzPIzYJ5zhLyksAKzj1mrYAoueUrNI9o3d0W_QtF8W0xMC-BXh9uP0Es-XY3OQ/s5000/First+Four+Signed.jpg"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQLEgVO0jaYV0VkZRY1-x98SCvIviCKh-SEcLyTLw3yGiNcEI8QZvm2k_eENcpkt8Mk7ihw9TTHRJoBZzPIzYJ5zhLyksAKzj1mrYAoueUrNI9o3d0W_QtF8W0xMC-BXh9uP0Es-XY3OQ/s440/First+Four+Signed.jpg"></a></div><div align="right"><font size="1" color="gray">Photo credit: Northern Indiana Center for History Collection</font></div><br>
The most obvious issue with the tunics was the lack of protection it offered the players' legs. The women quickly coined a pleasant-sounding nickname—"strawberries"—for the painful scrapes caused by sliding into a base; wide road rashes with ground-in dirt.<br><br>
Less obvious was the problem that Shepard's tunics caused players in the field. They quickly found the extra material around their legs interfered with movement. And the skirts had a <i>lot</i> of extra material, as you can see in this Getty photo from a July 26, 1947 game between the Racine Belles and the South Bend Blue Sox:<br><br>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpVNytI6fjTdl47r8jKaKC5mUH0co-BdhoibWvDhdpsh7-mdy5wsLA2Me01Irwzw9Kuj4Ljagc4uF8b4Q8NRlnUnrFcKv1XfKnOoWUF9t7ykihBbFWOyqBpBXtK68BEMXL3Mmf0GRpEKk/s1600/1947_Racine_SouthBend.jpg"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpVNytI6fjTdl47r8jKaKC5mUH0co-BdhoibWvDhdpsh7-mdy5wsLA2Me01Irwzw9Kuj4Ljagc4uF8b4Q8NRlnUnrFcKv1XfKnOoWUF9t7ykihBbFWOyqBpBXtK68BEMXL3Mmf0GRpEKk/s470/1947_Racine_SouthBend.jpg"/></a></div><div align="right"><font size="1" color="gray"><i>Getty Images</i></font></div><br>
Pitchers in particular found the billowing skirts interfered with their pitching motions, so many of them would take steps to reduce the size of the skirt. Some responded by raising the hem of their skirts a few inches, removing a large chunk of material that way. Others chose to fold the excess over into a flap and secure it either by sewing or pinning it in place.<br><br>
This 1944 team photo shows one of the homemade customizations:<br><Br>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiegySYMiezUI9xOcp33G4p9lTWpHthvgb-LSPNxAA7-egZPZvoTYtzCeoK8XKl1wiJKqR8xhLR_q38kHVDDitptBiMMoQTPY5KnKh4FO2S-g3wQGStBHrLRYFIKR0l14b_v27wrhIGSck/s1600/1944_MilwaukeeChicksTeamPhoto.jpg"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiegySYMiezUI9xOcp33G4p9lTWpHthvgb-LSPNxAA7-egZPZvoTYtzCeoK8XKl1wiJKqR8xhLR_q38kHVDDitptBiMMoQTPY5KnKh4FO2S-g3wQGStBHrLRYFIKR0l14b_v27wrhIGSck/s400/1944_MilwaukeeChicksTeamPhoto.jpg"/></a></div><br>
Right there, in the middle. See the pinned flap?<br><br>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeyKCgsHw-caTOZ1-db3-B1a7_pKzR_nKn2XvhbTvgjEJTnKIJCcvbTBn_NslRX6lyw0NKDGnY7Gd1swCLZ09Lnhjj2Ui3mUYeBuk2E1NWiRU48BWpyvvpm2-Et-JHJKhntCsxugm81cQ/s1600/PinnedSkirt1.jpg"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeyKCgsHw-caTOZ1-db3-B1a7_pKzR_nKn2XvhbTvgjEJTnKIJCcvbTBn_NslRX6lyw0NKDGnY7Gd1swCLZ09Lnhjj2Ui3mUYeBuk2E1NWiRU48BWpyvvpm2-Et-JHJKhntCsxugm81cQ/s400/PinnedSkirt1.jpg"/></a></div><br>
You can also see one in this <i>Milwaukee Sentinel</i> photo of pitcher <font color="red"><b>Josephine Kabick</b></font>.<br><br>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrf8TY8NrEmBZXCiDFK6lYJNEgYteDGI7o9LSDnxw3mc_KdBVCV2U0YY9voI7-VZmp347kWzh5KbFj2_e8fr2Zj7UFubq6VZ8C4JtcgR45kocDZgTQD87osvrrprlyk3gvpjGkjzgFbDA/s1600/1944_MilwaukeeSentinel_MusicHathCharms_close.jpg"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrf8TY8NrEmBZXCiDFK6lYJNEgYteDGI7o9LSDnxw3mc_KdBVCV2U0YY9voI7-VZmp347kWzh5KbFj2_e8fr2Zj7UFubq6VZ8C4JtcgR45kocDZgTQD87osvrrprlyk3gvpjGkjzgFbDA/s485/1944_MilwaukeeSentinel_MusicHathCharms_close.jpg"/></a></div><br>
We see most of the Chick pitchers pinned their skirts. In this photo from the Cooperstown archives Kabick is standing next to fellow hurler <font color="red"><b>Viola Thompson</b></font>, and they <i>both</i> have their skirts pinned.<br><br>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxuPScibFgMd7unNmKHF_9yPAxWjtMEv83tGxzMyCPDUWODEvdhiHcKeP6KoGc-ij9I09BfqjRpKvXhrFuE891PCbBG0neKGEM9yAeonJQ_PL3rsyJJ4SV2ZZ2BNIfdRvkGW5SbEh-kis/s1600/1944_ViolaThompson_JoKabick_HOF.jpg"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxuPScibFgMd7unNmKHF_9yPAxWjtMEv83tGxzMyCPDUWODEvdhiHcKeP6KoGc-ij9I09BfqjRpKvXhrFuE891PCbBG0neKGEM9yAeonJQ_PL3rsyJJ4SV2ZZ2BNIfdRvkGW5SbEh-kis/s702/1944_ViolaThompson_JoKabick_HOF.jpg"/></a></div><div align="right"><font size="1" color="gray">National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum</font></div><br>
Kabick has one fold, from her right to left, while Thompson has two, converging in the middle of her skirt.<br><br>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXT_xqMs4iAJYxT9D5a-aJuRhNPWZBg9dRV79D-P84_Jq1dvOiB3RjF4AEu8JP3R8StbhiCAeEg8efd821nE30X-UHn8ckTcfZxFnD5I_JXGbmHWisFrv1H9TgMunhAJ3cJY7Sr468nC0/s1600/1944_ViolaThompson_JoKabick_HOF_close.jpg"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXT_xqMs4iAJYxT9D5a-aJuRhNPWZBg9dRV79D-P84_Jq1dvOiB3RjF4AEu8JP3R8StbhiCAeEg8efd821nE30X-UHn8ckTcfZxFnD5I_JXGbmHWisFrv1H9TgMunhAJ3cJY7Sr468nC0/s400/1944_ViolaThompson_JoKabick_HOF_close.jpg"/></a></div><br>
Chicks ace <font color="red"><b>Connie Wisniewski</b></font>, seen here on the right posing with Josephine Figlo, was another consistent pinner.<br><Br>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlK8pUm42BY8u9_hmVMWPoqQ1P-u3BnPiM1YIzywl7B1DlLxuCgo4oQIWEdlCDl86SzPoY2SdpbkQTrnHpVNfjQOkpy8Kof1-iSp56DUixtbrNyX9omsK8m0twiUbgMy9ER5rmUZlyd24/s1600/1944_JoFiglo_ConnieWisniewski_HOF.jpg"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlK8pUm42BY8u9_hmVMWPoqQ1P-u3BnPiM1YIzywl7B1DlLxuCgo4oQIWEdlCDl86SzPoY2SdpbkQTrnHpVNfjQOkpy8Kof1-iSp56DUixtbrNyX9omsK8m0twiUbgMy9ER5rmUZlyd24/s490/1944_JoFiglo_ConnieWisniewski_HOF.jpg"/></a></div><div align="right"><font size="1" color="gray">National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum</font></div><br>
Looking at this photo, the contrast between the two skirts is obvious. Figlio's is marked with folds and flaps, while Wisniewski's is more streamlined.<br><br>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5UoVYq2MO6f1-KYhzpV7nT47-tFFdo8HAqZOQusjN8CR3mjGlYMwtAzSOq17mLA5Nb6a4zIFH1uRF6K4_w1z7xB_-MDOw6NdRUokex20ZC6PW5BLzcPjzqF-uMghSlYpoKGh-eq1R11U/s1600/1944_JoFiglo_ConnieWisniewski_HOF_close.jpg"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5UoVYq2MO6f1-KYhzpV7nT47-tFFdo8HAqZOQusjN8CR3mjGlYMwtAzSOq17mLA5Nb6a4zIFH1uRF6K4_w1z7xB_-MDOw6NdRUokex20ZC6PW5BLzcPjzqF-uMghSlYpoKGh-eq1R11U/s400/1944_JoFiglo_ConnieWisniewski_HOF_close.jpg"/></a></div><br>
The chaperones were in charge of enforcing the uniform regulations, but they didn't seem to mind that particular modification, as it was so often seen. The AAGPBL's <a href="https://www.aagpbl.org/history/rules-of-conduct" target="_blank">Rules of Conduct</a> appear to have been silent about on these sorts of modifications. They don't specifically prohibit wrapping and pinning the tunic's skirt. Rule 12 comes the closest:<br>
<blockquote><font color="#33ccff"><i>Baseball uniform skirts shall not be shorter than six inches above the knee-cap.</i>
</font></blockquote>
This certainly implies that players were shortening their skirts, and that the league knew it. Six inches above the knee would seem to verge close to miniskirt territory, but given the amount of implied sex appeal of Shepard's original design, that might not have bothered the league too much.<br><br>
The phenomenon was widespread; uniforms in the collection of The History Museum (South Bend), the Grand Rapids Public Museum, and the National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown reveal similar hand alterations.<br><br>
There's an old line about Ginger Rogers having to do everything that Fred Astaire did, only backwards and in heels. Well, Connie Wisniewski was asked to do everything Spud Chandler or Bob Feller did, only in a skirt. And it's clear that the players of the AAGPBL did whatever they could to make the skirts less cumbersome. I love these subtle modifications, a testament to the ingenious spirit of these baseball pioneers.
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6292209952573237829.post-31025080409906968912019-07-08T10:38:00.000-04:002019-07-17T13:57:31.698-04:00On This Day - "Girls Will Play, With Music"<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg52LMidW2DS4n30LDl75HnLNeqbwO0hBd-0nloq5n-lIxfT2kTJ4J022W1bLGHb-jz2QGqnhXPvuMwcIUuObQSwD-AKifPfouPkGcVPbOPQfWYIU2rd65rhtqdjNAT1bcTuvhdqz8qwNY/s1600/OnThisDay1944.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 0em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg52LMidW2DS4n30LDl75HnLNeqbwO0hBd-0nloq5n-lIxfT2kTJ4J022W1bLGHb-jz2QGqnhXPvuMwcIUuObQSwD-AKifPfouPkGcVPbOPQfWYIU2rd65rhtqdjNAT1bcTuvhdqz8qwNY/s225/OnThisDay1944.png"/></a></div>On this day in 1944, seventy-five years ago, <font color="red"><b>Philip K. Wrigley</b></font> had an announcement to make.<br><Br>
Wrigley was one of the founders of the <font color="red"><b>All-American Girls Professional Ball League</b></font>, and his announcement was specifically about our <font color="red"><b>Milwaukee Chicks</b></font> baseball club. If a women's baseball league was a radical idea in 1943, his idea for promoting the new 1944 expansion club was a real doozy.<br><br>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDP51h9iJOEZ846f96uWFErgFRFjkb9hnYTpTPHfv9uW6UNJFLk5EV40Kc0S_GhCShMQlEcJk6pB_hpfQJzgO-jkS2Mv-X5JacinJe1SEWaZbUhqH7FUhGbHaQ1oBVk_nD0km38VwJ85o/s1600/1944_GirlsWillPlayWithMusic.jpg"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDP51h9iJOEZ846f96uWFErgFRFjkb9hnYTpTPHfv9uW6UNJFLk5EV40Kc0S_GhCShMQlEcJk6pB_hpfQJzgO-jkS2Mv-X5JacinJe1SEWaZbUhqH7FUhGbHaQ1oBVk_nD0km38VwJ85o/s400/1944_GirlsWillPlayWithMusic.jpg" width="400" height="245" data-original-width="1600" data-original-height="978" /></a></div><br>
<blockquote><font color="#33ccff"><div align="center"><font size="5"><b><i>Listen to Baseball Symphony; Girls Will Play, With Music</i></b></font></div><br>
Something new in entertainment, a combination of music by a symphony orchestra and baseball games featuring professional girl ballplayers, will be offered July 19, 20, 22 and 23 at Borchert field. Announcement of the combination was made in Chicago Saturday by Philip K. Wrigley, sponsor of the All-American Girls Professional Baseball league.<br><br>
The Milwaukee Symphony orchestra, directed by Dr. Julius Ehrlich, will play popular and semi-classical music for one hour each evening before the ball game begins. The Milwaukee girls' baseball team, playing their first season, will play the Minneapolis girls' club on the first three evenings and a double header with Rockford on July 23.<br><br>
Wrigley said that because girls baseball is new in Milwaukee, the symphony concert is being offered as an additional attraction. The Milwaukee symphony was selected, he said, because of its outstanding reputation with Milwaukee music lovers.<br><br>
In contrast to this, according to the league's press representative, the girl baseball teams "bawl out the umpires, slide for bases, hit right or left handed and do all the other things that the best professional men's club members do, except chew tobacco."</font></blockquote>
Wrigley was at this point starting to get desperate. Attendance was below a sustainable level in both Milwaukee and Minneapolis, the two new clubs for 1944, and Wrigley's experimentation with major cities looked to be a failure.<br><br>
The <i>Milwaukee Journal</i> in particular had <a href="http://www.borchertfield.com/2019/07/on-this-day-goshawhimmity-if-i-dont-get.html" target="_blank">repeatedly pointed at high ticket prices</a>, exactly the same as for the established and popular Brewers. Rather than lower ticket prices, Wrigley looked to add value to the tickets themselves. Not an unreasonable notion, and you have to admire his ingenuity.
<br><br>
If nothing else, Wrigley's creative "double headers" would generate publicity for his baseball league. We will see if it turned out to be enough.<br><br>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgT-4ql88Dno4zxeunYTj0KJ-CJhz0g576tGSL1AwtHkjJQLT5XQw-M6rYJ9x1ynUBREh4t_rlEkrLMUn43mgHjPisV7UdryKzJmbinNk0MFlrHlE5fNYwulm85Uyauf1l_9unLp9MLFmA/s1600/Chicks75th_logo.png"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgT-4ql88Dno4zxeunYTj0KJ-CJhz0g576tGSL1AwtHkjJQLT5XQw-M6rYJ9x1ynUBREh4t_rlEkrLMUn43mgHjPisV7UdryKzJmbinNk0MFlrHlE5fNYwulm85Uyauf1l_9unLp9MLFmA/s300/Chicks75th_logo.png"/></a></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6292209952573237829.post-9369717861514230852019-07-04T09:17:00.000-04:002019-07-09T12:53:31.330-04:00"Stars and Strikes Forever", 1944From the pen of <a href="http://www.borchertfield.com/2012/01/lou-grant-sentinel-cartoonist.html" target="_blank">the <i>Milwaukee Sentinel</i>'s cartoonist <font color="red"><b>Lou Grant</b></font></a> comes this lovely tribute to the National Pastime on the nation's 168th birthday.<br><br>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFdWVsh9NqGav-QKTHZaMbdKRZVaRVoUWIngPTrVztfZr7HVbobLL6qZHMvw-XI418k1P6-02-D5GC4YHAaGIcMuwKUraCCK_y48Q7YCzP3MPMSSBvKnizwrmvVHmBJFB-EsBrN9U4T5Y/s1600/1944_StarsAndStrikesForever.jpg" ><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFdWVsh9NqGav-QKTHZaMbdKRZVaRVoUWIngPTrVztfZr7HVbobLL6qZHMvw-XI418k1P6-02-D5GC4YHAaGIcMuwKUraCCK_y48Q7YCzP3MPMSSBvKnizwrmvVHmBJFB-EsBrN9U4T5Y/s421/1944_StarsAndStrikesForever.jpg"></a></div><br>
Henry “Light Horse Harry” Lee eulogized George Washington as <i><b>"First in war, first in peace, and first in the hearts of his countrymen."</b></i> A little over a century later, <i>Washington Post</i> writer Charles Dryden would borrow the phrase and apply it to baseball's Senators as "Washington – first in war, first in peace, and last in the American League". Well, our Brewers were first in fielding, first in hitting, first in pitching... and first in the American Association.<br><br>That last one heading into the break gave the Brewers the customary honor of hosting the annual All-Star Game at Borchert Field, where they would take on a squad comprised of the best of the rest of the league.<br><br>
To celebrate our heroes in appropriately patriotic fashion, Grant borrowed the iconography of Archibald Willard's famous painting <i>Yankee Doodle</i> (later known as <i>The Spirit of '76</i>).<br><br>
<table align="center">
<tr>
<td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBQ8b4hJt5bU9rzASv6wl4Bu7lrADjoy4LIbqW6HWP9MxHXEXPsXyymjIXQSKZGc7AAAFwmLW1UsQ6-y8qEcaVG8jYaPSKNDUrWg8PuTRxHJcKerl6KygAKeXpebFgveuBVyVc5dz5LM8/s1600/SpiritOf76.jpg" imageanchor="1" ><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBQ8b4hJt5bU9rzASv6wl4Bu7lrADjoy4LIbqW6HWP9MxHXEXPsXyymjIXQSKZGc7AAAFwmLW1UsQ6-y8qEcaVG8jYaPSKNDUrWg8PuTRxHJcKerl6KygAKeXpebFgveuBVyVc5dz5LM8/s251/SpiritOf76.jpg"/></a><td><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcQOYYO0pMD0nftv8PyIUBpyu0MtCKt3yj7m8m9kHKKAjcKuxnzrvbILVw2DHCWDENd47pOoUEPwdnXRqXUb5KPeiocQGWmVeG8i4xrkCypHNSEokzpG5LlHKDPY9L6B5Qyu3kJtEviDQ/s1600/SpiritOf1944.jpg" imageanchor="1" ><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcQOYYO0pMD0nftv8PyIUBpyu0MtCKt3yj7m8m9kHKKAjcKuxnzrvbILVw2DHCWDENd47pOoUEPwdnXRqXUb5KPeiocQGWmVeG8i4xrkCypHNSEokzpG5LlHKDPY9L6B5Qyu3kJtEviDQ/s251/SpiritOf1944.jpg"/></a></td>
</tr>
</table><br>
The mighty Brewers' lead in the Association held, and the All-Star Game was played at the Orchard on July 26, 1944.<br><br>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgM2q9vBNHy7ondee7WjrnIq4Z9VjQZ4b2wL3ZoSudxRgIXZolr7gP30oz60t3TVHnrF_ZGlL-0J-53ayL1LwUZjCzwqBuqom4Wk09n2__oBIxbAaV6cYx73kHz5NJ4pJiTa0CGkIF9UIzI/s5000/1944_AllStarProgram1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 0em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgM2q9vBNHy7ondee7WjrnIq4Z9VjQZ4b2wL3ZoSudxRgIXZolr7gP30oz60t3TVHnrF_ZGlL-0J-53ayL1LwUZjCzwqBuqom4Wk09n2__oBIxbAaV6cYx73kHz5NJ4pJiTa0CGkIF9UIzI/s250/1944_AllStarProgram1.jpg"/></a></div>The game program featured <a href="http://www.borchertfield.com/2014/07/1944-all-star-game-score-card.html" target="_blank">a cover by the same splendid Mr. Grant</a>. But although he portrayed our Milwaukee Minutemen as proud Continentals in his cartoon, their performance that day was more like the Battle of Fort Washington than Yorktown; <a href="http://www.borchertfield.com/2014/07/on-this-day-in-1944-all-star-game-in.html" target="_blank">the Brews were outright spanked by the All-Stars</a>, 18-0.<br><br>
But that is the story for another day. Today, seventy-five years ago, they were wishing America a happy birthday. And so shall we today.
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6292209952573237829.post-20276630933107164422019-07-02T16:46:00.000-04:002019-07-09T11:50:27.774-04:00On This Day - "Goshawhimmity if I Don't Get Some Help!"<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg52LMidW2DS4n30LDl75HnLNeqbwO0hBd-0nloq5n-lIxfT2kTJ4J022W1bLGHb-jz2QGqnhXPvuMwcIUuObQSwD-AKifPfouPkGcVPbOPQfWYIU2rd65rhtqdjNAT1bcTuvhdqz8qwNY/s1600/OnThisDay1944.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 0em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg52LMidW2DS4n30LDl75HnLNeqbwO0hBd-0nloq5n-lIxfT2kTJ4J022W1bLGHb-jz2QGqnhXPvuMwcIUuObQSwD-AKifPfouPkGcVPbOPQfWYIU2rd65rhtqdjNAT1bcTuvhdqz8qwNY/s225/OnThisDay1944.png"/></a></div>On this day in 1944, seventy-five years ago, <i>Milwaukee Sentinel</i> sports editor and columnist <font color="red"><b>James B. "Stoney" McGlynn</b></font> (no relation to the 1909-1912 <a href="https://www.baseball-reference.com/register/player.fcgi?id=mcglyn001uly#all_standard_roster" target="_blank">Brewers pitcher of the same nickname</a>, who had died in Manitowoc three years earlier) opined about the challenges facing the <font color="red"><b>Milwaukee Chicks</b></font> at the Borchert Field box office.<br><br>
McGlynn claimed support from a letter writer and <font color="red"><b>All-American Girls Professional Ball League</b></font> fan from Racine, who seconded McGlynn's concerns about the league.<br><br>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2TFGTtpz7gW7obizh8EgeTiukjEOUCXR3HmfdlQoS9uMSDCPIMW5lkFWtFB2g5jwnlDy2b37VXdCRYVKxZ-V8HLSIJyOop-qXV-G5y17aDPlJ7JhBDzmencWG30wzYs-aRGmu3vkejHc/s1600/1944_MilwaukeeSentinelJuly2.jpg"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2TFGTtpz7gW7obizh8EgeTiukjEOUCXR3HmfdlQoS9uMSDCPIMW5lkFWtFB2g5jwnlDy2b37VXdCRYVKxZ-V8HLSIJyOop-qXV-G5y17aDPlJ7JhBDzmencWG30wzYs-aRGmu3vkejHc/s510/1944_MilwaukeeSentinelJuly2.jpg"/></a></div><br>
Let's take a look at what Stoney and his pen pal had to say.<br><br>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrwqvpDxfgLCEendTHgBiQJz1jXQiw2bTuUOsoPg1JTVaIgHAUwIwxzWC8jJhuG74nmSYFFQGaOPZYt8USTJVtJs96vNjJQvVoFcSGsgA_QMUkarAqpVNv9CBx3c1mypVmqt959GfLlkA/s1600/1944_MilwaukeeSentinelJuly2_McGlynn.jpg"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrwqvpDxfgLCEendTHgBiQJz1jXQiw2bTuUOsoPg1JTVaIgHAUwIwxzWC8jJhuG74nmSYFFQGaOPZYt8USTJVtJs96vNjJQvVoFcSGsgA_QMUkarAqpVNv9CBx3c1mypVmqt959GfLlkA/s620/1944_MilwaukeeSentinelJuly2_McGlynn.jpg"/></a></div><br>
The scan loses a few words, but we'll try to recreate the relevant portion of the column in its entirety.<br><br>
<blockquote><font color="#33ccff"><div align="center"><font size="6">The SPORTS PARADE</font><br><br>
<font size="1">By STONEY McGLYNN</font></div><br>
GOSHAWHIMMITY if I don't get some help today in hanging up the week's sports wash. And from Racine where the Racine Belles of the All-American Girls' Ball League hold forth in all their regal glory as champions. Racine fans take their Belles seriously, and if the following letter is any criterion it seems they like the Milwaukee Chicks, too, but at least the writer of the letter agrees with this corner that the Milwaukee prices are too steep.<br><br>
THE LETTER–<br><br>
<blockquote>Dear Stoney,<Br><br>
"I read your column every time I get the Sentinel, and I like your views. I am a fan of the All-American Girls Ball League, and I see things are not going so hot in Milwaukee. Here in Racine it is 74 cents while in Milwaukee the rates start at 95 cents. I always thought that all the cities charged the same rate, and I can't see why the Milwaukee club has to have such high rates. No one can blame the fans who have to pay the price. Here in Racine there is only one team, the BELLES. In Milwaukee you have the Chicks and the Brewers who are a lot of competition. All the Racine fans are great admirers of the game and hope Milwaukee Chicks will keep in there punching too. Incidentally, I like the Chicks next to the BELLES.<br><br>
I have never seen Borchert field, but the comments make it sound pretty bad. I always thought Racine's Horlick field was bad, but from the reports going around it is one of the worst ball parks in the country for a major city.<br><br>
<div align="right">"GEORGE PETERSON."</div></blockquote>
<div align="center">* * *</div><br>
FLAT WORK—Them's my sentiments. The Chicks have baseball ability and crowd appeal, but the prices ARE too steep for Joe Phann. Gen. Mgr. Eddie Stumpf and Ken Sells, league president, hope to find some solution to the problem today when they offer the first Sunday ladies day twin bill in the history of Borchert field. If enough Joe and Josephine Phanns turns out for the two for one bargain matinee it might prove that it's the high prices, not the lack of crowd appeal, that is keeping the crowds down.<br><br>
On the current home stay to date the Chicks have played excellent ball and bid fair to continue. This department unhesitatingly advised to give 'em a try at the bargain rate. You'll love 'em for their hustle, bustle, sporting spirit and gameness to say nil of the sex appeal—and they have that, too.</font></blockquote>
Aside from the gratuitous digs at Bochert Field—which was admittedly showing its age, as the city well knew with its plans for the new County Stadium already in the works—Mr. Peterson isn't wrong. Asking Milwaukee baseball bugs to shell out the same ninety-five cents for the AAGPBL that they were for the Brews is a pretty steep ask. Can't help but think that whatever the league lost with a lower individual ticket price would have been more than made up for in volume.<br><br>
McGlynn was an extremely influential figure in Wisconsin sports, then in his twelfth year as the sports editor of Milwaukee's morning paper, and his words might have had some weight with the league. Indeed, had they heeded his call, the Chicks might have been able to make a go of it in the Cream City.<br><br>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgT-4ql88Dno4zxeunYTj0KJ-CJhz0g576tGSL1AwtHkjJQLT5XQw-M6rYJ9x1ynUBREh4t_rlEkrLMUn43mgHjPisV7UdryKzJmbinNk0MFlrHlE5fNYwulm85Uyauf1l_9unLp9MLFmA/s1600/Chicks75th_logo.png"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgT-4ql88Dno4zxeunYTj0KJ-CJhz0g576tGSL1AwtHkjJQLT5XQw-M6rYJ9x1ynUBREh4t_rlEkrLMUn43mgHjPisV7UdryKzJmbinNk0MFlrHlE5fNYwulm85Uyauf1l_9unLp9MLFmA/s300/Chicks75th_logo.png"/></a></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6292209952573237829.post-70943665735904993572019-07-02T14:01:00.000-04:002019-07-09T11:48:02.363-04:00On This Day - the Schnitts Go Over .500 <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg52LMidW2DS4n30LDl75HnLNeqbwO0hBd-0nloq5n-lIxfT2kTJ4J022W1bLGHb-jz2QGqnhXPvuMwcIUuObQSwD-AKifPfouPkGcVPbOPQfWYIU2rd65rhtqdjNAT1bcTuvhdqz8qwNY/s1600/OnThisDay1944.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 0em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg52LMidW2DS4n30LDl75HnLNeqbwO0hBd-0nloq5n-lIxfT2kTJ4J022W1bLGHb-jz2QGqnhXPvuMwcIUuObQSwD-AKifPfouPkGcVPbOPQfWYIU2rd65rhtqdjNAT1bcTuvhdqz8qwNY/s225/OnThisDay1944.png"/></a></div>During this summer of 2019, have been following the <font color="red"><b>Milwaukee Chicks</b></font> 1944 season as it unfolded seventy-five years ago. And on this day in 1944, the Chicks won two games.<br><br>
While that may seem relatively inconsequential in the context of a long <font color="red"><b>All-American Girls Professional Ball League</b></font> baseball season, it had special resonance for our team, as it pulled them up to a winning record for the first time.<br><br>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKEhtfjZjS3e0JSPdClqzGNN3IoHC6L4oMtIBcIwAtt2G2JJG47w2msewsreSr335iNkmMZEkXKyoiObtb371STzRiNBrPPm7HDplKgmWvTUZFD4TvximtY0_rfHg4d_8PAmap3E5Bj0c/s1600/1944_Schnitts500.jpg"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKEhtfjZjS3e0JSPdClqzGNN3IoHC6L4oMtIBcIwAtt2G2JJG47w2msewsreSr335iNkmMZEkXKyoiObtb371STzRiNBrPPm7HDplKgmWvTUZFD4TvximtY0_rfHg4d_8PAmap3E5Bj0c/s466/1944_Schnitts500.jpg"/></a></div><br>
<blockquote><font color="#33ccff"><font size="6"><b>Schnitts Win Two Games</b></font><br><br>
<hr width="100px" color="#33ccff" align="center"><br>
<font size="4"><b>Victories Boost Season Record over .500 for First Time</b></font><br><br>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsyI-o2zw7k0iYbdgGg_empwJHUhuldwJomp_GIUMRZ6ZroAx1q93De9Gfa2pDEIaYih7-nJjI0nEdOc89NkubpSMpsf98XJclaOd3CkMG_S5F_k_nm_gsfii9jSwgkPCnVGqvLrC20sU/s1600/tetzlaff.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 0em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsyI-o2zw7k0iYbdgGg_empwJHUhuldwJomp_GIUMRZ6ZroAx1q93De9Gfa2pDEIaYih7-nJjI0nEdOc89NkubpSMpsf98XJclaOd3CkMG_S5F_k_nm_gsfii9jSwgkPCnVGqvLrC20sU/s200/tetzlaff.jpg" width="100" height="200" data-original-width="240" data-original-height="480" /></a></div>The Schnitts chalked up two victories over Minneapolis Sunday afternoon at Borchert field, 9-0, in seven innings, and 12-6 in nine, and finally got over the .500 mark in games won and lost, overcoming the season's poor start. Milwaukee has won 20 games and lost 19. Doris Tetzlaff's home run with the bases full was the big hit of the second game, in which 15 walks, 5 wild pitches, 12 stolen bases and 7 hits contributed to the Schnitts' total.<br><br>
Viola Thompson's southpaw pitching held Minneapolis to five hits in the first game, while the Schnitts pounded Annabelle Lee for 12 and stole six bases.
</font></blockquote><br>
Crazy. At least you can't say the games weren't exciting.<br><br>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYdJlSnZzFGCEK-yIqwJEcNpk9FRReY2szJqo000ucHFeCWN7jhJYyAPtPdB4aZ3XmTgRdlHRninRjBdpUZyIiwx3cUqNrZbZzVjWXn-kIp0escml7HMdfP7_Svs6bHCLFBDgWyOzhLxA/s1600/1944_July2_boxscore.jpg"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYdJlSnZzFGCEK-yIqwJEcNpk9FRReY2szJqo000ucHFeCWN7jhJYyAPtPdB4aZ3XmTgRdlHRninRjBdpUZyIiwx3cUqNrZbZzVjWXn-kIp0escml7HMdfP7_Svs6bHCLFBDgWyOzhLxA/s1000/1944_July2_boxscore.jpg"></a></div><br><br>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgT-4ql88Dno4zxeunYTj0KJ-CJhz0g576tGSL1AwtHkjJQLT5XQw-M6rYJ9x1ynUBREh4t_rlEkrLMUn43mgHjPisV7UdryKzJmbinNk0MFlrHlE5fNYwulm85Uyauf1l_9unLp9MLFmA/s1600/Chicks75th_logo.png"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgT-4ql88Dno4zxeunYTj0KJ-CJhz0g576tGSL1AwtHkjJQLT5XQw-M6rYJ9x1ynUBREh4t_rlEkrLMUn43mgHjPisV7UdryKzJmbinNk0MFlrHlE5fNYwulm85Uyauf1l_9unLp9MLFmA/s300/Chicks75th_logo.png"/></a></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6292209952573237829.post-34406580863637974322019-07-01T17:01:00.000-04:002019-07-09T11:50:10.482-04:00On This Day - Shirley Davis "Fails As 'Thief'"<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg52LMidW2DS4n30LDl75HnLNeqbwO0hBd-0nloq5n-lIxfT2kTJ4J022W1bLGHb-jz2QGqnhXPvuMwcIUuObQSwD-AKifPfouPkGcVPbOPQfWYIU2rd65rhtqdjNAT1bcTuvhdqz8qwNY/s1600/OnThisDay1944.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 0em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg52LMidW2DS4n30LDl75HnLNeqbwO0hBd-0nloq5n-lIxfT2kTJ4J022W1bLGHb-jz2QGqnhXPvuMwcIUuObQSwD-AKifPfouPkGcVPbOPQfWYIU2rd65rhtqdjNAT1bcTuvhdqz8qwNY/s225/OnThisDay1944.png"/></a></div>On this day in 1944, the <font color="red"><b>Milwaukee Chicks</b></font> got some excellent coverage in the sports pages of the <i>Milwaukee Sentinel</i>.<br><br>
It was common at the time for photographers to station themselves just outside the baselines, feet from the action, to capture these field-level action shots. And the unnamed <i>Sentinel</i> photographer captured a doozy this time.<br><br>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7tXSMnri7_PnymaROkLYF_iMrhGxN9q4pbEskPwX5-esmwSnZmJMgEA9wbdtGIxm4tfJyZL-lFsdGhpSUyMTkCeLLNOlEXDKWKb0DI7zOLZ9Ff1bFDozI5ORIAqhVIxrZIpb4sY5mwpI/s1600/1944_FailsAsThief.jpg"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7tXSMnri7_PnymaROkLYF_iMrhGxN9q4pbEskPwX5-esmwSnZmJMgEA9wbdtGIxm4tfJyZL-lFsdGhpSUyMTkCeLLNOlEXDKWKb0DI7zOLZ9Ff1bFDozI5ORIAqhVIxrZIpb4sY5mwpI/s400/1944_FailsAsThief.jpg"/></a></div>
<blockquote><font color="#33ccff"><font size="5"><b>FAILS AS 'THIEF'</b></font><br><br>
Shirley Davis first baseman of the Milwaukee Chicks in the All-American Girls Baseball League, is shown being stopped in an attempt to steal third base in the first inning of the Milwaukee-Racine game at Borchert field yesterday. Putting the ball on Davis is Madeline English, on a perfect peg from Catcher Hickson. The Racine Belles won, 8-2.<br>
<div align="right"><font size="1">Sentinel photo.</div></font></font></blockquote>
I love this photo. Not only is it a dramatic action photo, but it gives us a good look at Otis Shepard's classic uniform, worn in slightly different variations by both the Chicks and the Belles.<br><br>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijin-7jJwjJKTc4Xh2aNUlnjK8WJIJr4JJQf55eJZPeoTxuYtjKk_kU0wj2fNTT3zKDGhadgAbbLoRZIzIW97K7VW99QIXazIpuLxGlfd4hocQnr_X5cES1b60CDMqw4ZK9TSwPGJkbrk/s1600/1944_FailsAsThief_close.jpg"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijin-7jJwjJKTc4Xh2aNUlnjK8WJIJr4JJQf55eJZPeoTxuYtjKk_kU0wj2fNTT3zKDGhadgAbbLoRZIzIW97K7VW99QIXazIpuLxGlfd4hocQnr_X5cES1b60CDMqw4ZK9TSwPGJkbrk/s400/1944_FailsAsThief_close.jpg"/></a></div><br>
The Chicks, as we know, wore gull gray uniforms with black stirrups and red belts. The caps were black with red bill and button and a gold circle with black "M" on the front. The Belles wore pale yellow tunics with brown accessories. Both clubs had single-layer, curved sans-serif numbers on the back.<br><br>
Unfortunately, the picture also shows us empty outfield stands. Attendance was already a problem with the Chicks, but that's a subject for another day.<br><br>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgT-4ql88Dno4zxeunYTj0KJ-CJhz0g576tGSL1AwtHkjJQLT5XQw-M6rYJ9x1ynUBREh4t_rlEkrLMUn43mgHjPisV7UdryKzJmbinNk0MFlrHlE5fNYwulm85Uyauf1l_9unLp9MLFmA/s1600/Chicks75th_logo.png"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgT-4ql88Dno4zxeunYTj0KJ-CJhz0g576tGSL1AwtHkjJQLT5XQw-M6rYJ9x1ynUBREh4t_rlEkrLMUn43mgHjPisV7UdryKzJmbinNk0MFlrHlE5fNYwulm85Uyauf1l_9unLp9MLFmA/s300/Chicks75th_logo.png"/></a></div>
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