A Modest Proposal for 2019

It has occurred to me that 2019 will be the 75th Anniversary of the Milwaukee Chicks, the Cream's City's entry in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League. And so I would like to revive a notion I pitched to the Milwaukee Brewers way back in 2013:

My modest proposal; a "Turn Back the Clock" event at Miller Park honoring the 1944 Milwaukee Chicks.

Anyone who has ever watched A League of Their Own (and if you haven't, go right now and watch it on Hulu) knows the basic story of the AAGPBL; wartime restrictions, male ballplayers in the service, fears the 1943 season might be cancelled, young women recruited for a new Midwestern baseball league. The film is fictionalized on the details (substitute "Philip K. Wrigley" for "Walter Harvey" and "chewing gum" for "candy bar") but gets the overall spirit correct.

The film details the story of women who made up the Rockford Peaches, and the men who support/oppose them, as they take on the Racine Belles, Kenosha Comets, and South Bend Blue Sox. Not to mention the weight of a society that cares more about how they look than how well they can play the game. People who are only familiar with the film are missing some key elements of the league's story, though, including the fact that in its second year they tried expanding into larger markets in Minneapolis and Milwaukee.

Pitcher Sylvia Wronski (l) and 3B Vivian Anderson (r) were hometown heroes for the Chicks

This big-city experiment was doomed to failure, but along the way it brought us an interesting chapter in Borchert Field history; a one-year club that won the AAGPBL championship but couldn't survive in its home city.

We'll be talking about that club over the next couple weeks, and again next year for the anniversary. But in the meantime, I'd like to bring back this modest proposal that I pitched to the Brewers way back in 2013; a TBTC event honoring the Chicks. Now, this is new ground. No Major League Baseball club has ever done such a thing, and I think the reason is pretty obvious; it's the uniform.

"That's a dress!"

"That's half a dress!"

"Excuse me, that's not a baseball uniform."

The objections posed by the women in the film must also loom large in the mind of any baseball executive even considering such a tribute. The very notion of dressing men up in short skirts would open them up to such ridicule.



But that obvious problem has an equally obvious, not to mention elegant, solution. Each team was coached by men, each team had male uniforms, and that's what our Brewers could wear to honor the Chicks. Think Tom Hanks:

In the film, hanks plays Jimmy Dugan, former hard-hitting third baseman whose career ended early due to heavy drinking. He's an important character in the film, learning to respect the women as ballplayers and people, and he wears the men's version of their uniforms.

The Brewers could easily wear the Milwaukee version of this uniform, as modeled by their manager, future Hall of Famer Max Carey.

Supplement this with tributes to the surviving ballplayers, period advertisements and concession specials, maybe even a screening of the film afterwards, and it could be an amazing time at the old ballpark. Not to mention a tremendous opportunity to shed light on a chapter of Milwaukee's history that has largely been forgotten.

If you agree, let the Brewers know. Call them, email, @ them on social media. We can get this done, get these women their due recognition.

2019 will be the 75th Anniversary of the #Milwaukee Chicks (sometimes known as the "Brewerettes" or "Schnitts"), who won the @AAGPBL pennant in 1944, their only year of existence. Let's get the @Brewers to commemorate these women with a #TBTC game! pic.twitter.com/oiwfBpFdzA

— Borchert Field (@BorchertField) March 9, 2018

Beaming Smiles "Under the Florida Sun", 1942

In early 1942, three very handsome fellows posed for the camera at Spring Training in Ocala, Florida:

UNDER THE FLORIDA SUN—If the beaming smiles flashed by the trio of Brewers baseball masterminds mean anything, Milwaukee fans can expect a lot of fireworks at Borchert field this summer. Left to right are Coach Mickey Heath, Manager Charlie Grimm, and Coach Red Smith. The Brews play their first exhibition Sunday against Tulsa.

Mickey Heath was starting his second stint with the Brewers. He had come to Milwaukee as a first baseman in 1937, was promoted to player/manager after the firing of Brewer skipper Al Sothoron two years later. Brewers skipper Charlie Grimm brought him back as a part-time coach, and Heath would work his way up to vice president, team pitchman, and radio voice of the Brewers.

The man in the middle needs no introduction. Charlie Grimm, baseball's own "Jolly Cholly", is a giant of the sport. He followed up a twenty-year career at first base with a legendary coaching career. He helmed the Chicago Cubs for fourteen seasons over three separate stints (including as part of their "College of Coaches"). He was also the skipper of the Brewers from 1941 into the first part of 1944, and then again in 1951 before being called up to the parent Boston Braves. Jolly Cholly was in charge of the Braves when they made their triumphant march to Milwaukee.

On the right, Red Smith was himself a Brewers icon, starting as a backup catcher and quickly winning the hearts of Brewer fans (not to mention management). After retiring, he became a coach, then manager, then finishing out as the last General Manager the Brews would have.

I love the uniforms they're wearing. This is the classic late 1930s/early 1940s Brewer look. Thick blue soutache piping, red "M" over the heart. Outstanding.

This photo was published on the Milwaukee Sentinel's sports pages on March 22, 1942.

It was later republished on June 17, 1956, the morning after Charlie Grimm stepped down as manager of the Milwaukee Braves, It was part of a retrospective of Jolly Cholly's baseball career in Milwaukee. But sadly, that edition isn't part of the online Sentinel archives.

We do have a partial caption, glued to the reverse of the wire photo:

in 1942 Jolly Cholly was in Milwaukee as manager of the Brewers having a rollicking time with Coaches Mickey Heath, left, and Red Smith.

Good to see that the Sentinel remembered the Brewers even after Milwaukee went to the big leagues.

"Rookies and Regulars" at Hot Springs, 1933

This interesting team photo was taken as the Brewers were in Spring Training at their Hot Springs, Arkansas camp.

THAT LANGUOROUS SUNSHINE AT HOT SPRINGS. Rookies and regulars snapped on the bench before the start of the daily workout.

This was part of a series of photos taken at the spring training camp by shutterbug Frank Scherschel and published in the Milwaukee Journal on Sunday, April 16, 1933.

The Brewers had just opened the season at Louisville with a series against the Colonels, and were nearly two weeks' away from their April 27th home opener. The Journal gave its readers one last look back on Spring Training with a full-page spread of Scherschel's photos in the back of the paper.

Let's hope some of the other photos surface - there are some great shots here, too good to be lost to bad Xeroxing.

Our photo is interesting for its casual nature. Taken from an angle, as the players are focused on another camera (a professional brought in by the club? A local Hot Springs journalist?).

There's also an interesting mix of uniforms, plain and pinstriped.

The pinstripes could be the Brewers' 1931 road uniforms. I'm reluctant to read too much into colors in these photos, as many factors from exposure to film stock can influence the sepia tones, but it looks as though the caps of those two uniforms might be different. Or it could just be the light.

I'm intrigued by the gentleman standing in the back; at first glance I thought he might be longtime Brewers trainer Harry E. "Doc" Bruckner, who had been with the Brewers since 1920. But that doesn't look like Doc.

Need to do more research.

Another Day at Athletic Park

This photograph taken by Sumner W. Matteson in the early days of the 20th Century shows patrons on their way into Athletic Park.

It could well have been taken on the same day as his 1909 photograph, later reprinted as a postcard.

The advertisements along the ballpark's outer walls appear to be the same as our photograph.

The open areas at the top of the wall are the back of the grandstand area. They were later covered with louvered shutters, as seen in this photo from 1952.

Back to the Matteson photo, the distinctive, octagonal ticket kiosk seen here would remain at Borchert Field at least through the 1930s.

25¢ for bleacher tickets? I'll take one.

And, of course, we have line after line of men and boys in hats, waiting to enter the park. And more than one woman, in the full fashion of the day.

Borchert Field hosted "Ladies' Days" back to the 19th Century. Good to see them on a regular afternoon.

Finally, this look across the street fascinates me. Truly, the Orchard was a neighborhood ballpark. And those cars!

Matteson's photo gives us a rare look at the Orchard, as it appeared around a hundred and ten years ago.

1915 Brewers Home Schedule

This Brewers home game schedule was published in early 1915:

At first glance, it looks pretty straightforward. Opening Day at Athletic Park (still a decade away from being re-named Borchert Field) was April 15, the last regular-season home game was September 11th.

The American Association roster was fairly stable, and all the usual suspects are there: Minneapolis, St. Paul, Indianapolis, Columbus, Louisville, Kansas City, and... Cleveland?!

Yes, Cleveland. The Cleveland Spiders, to be precise. And their story leads us to the history of the Federal League.

The Federal League of Base Ball Clubs was an "outlaw" league that tried to challenge Major League Baseball. Founded in 1913, it set itself up as a third major league in 1914, with clubs in Brooklyn, Chicago, Pittsburgh, St. Louis, Indianapolis, Baltimore, Kansas City, and Buffalo.

The Federal League had fielded a team in Cleveland in 1913—the "Green Sox", managed by Cy Young—but Cleveland Indians owner Charley Somers was determined to keep the Feds out of his town. Somers moved the American Association's Toledo Mud Hens, which he also owned, to Cleveland starting with the 1914 season. The relocated Mud Hens were known as the "Cleveland Bearcats".

In 1915, the Federal League continued to come on strong. In January that year, it filed an antitrust suit against the American and National Leagues. The upstarts were also successful in luring major league players to their outlaw league. Somers renamed his American Association club the "Cleveland Spiders", after an old National League team.

League Park in Cleveland, circa 1911

The Bearcats/Spiders played in League Park, the home of the Indians. This took up the open dates left by Indians road games and essentially shut the Federal League out of Cleveland. That meant that, for these two years, the Brewers played a succession of road games in a major league ballpark.

The Feds were unable to crack Northern Ohio, but were fairly successful in forcing the Majors to take notice. Following the 1915 season, the majority of the owners agreed cease operations, and drop their legal action against organized baseball, in exchange for a cash settlement. The lawsuit would be carried on by the Baltimore Terrapins' owners, in a futile attempt to keep big-league ball in the Charm City, but would eventually end with the establishment of baseball's antitrust exemption.

Other Federal League owners were more successful; Charles Weeghman, owner of the erstwhile Chicago Whales, purchased the Chicago Cubs. He promptly moved them into into the Whales' Weeghman Park, which you know today as Wrigley Field. The St. Louis Terriers owner Phil Ball bought the American League's St. Louis Browns. Ball would become important to Milwaukee's story in a couple decades, when he bought a controlling interest in the Brewers.

And, of course, Somers moved his American Association club back to Toledo and the Mud Hens were reborn. Those Cleveland Spiders are now just a footnote in baseball history, an interesting curiosity buried in the home schedule for our 1915 Milwaukee Brewers.

Field of Dreams, 1962

This unusual photo shows the former site of Borchert Field as it appeared in November of 1962. The old ballpark had been demolished almost exactly a decade earlier, and within five years the very earth would be scooped away to make room for the concrete ribbons of Interstate 43.

The photo was taken looking northeast from 8th Street, with Chambers out of frame to the right. In the background, you can see North 7th Street, with Burleigh Street off to the right.

I'm intrigued by the angled park building, which seems to mimic the angled wooden grandstand of the Orchard.

I doubt that was intentional, but it's fun to think that somebody at the Milwaukee County Department of Parks might have been making a private joke.

Brewing a Different Kind of Pride in Milwaukee

There are two shirts currently up for auction on eBay, auctions which reminded me of a lost chapter in Borchert Field's history.

Borchert Field Milwaukee Brewers American Assoc. Baseball t shirt white large

Milwaukee Brewers American Association Baseball t shirt gray large Champs!

I recognized these shirts instantly. They have graphics never seen before or since.

The first has an image of Borchert Field.

I like the particulars; 8th & Chambers, the phone number COncord 5482. I have to admit that phone number is a new one for me; we've seen COncord 3180 in 1943 and 1944, and COncord 4-8227 in 1950.

The second shirt features a new interpretation of our beloved Owgust.

In front of our little beer-barreled friend are three baseballs, labeled "Champs / Little World Series / 1951 / '47 / '36"

Now you might think those dates incomplete. After all, the Brewers won five postseason championship series against the winners of other leagues: 1913, 1914, 1936, 1947, and 1951 (along with eight American Association pennants). But only three of those postseason series were actually known as the Little World Series, which didn't become an annual event until 1919. In 1913 and 1914, the Brewers organized their own "minor league championship", playing the Denver Grizzlies of the Western League in '13 and Birmingham Barons of the Southern Association in '14. So it's clear our artist has done the research.

So where did these shirts come from? They came from a now-forgotten little store in the then-new Grand Avenue Mall, and they may well be the first American Association Brewers merchandise produced after team moved and their ballpark razed.

They were sold in the early 1990s in a store called "Pride of Milwaukee", a kiosk at Grand Avenue. Opened in 1989, Pride of Milwaukee was co-owned by childhood friends Paul Miller and Kevin Callahan, and for five years they sold Milwaukee-themed products. Including, as it turns out, shirts commemorating Milwaukee's pre-Braves baseball history.

In 1994, Pride of Milwaukee lost its Harley-Davidson license, and with it much of its product line. Miller and Callahan went on to have a profound impact on Milwaukee's culture. Miller had already co-founded a local coffee company called Alterra Coffee Roasters the year before, and after shuttering their Grand Avenue kiosk Callahan joined him at Alterra. Callahan started as a delivery driver but quickly become their in-house designer.

Callahan was instrumental in their re-branding to Collectivo, designing the new logo and some of the coffee house's most iconic designs.

Outstanding. I'd love to see what Callahan could do with Owgust today.

These two shirts represent a unique connection in Milwaukee's history, linking a local institution of the 20th century with one from the 21st. You can bid on them them up here and here.

Rare Photo - the 1923 Milwaukee Bears

The short-lived Milwaukee Bears club has long been a source of curiosity.

The Brewers have worn three different throwback uniforms honoring the one-year Negro League club.

2001	2006, 2013-present	2009

They also wore a gray road version of the black-and-white in 2006.

So which is it? Seems very unlikely that a short-lived team could have had so many uniforms; given the economics of the league it's far more likely the Bears would have eschewed home-and-roads entirely for one single uniform.

I remember when the black-and-whites were brought back in 2013, I asked the Brewers why they had ditched the blue-and-cream "BEARS" uniforms for a return of the pinstripes. I was told that they had come across new photographic evidence indicating that the club had been right back in 2006. Now, we get a look at one of those photos.

Frankly, I prefer the 2009 uniform. At least the cap. But I'll always opt for an historically accurate throwback. And now we can say with confidence that when the Brew Crew take the field at Miller Park wearing their black pinstripes, they're paying a proper tribute to one of the clubs that prowled old Borchert Field.

"Back Yards to Big Leagues: Milwaukee’s Sports and Recreation History"

The Milwaukee County Historical Society has a new exhibit that sounds full of promise: "Back Yards to Big Leagues: Milwaukee’s Sports and Recreation History".

You know the Brewers and Bucks, and a little about the Braves, but do you know about the Bears, Badgers, Bavarians, and Bonecrushers? How about the Hawks, Does, Chiefs, and Chicks?

Come learn about Milwaukee’s exciting and extensive sports and recreation history at our 2018 feature exhibit.

Milwaukee County Historical Society 910 N. Old World 3rd St. Milwaukee, WI 53203

I love it already. Hope to check it out when I'm next in Milwaukee.

"The First Rows of Summer", 1938

From the 1938 home opener, we get this amazing photo from the Milwaukee Journal of fans leaving the ballpark by... walking on the field?

The first rows of summer leaving the ball park. Fans were asked to respect the infield grass as they started for their streetcars on 8th st., but not all of them remembered. The grass looked more than fit to stand up under a few score grounders and a few thousand exits.

Unfortunately, the focal point is the foreground. But we can still get a great deal of information about Borchert Field from the entire photo.

I love the uniforms worn by the ushers, as they stand trying (in vain) to keep the fans off the infield.

White jackets with dark ties and trousers. Can't tell what color their peaked caps are - blue, perhaps? The white jackets certainly make them stand out in this photo, as they would have stood out at the ballpark.

The entire Borchert Field staff was given new uniforms for 1938 by team owner Henry "Heinie" Bendiger, who had purchased the Brewers from the Phil Ball estate in early 1934.

Speaking of uniforms, this gentleman at home field is wearing what appears to be a dark jacket with the name "BREWERS" in arched letters across the back.

I'd love to know more about this. Team jacket? Or maybe coveralls? Perhaps that's the groundskeeper, watching the fans trample his grass underfoot.

The photo also shows us the rudimentary safety precautions at the Orchard. Today, our ballparks have netting wrapped around the diamond from base to base, and behind home plate all the way up to the second level. In 1938, however, only a few feet of fencing stood between Bendiger's patrons and the field.

This appears to be a public address speaker, hung just below the roof:

Speaking of ballpark infrastructure, we can see once again how obtrusive the light poles must have been. They were added in 1935, almost fifty years after the ballpark opened, and for want of a better place were installed on the field directly in front of the stands.

And finally, we get another look at Borchert Field's distinctive angled dugouts.

The Brewers won that day, beating the Columbus Red Birds 9-2. Aside from being Opening Day, it was also manager Al Sothoron's birthday, and starting pitcher Whitlow Wyatt gave him one heck of a present; a wonderful four-hit complete game. Those two Columbus runs came in the eighth, when the Brewers were already up 6-0.

It must have been a heady experience for the Milwaukee faithful; the first win in the books, walking over the Borchert Field grass on the way to the exit.