Milwaukee Brewers (minors)

From BR Bullpen

• Location: Milwaukee, WI
• League: Western Association 1890-1891; Western League 1892, 1894-1899; American League 1900; American Association 1902-1952
• Affiliation: St. Louis Browns 1932-1935; Cleveland Indians 1936-1938; Chicago Cubs 1939; Chicago White Sox 1946; Boston Braves 1947-1952
• Ballpark: Athletic Park (1890-94); Athletic Park {Minneapolis, MN} (10/2/1891); Lloyd Street Grounds (1895-1901), Borchert Field

[edit] Team History

A number of major and minor league teams based in Milwaukee, WI have been called the Milwaukee Brewers.

Professional baseball first came to Milwaukee in 1878 with a team called the Grays. Unfortunately the team lasted only one season. It would be six seasons before another team would appear in Milwaukee. The team was organized in December of 1883 and was called the Cream Citys. The team would play for almost two seasons, half a season in the Northwestern League before being invited to the Union Association in mid-1884. The following year Kansas City and Milwaukee reformed the U.A. and renamed the league the Western League. The league lasted half a season before folding in June. The next year former Kansas City manager Ted Sullivan reformed the Northwestern League and took over the Milwaukee team. This time the team was called the Milwaukees. The team spent two seasons in the NWL (1886-1887)and the joined the Western Association in 1888. The team went pro the next year, when it was invited by the American Association in 1891. The team completed the schedule begun by the Cincinnati Kelly's Killers. The American Association folded at the end of the season and the Milwaukee team joined the Western Association now called the Western League. The Milwaukee Brewers were also major leaguers in the American League in 1901.

After the major league Brewers moved to St. Louis, MO after the 1901 season, a new Brewers team joined joined the new American Association in 1902. They won their first title in 1913. Bill Veeck became owner in the middle of 1941 and improved the club drastically before joining the military in 1944. They finished first each year from 1943 through 1945 but never advanced in the playoffs. Despite a third place finish in 1947 they won the AA pennant and the Junior World Series (which they had also won in 1936). They finished first again in 1951 and 1952 and won the AA championship and Junior World Series for the third time in 1951. When the [^National league]]'s Boston Braves moved to Milwaukee in 1953 the Brewers ended their 51 years in Milwaukee and moved to Toledo, OH.

Stars over the years included Stoney McGlynn, Bunny Brief, Tedd Gullic, Rudy York, Whit Wyatt, Lou Novikoff, Eddie Stanky and Bus Clarkson.

Two Brewers clubs are considered among the greatest minor league teams of all time:

• 1944 Milwaukee Brewers
• 1952 Milwaukee Brewers

The name was revived once again in 1970, when the Seattle Pilots moved to Milwaukee and became the major league Milwaukee Brewers, still active today after moving leagues in 1998.

[edit] Year-by-Year Record

[edit] Further Reading

• Dennis Pajot: The Rise of Milwaukee Baseball: The Cream City from Midwestern Outpost to the Major Leagues, 1859-1901, McFarland, Jefferson, NC, 2009.
• Brian A. Podoll: The Minor League Milwaukee Brewers 1859-1952, McFarland, Jefferson, NC, 2003.

[edit] Related Sites