Brewers Invest in National Lumber
A hurt that never really went away is almost forgotten now that Milwaukee is finally back in the National League.
At the end of the 1965 season, after a 13-year stay in which they won two pennants and one World Series, the Braves deserted Milwaukee for the plush television market of Atlanta. Milwaukee eventually adopted the Seattle Pilots, just in time for the 1970 season, but it wasn’t quite the same.
As well as the Brewers did in the American League--they won the pennant in 1982--there was always a feeling that something was lacking.
Now, that something has been restored and Milwaukeeans are celebrating by buying tickets at a record pace. It seems that everyone from club President Bud Selig on down is giddy about the city’s return to the National League.
“Our slogan is, ‘We’re taking this thing National,’ ” said Selig, who doubles as interim commissioner of baseball. “It’s really exciting.”
For reasons best known to members of the ever-puzzling baseball establishment, the decision to have the Brewers switch leagues was implemented only as a last resort.
Something had to be done to accommodate the expansion Arizona Diamondbacks and Tampa Bay Devil Rays. They couldn’t join the same league because of scheduling problems, so all kinds of realignment proposals were set forth. One had as many as 15 clubs switching leagues.
After all the wild ideas had been voted down, it was agreed that only one club would move. And even after that decision had been made, Milwaukee had to wait until Kansas City said no.
Why wasn’t the choice of Milwaukee a no-brainer?
“I know that sounds logical,” Selig said. “But being acting commissioner, I felt that pushing Milwaukee would be a conflict of interests. I never thought it would turn out this way.”
Selig noted that during the period preceding the final verdict, fans in various American League cities were polled regarding their interest in seeing their teams transfer to the National League.
“Milwaukee fans voted 83% in favor, which was huge,” Selig said. “Arlington, Texas, [home of the Texas Rangers] wanted realignment badly too. Those people voted 79%. Kansas City was also very good, in the upper 60s or low 70s.
“But Milwaukee drew the biggest vote, so the decision was made, and I’ve never seen anything received with such enthusiasm. It’s unbelievable, absolutely unbelievable.
“Our ticket business is 30-40% better than a year ago. I think we’ll set an all-time record for season tickets--over 10,000. When we put tickets on sale . . . there must have been a thousand people in line at 8:30 in the morning.”
It comes as no surprise that the games against the Chicago Cubs have been the No. 1 draw. When the Braves represented Milwaukee, their rivalry with the Cubs was one of the most spirited in baseball. Fans went from one city to the other by the busload.
“The four Cub games in July have outsold all the rest,” Selig said. “The Braves games have sold very well too, and so have those with the Dodgers and Cardinals, but the Milwaukee-Chicago rivalry is what’s really getting people excited.”
Selig pointed to the three-game interleague series between the Brewers and Cubs in Chicago last season as a portent of things to come.
“That was when I knew interleague play would be a success,” Selig said. “I was listening on my office radio to the first game in Chicago. Everyone but me was in Chicago.
“It was 4-2 Brewers in the ninth inning and it seemed like 75% of the people at Wrigley Field were rooting for the Brewers. Doug Jones threw a 10-mph curve to Sammy Sosa and struck him out, and a big cheer went up.
“I suspect that this will be every bit as big as the Cub-Cardinal rivalry, and that’s saying a lot. The tours between Chicago and Milwaukee will be huge--both ways.”
Switching leagues has done much to bridge the gap between aging Milwaukee County Stadium and Miller Park, which is expected to be completed in time for the 2000 season. Brewer attendance had been so bad in recent years that before the proposal for a new stadium was approved, Milwaukee was in serious danger of becoming a two-time loser.
Selig emphasized that as happy as he is over the way things have worked out, his dual role as Brewer president and interim commissioner made him wonder if the Brewers should accept the move to the National League.
He said, “I agonized over the decision, not because it wasn’t the right thing to do but because of the conflict-of-interest factor.
“Then one night when I was in the office, I heard the fax machine running, and in came a four- or five-page document urging the Brewers to transfer to the National League. It was signed by 12 members of the expansion committee, and it made me very emotional. I got choked up.
“After that, I thought, ‘Why not just do it?’ ”
The Brewers’ home opener will be April 7 against the Montreal Expos, and Selig said, “When I heard the first promo on that, it gave me a funny feeling--Montreal at Milwaukee for the first time.”
Actually, that game will carry a bit of nostalgia for Milwaukee fans. Expo Manager Felipe Alou is one of three men to have played for the Milwaukee Braves and Brewers.
The others? Hank Aaron, Hall of Famer and home run king--he hit 420 of his 755 home runs in Milwaukee uniforms--and Phil Roof, a journeyman catcher.
It was Montreal, along with San Diego, that beat out Milwaukee for an expansion franchise that began play in 1969.
“I’ll never forget that night at the Executive House in Chicago,” Selig said. “It was one of the most disappointing experiences of my life. When we got the bad news, I was in tears. I walked the streets of Chicago all night.”
It may or may not be a coincidence, but the schedule maker came up with a natural for the season opener March 31: Milwaukee at Atlanta.
Selig said, “That’s great,” then added jokingly that he and Bill Bartholomay, the Braves’ board chairman, “should walk arm in arm to the mound in the pregame ceremony.”
Bartholomay headed the group, known in Milwaukee as “the Rover Boys,” that took the Braves to Atlanta 32 years ago, leaving behind intense bitterness.
“It’s really ironic,” Selig said. “Bartholomay is the only Braves’ executive left from that whole debacle, and we now have a pleasant relationship.”
Selig’s feelings were quite different when the Brewers won the pennant in 1982. He longed for a shot at the Braves in the World Series, only to have the Cardinals knock off Atlanta in the National League championship series.
As happy as Selig is about going National, he said, “I’ve had a few regrets. I loved being in the American League. We had a great rivalry with the White Sox, and with the Yankees. I’m quite emotional after 28 years.
“I even got to like the designated hitter. It’s going to be tough watching pitchers hit again.”
Eddie Mathews, the Braves’ Hall of Fame third baseman and the only man to play for them throughout their Milwaukee years, recalled the good old days that began with the switch from Boston in 1953.
“The fan support was unbelievable,” said Mathews, who lives in retirement in Del Mar. “The excitement and enthusiasm were so great that they couldn’t do enough for us. The merchants gave us cars, gasoline, ice cream, cleaning, milk, cheese, sausage--everything you can think of.”
Milwaukee’s love affair with the Braves bordered on hysteria. There were fan tours everywhere; radio broadcasts were piped into restaurants, and someone even dreamed up a song that began, “Milwaukee, the home of the battling Braves . . . “ Radio stations actually played it.
“I think the move is a good thing,” Mathews said. “I was back in Milwaukee recently and when you visit with old-timers, the real baseball fans, you see that they’re very happy about it. Milwaukee belongs in the National League.”
Another old Braves’ favorite, shortstop Johnny Logan, who still lives in Milwaukee and scouts for the Brewers, cited the absence of the designated hitter in the National League as a big plus.
“The No. 1 thing is that it’s baseball,” Logan said. “Who wants to see a $6-million ballplayer sit on the bench and do nothing but swing four times a game? One reason the Braves were so good in our day was that pitchers like [Warren] Spahn and [Lew] Burdette could hit.”
Logan predicted the Milwaukee-Chicago rivalry would be as big as ever, and noted it carried an advantage for the players as well.
“Wrigley Field is special, with all those day games,” Logan said. “About a quarter to 4, the word in our dugout was, ‘Cocktail time, 4:25 at the Cottage.’ That was our hangout.
“Yes, sir, it’s going to be great. The National League is definitely the place to be.”