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The Milwaukee Braves: A Baseball Eulogy
This lively, informative volume is the only comprehensive history of one of the all-time great baseball teams. The Milwaukee Braves set attendance records, opened major league baseball for westward expansion, produced the greatest lefthanded pitcher and leading home run tandem of all time, sent six players to the Hall of Fame, and during their 13-year existence, never experienced a losing season.
- GenresBaseballSportsNonfiction
415 pages, Paperback
First published October 1, 1988
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
February 12, 2019
Everything you want to know about the sad saga of the Milwaukee Braves will be contained in Bob
Buege's history of the Milwaukee Braves. The Braves were one of two transient teams of the 50s and
60s, the other being the Athletics. The Athletics were a different story, a perennial second division
team and Quadruple A farm team of the Yankees, they came to Kansas City from Philadelphia in 1955
and stayed until 1968 when they moved to Oakland.
The Braves however were an instant success. As the Boston Braves they won two pennants during the
20th century and in their last season in Boston in 1952 they finished 7th with lousy attendance. But a move to Milwaukee in 1953 they vaulted into 2nd place. Milwaukee fans couldn't believe it and in the
50s the Braves were beloved in that town. They were in pennant contention every year of the 50s.
Of course they made it to the top in 1957 and 1958. 1957 they became the first team to win a pennant
not in their original city and crowned that with a seven game World Series win over the Yankees.
Their number 2 pitcher Lew Burdette was the series hero winning three games, two of them shutouts. Their number one pitcher was the greatest lefthander of all time Warren Spahn. If the
Braves had a weakness it was pitching because once you got passed Spahn and Burdette it got a
bit hinky. Few got passed those two in the 50s.
Two members of the 500 homerun club were members of the team. Hank Aaron in his salad days
in the outfield and Eddie Mathews at 3rd base. Joe Adcock was another awesome swinger as well,
one of a select few to hit four homeruns in a game. That was at Ebbets Field and Adcock added a
double as well giving him 18 total bases a still standing record. Speedy Billy Bruton played center
field and led the National League in stolen bases and covered center field like a gazelle. Johnny Logan the shortstop and Andy Pafko in the outfield were native Wisconsin and both at the top of
their game and wildly popular in Milwaukee. Del Crandall behind the plate was the best at his
position, especially after Roy Campanella was retired after the crippling car crash.
The Braves did have a weakness at second base. Many played there, but halfway through the 1957
season the Braves traded for Red Schoendienst. His best years with the St.Louis Cardinals were
behind him. But he turned out to be the spark that was needed to go over the top. In 1959 the
Braves lost the pennant in a playoff with the Los Angeles Dodgers and Schoendienst missed nearly
the entire season which he spent in a tuberculosis sanitarium. If there was an indispensable cog
he was it.
Maybe the Milwaukee fans were expecting too much as old favorites were traded away or retired.
The Braves never fell from first division, but the fans slowly drifted away. Old favorites retired or
were traded. Owner Lou Perini who was a construction millionaire who owned the team in Boston
sold them and the new owners looked south to greener pastures in Atlanta. One of the more ludicrous things in baseball history had the city of Milwaukee sue to keep the Braves there in their
last year of 1965. The fans responded with some of the worst attendance in the history of the
game. In 1966 the Braves moved to Atlanta and Eddie Mathews who writes the forward to this
book became the only man in history to play for the Boston, Milwaukee, and Atlanta versions of
the Braves.
This is quite a baseball story. I remember the Braves in their glory years in Milwaukee as a lad. They live on in Bob Buege's fine book.
Buege's history of the Milwaukee Braves. The Braves were one of two transient teams of the 50s and
60s, the other being the Athletics. The Athletics were a different story, a perennial second division
team and Quadruple A farm team of the Yankees, they came to Kansas City from Philadelphia in 1955
and stayed until 1968 when they moved to Oakland.
The Braves however were an instant success. As the Boston Braves they won two pennants during the
20th century and in their last season in Boston in 1952 they finished 7th with lousy attendance. But a move to Milwaukee in 1953 they vaulted into 2nd place. Milwaukee fans couldn't believe it and in the
50s the Braves were beloved in that town. They were in pennant contention every year of the 50s.
Of course they made it to the top in 1957 and 1958. 1957 they became the first team to win a pennant
not in their original city and crowned that with a seven game World Series win over the Yankees.
Their number 2 pitcher Lew Burdette was the series hero winning three games, two of them shutouts. Their number one pitcher was the greatest lefthander of all time Warren Spahn. If the
Braves had a weakness it was pitching because once you got passed Spahn and Burdette it got a
bit hinky. Few got passed those two in the 50s.
Two members of the 500 homerun club were members of the team. Hank Aaron in his salad days
in the outfield and Eddie Mathews at 3rd base. Joe Adcock was another awesome swinger as well,
one of a select few to hit four homeruns in a game. That was at Ebbets Field and Adcock added a
double as well giving him 18 total bases a still standing record. Speedy Billy Bruton played center
field and led the National League in stolen bases and covered center field like a gazelle. Johnny Logan the shortstop and Andy Pafko in the outfield were native Wisconsin and both at the top of
their game and wildly popular in Milwaukee. Del Crandall behind the plate was the best at his
position, especially after Roy Campanella was retired after the crippling car crash.
The Braves did have a weakness at second base. Many played there, but halfway through the 1957
season the Braves traded for Red Schoendienst. His best years with the St.Louis Cardinals were
behind him. But he turned out to be the spark that was needed to go over the top. In 1959 the
Braves lost the pennant in a playoff with the Los Angeles Dodgers and Schoendienst missed nearly
the entire season which he spent in a tuberculosis sanitarium. If there was an indispensable cog
he was it.
Maybe the Milwaukee fans were expecting too much as old favorites were traded away or retired.
The Braves never fell from first division, but the fans slowly drifted away. Old favorites retired or
were traded. Owner Lou Perini who was a construction millionaire who owned the team in Boston
sold them and the new owners looked south to greener pastures in Atlanta. One of the more ludicrous things in baseball history had the city of Milwaukee sue to keep the Braves there in their
last year of 1965. The fans responded with some of the worst attendance in the history of the
game. In 1966 the Braves moved to Atlanta and Eddie Mathews who writes the forward to this
book became the only man in history to play for the Boston, Milwaukee, and Atlanta versions of
the Braves.
This is quite a baseball story. I remember the Braves in their glory years in Milwaukee as a lad. They live on in Bob Buege's fine book.
October 5, 2011
meticulously researched and minutely detailed, this truly is a blow-by-blow account of the braves' 12 years in milwaukee. good research and niche stories are the clear strengths of the book. the glory days of baseball are so rich with quotable characters and buege does a good job of bolstering his game and season stories with quotes from a wide variety of personalities.
however, the minutiae does eventually (not long for readers less in love with baseball than i) feel over done - outlining the acquisition and departure of literally every single player to play with the major league franchise is not only unnecessary, it's uninteresting about 50% of the time.
for a dedicated baseball fan, historian or milwaukeean, this is a worthwhile and often entertaining read. for the layperson, this will feel like a long, boring news report.
however, the minutiae does eventually (not long for readers less in love with baseball than i) feel over done - outlining the acquisition and departure of literally every single player to play with the major league franchise is not only unnecessary, it's uninteresting about 50% of the time.
for a dedicated baseball fan, historian or milwaukeean, this is a worthwhile and often entertaining read. for the layperson, this will feel like a long, boring news report.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews