For Milwaukee Braves Fans Only!

For Milwaukee Braves Fans Only! is a gathering of almost 50 different stories from players and fans. In a town famous for beer, Laverne and Shirley, and although the largest city in Wisconsin, more often seen as the little brother to Chicago, fans rallied around the Braves. Almost immediately, the team was beloved . . . and a winner, finishing lower than second only once between 1953 and 1960.

The arrival of the Braves in Milwaukee in the spring of 1953 signaled a new era in baseball history. The Boston Braves were the first major league franchise in half a century to relocate. Led by young sluggers Eddie Mathews and Henry Aaron and powerful pitchers Warren Spahn and Lew Burdette, the Braves became perennial National League contenders. The highlight of the Braves stint in Milwaukee came in 1957, when the team won the World Series, beating the New York Yankees four games to three. The Braves lost to the Yankees in the 1958 series, which also went to seven games.

The same fortune that brought the Braves to Milwaukee took the team away again. In the early 1960s, the team’s performance tailed off, as did their remarkable attendance. Eyeing greener pastures in the South, new owners jilted Milwaukee and moved the team to Atlanta after the 1965 season.