The White Sox Play the First of Nine Home Games in Milwaukee May 15 1968

On This Day in Baseball History May 15, 1968: The first American League game played in Milwaukee since the Milwaukee Brewers finished in last place in 1901 with a 48-89 record is a 4-2 win by the California Angels against Chicago White Sox before 23,403 fans. This game was the first of nine home games that the Chisox would play at Milwaukee County Stadium which stood empty with the departure of the beloved Milwaukee Braves to the greener pastures of Atlanta.

Now, when I saw this historical tidbit, I had to do a double take. I had no clue that the White Sox played "home" games in Milwaukee. I immediately thought of the Brooklyn Dodgers playing "home" games in Jersey City during the 1957 season right before their departure to Los Angeles after that season. So that got me thinking: Were the White Sox on the verge of leaving Chicago? The article A short history of the Milwaukee White Sox by Frank Jackson from the Hardball Times dated March 27, 2013 does a wonderful job describing the factors that led to the White Sox playing home games in Milwaukee not only in 1968 but also in 1969. So please go and read that post. But for simplicity sake, here goes a short synopsis.

Milwaukee was the first city to gain a major league city in 50-years when the National League's Boston Braves left the Beantown for Brew City right before of the start of the 1952 season. The Braves proved successful with two World Series appearances against the New York Yankees (1957-1958) with one World Championship in 1957. The Braves drew record crowds at first but attendance would decline even though the team never put up a losing record. Also keep in mind that by playing in Milwaukee, the team had issues earning revenue from the established medium of radio and growing medium of television. Being only 90 miles from two major league franchises in the second city of Chicago resulted in the lack of media opportunities and minimal media revenues.

That would change in 1965 when the city of Atlanta came in with a classic example of boosterism to woo the recently changed ownership of the Braves. For those of you who don't know what boosterism is, according to dictionary.com, boosterism is the action or policy of enthusiastically promoting something, as a city, product, or way of life.

The city of Atlanta offered an untapped major league viable market playing in a municipally owned state of the art stadium. Consider that unlike Milwaukee who was close in proximity to Chicago, in 1965 the nearest major league franchises to Atlanta were Cincinnati at roughly 400-miles away to the North, Washington D.C. at roughly 600-miles to the Northeast and the St. Louis Cardinals at roughly 500-miles away to the West. The Braves would be the Southern most franchise on the East Coast, since Florida was the home of Spring Training. The Marlins and Rays wouldn't become MLB franchises until the 1990's. The lure of an wide open market with no media competition (the Braves would later enjoy nationwide exposure with the broadcast of Braves games on cable TV on channel TBS) was an offer too good for the Braves ownership to pass up. This produced a problem in Milwaukee.

The team was to move for the 1965 season but was held up due to a lawsuit brought about by a group led by a Milwaukee car dealer by the name of Allen H "Bud" Selig. The lawsuit delayed the inevitable by a season leaving Milwaukee team-less in 1966. Selig believed that the next round of expansion in MLB would lead to Milwaukee getting another team. In order to Selig was able to organize an exhibition game between the Minnesota Twins and the Chicago White Sox at Milwaukee County Stadium on July 24, 1967 which drew over 51,000 spectators to show that Milwaukee was major league town. Unfortunately, MLB would expand into Kansas City, Montreal, San Diego and Seattle for the 1969 season. Going back to the "home" games for the Chisox in Milwaukee, Selig looked into moving the White Sox to Brew City.

As we know, the White Sox never left the South Side of Chicago. Ownership of the team remained in the hands of those who had no interest in moving the team. Selig's persistence would result in the purchase of the bankrupt Seattle Pilots right after the end of Spring Training of 1970 and the Pilots became the Milwaukee Brewers in time for the 1970 season. For more information on the Seattle Pilots, check out Mike Fuller's SeattlePilots.com and don't forget to check out the aforementioned A short history of the Milwaukee White Sox by Frank Jackson from the Hardball Times dated March 27, 2013 for more information on the Chicago White Sox "home" series in Milwaukee.

With the movement to have Montreal get a second shot at a Major League team and rumors of the Rays potentially having to leave Tampa to stay viable, what city/cities would be a viable place for a move and/or expansion. Anyone want to take a guess?

Until Then Keep Playing Ball,
Baseball Sisco
#baseballsisco
#baseballsiscokidstyle

For Further Reading:
- The Milwaukee White Sox by Gene Mueller from the WISports website dated July 29, 2014
- Back when Milwaukee made goo-goo eyes at the Chicago White Sox by Gene Mueller from the Newsradio 620 WMTJ website dated June 24, 2012

Willie Mays Hits Four Round-Trippers In One Game April 30, 1961

On This Day in Baseball History April 30, 1961: Facing the Milwaukee Braves for the third consecutive game and looking down the barrel of an 0-7 slump, San Francisco Giants outfielder Willie Mays broke out of his slump with force. Mays became the ninth player (at the time) to hit four homeruns in one game. In clubbing the Braves with four homeruns, Mays drove in eight runs while homering in the first and third off Lew Burdett, in the sixth off of Seth Morehead and in the eighth inning off of Don McMahon. The opportunity to hit a fifth homerun in the game was oh so close for Mays but he would be stranded on the on-deck circle as the last out of the ninth of at 14-4 game was made by Jim Davenport.

In the article Mays, 0 for 7 Against Braves, Feared Slump Would Continue from the New York Times dated May 1, 1961 was quoted as saying the following of his achievement:

"I don't know what happened to me," he said afterwards. "When the game started, I didn't feel I would come out of my slump. But on my first time at-bat, I was seeing the ball better. No, I didn't use a different bat." 

"When you hit two homers in a game that's something you don't expect anymore," Mays said. "Hitting four is hard to believe!" 

He admitted that he "might have pressed" if he had gotten another time at bat in the ninth, knowing that he could break the record 

No player has ever hit five homeruns in a game. Here is the list of the players (and dates) that hit four homers in a game before and after Willie Mays did it on April 30, 1961

1. Bobby Lowe (05-30-1894)
2. Ed Delahanty HOF (07-13-1896)
3. Lou Gehrig HOF (06-03-1932)
4. Chuck Klein HOF (07-10-1936)
5. Pat Seerey (07-18-1948)
6. Gil Hodges (08-31-1950)
7. Joe Adcock (07-31-1954)
8. Rocky Colavito (06-10-1959)
9. Willie Mays HOF (04-30-1961)
10. Mike Schmidt HOF (04-17-1976)
11. Bob Horner (07-06-1986)
12. Mark Whiten (09-07-1993)
13. Mike Cameron (05-02-2002)
14. Shawn Green (05-23-2002)
15. Carlos Delgado (09-25-2003)
16. Josh Hamilton (05-08-2012)

The article #TBT: Mays hits 4 home runs in one game by Chris Haft of MLB.com has a series of anecdotes from some of Mays' teammates at the time including Willie McCovey and Orlando Cepeda about the four home run game.

Here is the boxscore for the April 30, 1961 game between the San Francisco Giants and the Milwaukee Braves from the New York Times dated May 1, 1961.

With the current power outage in MLB post-PED's, who do you think will be the next player to hit four homeruns in a game. Mike Trout? Nelson Cruz? Giancarlo Santon? We'll have to see if, and when, that happens.

Until Then Keep Playing Ball,
Baseball Sisco
#baseballsisco
#baseballsiscokidstyle

For Further Reading:
- The Boxscore for the April 30, 1961 matchup between the San Francisco Giants and the Milwaukee Braves from Baseball Reference

A Couple of 20-Game Winner Accomplishments September 8th

On this day in Baseball History September 8th: A couple of milestones were reached by two 20-Game winners.

- September 8, 1939

Cleveland Indians starter Bob Feller becomes the youngest pitcher to win 20-games. Feller won his 20th game at the age of 20 years old against the St. Louis Browns at Sportsman's Park in St. Louis. Feller's record would stand until August 25, 1985 when New York Mets starting pitcher Dwight "Dr. K" Gooden defeated the San Diego Padres at Shea Stadium 9-3 to become the youngest 20-game winner in Major League Baseball history. Here is my August 25, 2014 post Dr. K Becomes the Youngest 20-Game Winner August 25, 1985.

Feller would finish the season with a 24-9 record and a 2.85 ERA with 24 complete games in 35 games started. Here is the box score for the September 8, 1939 game between the Cleveland Indians vs. the St. Louis Browns

- Click here to access Bob Feller's career statistics from Baseball Reference.com

- Click here to access the official Bob Feller webpage

- September 8, 1963

Milwaukee Braves starter Warren Spahn ties legendary pitcher Christy Mathewson with 13 20-win seasons. Spahn pitched a complete game for his 20th against Philadelphia Phillies 3-2 at Connie Mack Stadium (aka Shibe Park before 1953), Philadelphia.

Mathewson had 12-consecutive 20-win seasons from 1903-1914. His first 20-game season came in 1901. The pitcher with the most 20-game seasons is Cy Young. Young had 15 20-game win seasons. You can also add on the 5 30-game win seasons to that list as well. Walter Johnson and Kid Nichols had 12 20-game win seasons. Spahn would finish the season with a 23-7 record with a 2.60 ERA with 22 COMPLETE GAMES!!!!! Mind boggling. Let me blow your mind, Spahn for his career had 382 complete games out of 665 games started. LOL.

Here is the box score for the September 8, 1963 game between the Milwaukee Braves and the Philadelphia Phillies.

- Click here to access Warren Spahn's career statistics from Baseball Reference.com
- Click here to access Christy Mathewson's career statistics from Baseball Reference.com
- Click here to access Cy Young's career statistics from Baseball Reference.com
- Click here to access Walter Johnson's career statistics from Baseball Reference.com
- Click here to access Kid Nichols' career statistics from Baseball Reference.com

Both Feller and Spahn had the 20-game historical moments on September 8th. While Feller was a tender 20-years of age when he achieved his first 20-game season, Spahn was the grizzled age of 42 when he reached his final 20-year season. Which one do you think we see sooner: a 20-year old 20-game winner or a 42-year old 20-game winner?

Until Then Keep Playing Ball,
Baseball Sisco
#baseballsisco
#baseballsiscokidstyle

The Only Player to Play For The Boston Milwaukee AND Atlanta Braves

This question from Pete proved to be quite the tricky question to answer. For those of you who don't know, the Atlanta Braves started out in the city of Boston. After a number of monikers, the name of the team settled on The Braves from 1912-1935 and 1941-1952. They were called the Boston Bees from 1936-1940. Why? I haven't been able to find out as of yet. But for an interesting history on the Boston Braves check out Home of the Braves? 50 years after the Boston Braves' departure, it’s worth asking: did the wrong team leave town? by Mike Miliard. Back to the trivia question. So the Braves left Boston for Milwaukee for a period of 12 years before moving to Atlanta for the 1966 season. The player would have had to have played for the team for a window of at least 14 years from 1952 to 1966 to have played for the team in all three cities.

At first my mind gravitated to Hall of Famer Warren Spahn, which was the incorrect answer. Spahn played for Boston in 1942 before losing three seasons to military service. Spahn rejoined the team in 1946 and continued with the franchise through their move to Milwaukee. His contract was purchased by the New York Mets in 1964 and would become a free agent after being released during the 1965. Spahn would sign with the San Francisco Giants during the same season and be released at season's end.

Though Hall of Famer Hank Aaron signed as a free agent with the Boston Braves in 1952, he never played in Boston coming up with the Milwaukee Braves in 1954. He would play with the Braves in Atlanta until 1974. Aaron would play for two more seasons with the Milwaukee Brewers. After Aaron, the next logical choice for me was Hall of Famer Eddie Mathews which was indeed the correct answer.

Eddie Mathews' rookie season was 1952 with the Boston Braves and came into his own with the Milwaukee Braves as a potent tandem with Hank Aaron. While in Milwaukee, Mathews hit 452 of his 512 home runs. He would combine with Aaron to hit a total of 850 home runs while playing in Milwaukee. That is one crazy number considering that in 12 years, Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig would combine for a total of 859 home runs.

Mathews would play the 1966 season in Atlanta before he was traded to the Houston Astros on December 31, 1966 with a player to be named later and Arnold Umbach for Bob Bruce and Dave Nicholson. Sandy Alomar Sr. was the player to be named later. He would later be traded to the Detroit Tigers during the 1967 season and play with them until the end of the 1968 season. He would be released and retire after the 1968 season.

Thanks to Pete for that one.

For Further Reading
- Click Here to read Guest Article: Looking Back at Aaron and Mathews by Andrew Godfrey from the Los Angeles Times blog page Bleacher Report: Los Angeles dated October 7, 2009
- Click Here to Access Eddie Mathews' Career Statistics from Baseball Reference.com
- Click Here to Access Hank Aaron's Career Statistics from Baseball Reference.com
- Click Here to Access Warren Spahn's Career Statistics from Baseball Reference.com

Sisco Kid