Book Review: Milwaukee Braves Heroes and Heartbreak by William Povletich

For anyone born after 1965, baseball's Braves have always been in Atlanta (and, it would seem, Bobby Cox has always managed the team). But from 1953 through 1965, the team called Milwaukee home, and author William Povletich has written an interesting account of the history of the Milwaukee Braves and the team's impact not only on Milwaukee but on Major League Baseball as a whole.

Just prior to the start of the 1953 baseball season, Boston Braves owner Lou Perini moved his team to Milwaukee. The Braves had always played second fiddle to the Red Sox, and Perini believed that moving the franchise was the only way for it to make enough money to survive. It was the first franchise move in half a century and paid off spectacularly. The Milwaukee Braves were welcomed enthusiastically and drew 1,826,397 fans to the ballpark that first season, a new National League attendance record. The Braves attendance in Boston in 1952 was less than 300,000. The team reached its zenith in 1957, when it defeated the New York Yankees in the World Series and drew another record attendance of 2,215,404. This was an era where attendance of 1 million was considered a benchmark of success for most franchises.

The Milwaukee Braves success ushered in an era of unprecedented franchise moves and league expansion. The most prominent moves came following the 1957 season, when the New York Giants and Brooklyn Dodgers relocated to California. There was plenty of demand for baseball and four expansion teams were added to the major leagues in the early 1960's.

Following the 1957 championship season, attendance at Braves games declined, reaching just 767,000 in 1962. Owner Lou Perini sold the Braves to a group headed by businessman William Bartholomay after the 1962 season. Bartholomay's group tried selling stock in the club to raise money, but the stock sale flopped. (Interestingly, the Green Bay Packers sold stock in their team in the 1950's to raise enough money to keep the football team in Green Bay, and that sale was successful.) Efforts to sell more season tickets and to get more money for broadcasting rights fell short. Although attendance increased in 1964 to 911,000, the Braves owners announced they would move the franchise to Atlanta for the 1965 season after denying rumors to that effect all season long.

The National League approved the Braves request to move to Atlanta, but not until the 1966 season. What followed was a lame duck season filled with legal challenges, outrage from politicians, and fan reaction ranging from anger to despair to bitterness. The legal challenges and appeals continued even after the Braves began to play in Atlanta, ending in December 1966 when the United States Supreme Court refused to hear Milwaukee's claim that the Braves had violated antitrust laws, effectively upholding the sport's exemption from those laws.

In Milwaukee Braves: Heroes and Heartbreak William Povletich has written a book that effectively captures this era of baseball history. He writes about the team's arrival, when fans and local businesses gave the players gifts and picked up the check at restaurants. A local car dealer gave every player the use of a new car. The stadium was filled with fans and the Braves were the hottest ticket in town. Poveletich uses quotes from many players, club officials, and others to help tell the story in their own, often very frank, words. He details how the club declined in the 1960's with fan interest dropping off considerably as new players replaced those from the championship years, but the championships didn't return. The book's final chapter is a fascinating look at just how ugly things got between the club owners and Milwaukee during the 1965 season. It got so bad that Bartholomay offered a $500,000 buyout to Milwaukee so the club could move to Atlanta at the All Star break. Poveletich points out that the Braves were a business and needed to make money to survive, and it wasn't happening with the attendance drop off and relatively low broadcast rights money. But Milwaukee fans were angry over the denials and deceptions, and the Braves owners handled the situation poorly.

The book features over 200 photos, an all time roster of Milwaukee Braves players, and a bibliography. Milwaukee was without Major League Baseball until 1970, when the financially troubled Seattle Pilots team relocated to Milwaukee and was renamed the Brewers. Milwaukee Braves: Heroes and Heartbreak is a well written, interesting look at a bygone era of baseball history.