Customer Reviews

Milwaukee Braves: Heroes and Heartbreak

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I had previously read another enjoyable book on the same subject by Bob Buege ("Milwaukee Braves: A Baseball Eulogy"), which covered many of the same topics. Nevertheless, William Povletich's "Milwaukee Braves: Heroes and Heartbreak" will satisfy readers even if they have read the earlier publication. The author was able to interview most of the surviving players from the Milwaukee Braves who participated in the World Series games in 1957 and 1958. The book is lavishly illustrated with many editorial cartoons and rare photographs.

The Braves relocated to Wisconsin in 1953 as a result of serious attendance declines in Boston. The Red Sox owned the Hub City and the Braves failed to compete with their American League counterparts even after winning an NL pennant in 1948. Remarkably, the sudden franchise shift, which occurred after Spring training had ended, allowing virtually no time for advance ticket sales in Milwaukee produced a succession of attendance records in one of baseball's smallest markets. Milwaukee was the first team to draw in excess of 2 million fans per season.

The team responded to the adulation of their new fans and quickly rose from the cellar to contention. The Milwaukee Braves never finished below .500 in thirteen seasons which was quite a departure from the team's constant struggles on the field and at the box office in Boston.

Euphoria soon gave way to tragedy as the team's new absentee owners were eager to move the franchise in the early Sixties. Atlanta beckoned with the promise of extraordinary regional television broadcasting revenues that Milwaukee could not match as other professional teams were located in three neighboring states. The ownership group led by Bill Bartholomay antagonized Milwaukee fans with unpopular personnel moves and shamelessly lied about the team's future. Afterwards, management blamed the alienated for fans for not supporting the team as justification for the decision to move. The lame duck Braves played a last season in Milwaukee on account of a court order in 1965.

While Milwaukee secured another major league team in 1970 after the Seattle Pilots failed in their inaugural season as an expansion team, the Brewers never achieved the same level of success or popular affection as did the Braves.

Written by award-winning documentary producer William Povletich, Milwaukee Braves: Heroes and Heartbreak captures the astonishing rise and fall of the Milwaukee Braves baseball team. For thirteen years, the Braves never had a losing season - they won two National League pennants, and in 1957 they earned Milwaukee its only World Series championship. Attendance records surged and stars like future Hall of Fame residents Henry Aaron and Eddie Mathews captivated fans. But after their landmark 1957 win the Braves underwent a downward spiral, leading to declining attendance and finally one of the most bitter breakups between a sports team and a city. Illustrated with more than 200 vintage black-and-white photos, Milwaukee Braves: Heroes and Heartbreak is a spellbinding chronicle especially recommended for sports history scholars and fans.

Bill Povletich is a Wisconsin native, and though he did not grow up during the era of the Braves, he writes with a passion that allows the reader to imagine that he was in the seats at County Stadium watching Aaron, Logan, Spahnnie and the rest at work. His deft description of the love affair between the town and team, and his insightful analysis of the economic, political, and other factors that led to the team's departure for Atlanta, is both scholarly and entertaining. He also goes into great detail about how Milwaukee got the Braves from Boston, shedding light on the first major league transfer in 50 years and the start of the expansion era. Povletich also produced an award-winning documentary about the Braves in Milwaukee, which I highly recommend as a companion purchase with this book. He is as strong a filmmaker as he is a writer.

Great photographs are the highlight of this book. It is well
researched from a variety of sources, resulting in many notable
quotes. The book will appeal to all baseball fans and is a good
addition to the genre.

Great book! A wonderful collection of photos, many of which I haven't seen before. Very well-written, just a wonderful package overall.

This synopsis is very nicely done and gives justice to a historic, exciting baseball franchise; the accompanying photos are exquisite and add much to the clear, concise text.

On that note, I just revisited some neat "peripheral" history that I'm reproducing below (with my own added analyses); please read down some to find the specific significance to this review.

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Jack Kerouac in the St. Petersburg (FL) Independent, June 16, 1965--

"This old sorry horse will now predict the end of the pennant race, and lay it on the line on a 5 cent bet with the thousands of eager fans who will challenge me no bout contest.

You guys better look out for the Detroit Tigers. Mickey Lolich, Dave Wickersham, Hank Aguirre and some other kidneys ah caint remember are good pitchers: but the main thing is: Don Demeter at first base, a tall longball hitter, the great Al Kaline (perennial bonus boy and destined for the Hall of Fame), Norm Cash! a great favorite among solid Detroit lovers of good hitting, even Jake Wood lately sick, (to come back), and not that I can't finish a sentence but there's Willie Horton currently leading the league in hitting, and the grand rookies (they are the ones who make all the difference); Jim Northrup and George Thomas: and lastly, not least to mention, and the true measure of the Tigers, Dick McAuliffe (a name I'm proud to type down) and Jerry Lumpe. There you got your infield, your outfield, your pitching staff, and the catcher is another future hall-of-famer Bill Freehan. Let us watch that for gas.

My bet is now five dollars.

In the National League I pick the Milwaukee Braves, Rico Carty makes the difference, with the greatest living ballplayer Hank Aaron at his side, and then add Mac Jones, the Hall of Fame Eddie Mathews (right among us now), and pitchers like Cloninger, the enormous power and precision of that lineup: Joe Torre, the best catcher since Roy Campanella and not only because he also has a Spanish name. The Milwaukee Braves, if the pitching holds up, have the power to DOWN anybody in the National League. Franchises have nothing to do with this. Simple baseball is beautifully played before people. As Dizzy (Jerome Hanna) Dean says, "Aint nothing I like better than a good ball game." Every American is interlocked with Cooperstown. (Look out for the Dodgers in the National, and the Yanks in the American)."
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Let's see how Jack did:

After the games of June 13, 1965, the Tigers (29-25) stood a full five games behind the Twins (34-20), with the Tigers having just beaten the Twins on the 12th and 13th at Tiger Stadium to salvage a split of a four-game series.
But as of 6/25, the Tigers (37-27) had pulled back to within two games of the Twins (39-25).

However, the Twins then took three of four from the Tigers in Minneapolis starting on the 25th and proceeded to pull away during July, romping at 22-9 while the Tigers went 17-12 during a month that included no head-to-head meetings.

And that was All She Wrote for the Tigers of '65, who ended up in the middle of the A.L. pack.

But Kerouac's predictions would pan out soon enough, as the Tigers stayed in the exciting American League pennant race right down to 1967's final day, followed by their show for the ages in 1968 which was capped by a historic come-from-behind, seven-game World Series conquest of the Cardinals.

Jack's grade: B+ (would be an A- since he predicted the rise of the Tigers, but unfortunately wasn't hip to the demise of the Yankees).
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The Braves (spending their last season in Milwaukee) were coming off a 14-of-20 streak by June 15th, which kept them abreast of Los Angeles, after which the Braves continued to hang tight right thru August (72-58), then but two games behind the Dodgers (75-57).

But L.A. went crazy after that, winning 22 of their last 30 games while the Braves tanked, going 14-18 during the same stretch--including just one win in six tries head-to-head against the Dodgers; and like the Tigers, the Braves sunk close to the middle of the league's final standings.

After their move to Atlanta the Braves remained competitive right into the first seasons of division play, but could get no further than the division playoff round-- although I do share Kerouac's enthusiasm for the Braves of that era, AS APPARENTLY DOES MR. POTLEVICH, TO MY DELIGHT.

BTW, Kerouac's grade here in the realm of the 1965 N.L. is a B+ (after all, he did show concern for the Dodgers, the eventual World Champions).

Before they moved to Atlanta, the Braves were one the most exciting teams of the 50's. Outstanding summary of the Braves 13 seasons in Milwaukee and the city's love affair with the Braves.

The book is outstanding. It brought back a lot of memories from my childhood, because I was a huge Eddie Mathews and Braves fan. I've read just about everything I could lay my hands on about the Braves' Milwaukee era, and this was the most insightful. I thought it was a little pricey for a paperback, but not after arrival when I saw all of the pictures.

All Braves fans would enjoy this book. Plenty of pictures I had never seen before.