As they turned out the lights on County Stadium Thursday night, Bob Uecker stood by a microphone near the pitchers mound, eulogizing this field of dreams. It was an unusually serious moment for a man who parlayed a .200 career batting average and a deft self-deprecating wit into becoming a national treasure known as “Mr. Baseball.”
However, the postgame ceremony was clearly upbeat, for as the fireworks went off, one could see the massive framework of Miller Park across the way. A crowd of 56,354–a regular-season record–had watched the Brewers lose another game. But the future is evident, beyond the outfield scoreboard, and it will have a retractable roof come next April.
There was no such glee on Sept. 22, 1965, when the Milwaukee Braves closed their season at County Stadium. They had been purchased by a bunch of Chicago guys who lied from here to Peachtree Street about their master plan, which was to move the franchise to Atlanta. This city was down on major-league baseball, and the feeling was mutual.
“Milwaukee sued, other owners hated us and I didn’t know whether we’d ever get another team,” says Allan “Bud” Selig, now the commissioner, then a bereaved Braves fan. But he organized a search party and came this close to landing the White Sox. “In fact, I went to sleep one night thinking we had a deal, for something like $11 million.”
Imagine that. The Milwaukee White Sox. “Where Is Everybody?” When a newspaper asks that in bold print now, does it refer to poor attendance or dwindling circulation figures? There was no question then. The Sox played 11 “home” games here in 1968 and 1969 because Comiskey Park really was off the map.
In 1969, while the Cubs topped 1.6 million at Wrigley Field, the Sox drew a paltry 589,546, and that included almost 200,000 for the dates here. So Arthur Allyn was ready to sell. But his brother, John, took control at the last minute, and the next morning, Selig fielded the call. He was devastated again, as surely as when the National League expanded to Montreal and San Diego instead of Milwaukee.
“At the same time, though, we became aware of the financial problems of the Seattle Pilots,” Selig says. “We brought them here in 1970, and here we are.”
County Stadium left its mark. Vince Lombardi coached here with the Green Bay Packers; Hank Aaron hit 195 of his 755 home runs here. One could even theorize that this ballpark precipitated baseball’s move to the West Coast. When the Braves came here from Boston in 1953, these fans went wild.
They broke the 2 million mark in 1954, and when the Braves won the World Series in 1957, Walter O’Malley was paying attention. He owned the Brooklyn Dodgers and he worried about competing with the Braves. He wanted a new ballpark and he went to Los Angeles to get it and he convinced the New York Giants to follow him to California.
The Packers, with Selig on their board, discontinued playing some games here a few years ago, a maneuver that helped his quest for a baseball-only facility. It wasn’t easy, but Selig got his wish. He has many wonderful ideas and numerous pressing problems as commissioner. Small markets have no chance without shiny modern facilities.
Warren Spahn, the winningest left-hander in history, tossed out the first ball Thursday. Ben Sheets, a Brewers prospect who pitched the U.S. to an Olympic gold medal in Sydney, also received an ovation. Then, many heroes took turns, in uniform, from Aaron to Willie Davis to Robin Yount.
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Great stuff, and not surprisingly, the fans came early to tailgate and left late to take it all in. Next home game: April 6 vs. Cincinnati at Miller Park. That’s a better scenario than existed here in 1965, and that’s why everybody in this passionate city is smiling along with Uecker.
“My first home run with the Braves here was against a Pittsburgh pitcher, Diomedes Olivo,” Mr. Baseball recalls. “He was released the next day, I believe. I hit a grand slam against Ron Herbel of the Giants. His manager, Herman Franks, walked to the mound with Herbel’s suitcase. Great game.”