I grew up i Pittsburgh as a fan of the Pirates. My mother was born and raised in West Bend, WI .just Northwest of Milwaukee. We vacationed every year in West Bend on Big Cedar Lake. My Dad always planned our vacation for when the Pirates played in Milwaukee. So, between 1954 and 1964, I saw at least three games at Milwaukee County Stadium each year.he Braves became my "Second" favorite team in baseball.
Very good documentary! So much I didn't know about Milwaukee and the business side of the game. But as a kid growing up in Atlanta in the 60s the Braves coming to town was like an official turning of the page from the Jim Crow "Old South" into modernity. I felt having a major league franchise gave the city something to live up to. The national profile was increased. And with racial tensions as high as they were in the country back then, I personally think having the Braves ('65) and the Falcons ('66) prevented Atlanta from becoming like Birmingham. Seeing my heroes like Henry Aaron, Phil Niekro, Joe Torre, and Felix Millan taking the field in peace and cooperation you came away with "why can't we do the same?" Watching this documentary made me feel for the fans of Milawaukee, but certainly having the Braves franchise changed the city of Atlanta and the South for the better.
Fifty years ago I started following the Braves and Eddie Mathews was my favorite player. I never learned until some years later that Eddie Mathews was born in Texarkana, Texas, in 1931, not far from Marshall, Texas, where I was born in 1946. I miss Eddie Mathews, Warren Spahn, and Hank Aaron. They and all the rest of the Milwaukee Braves gave me and my family many hours of great baseball entertainment. Even at my young age I was saddened by them having to leave Milwaukee for Atlanta. I was not happy with that move. I don't think Eddie Mathews nor any Milwaukee fans were probably, at least, not happy with the move. I wish the Milwaukee owners would have had the foresight, dedication, and pride within the Braves as Green Bay has had with their Packers. No, I'm not from Wisconsin as one might think. I was born in Marshall, Texas, and now root for the Texas Rangers. I hope and wish for a great amount of success for my Texas Rangers. I guess it had to do with me being young at the time but I don't think any baseball team or any player will ever take the place of the Milwaukee Braves or Eddie Mathews. Maybe LOYALTY will someday be number one and money will be number two. Probably not, but m a y b e. Milwaukee Braves-Texas Rangers Fan
That is so cool, Walter! So many great players came from down south and also played for the Braves in Milwaukee. The city of great beer, great people and The Fonz!
This documentary was great but it made me sorta sad. My dad grew up with the Braves being his home team, even his little leagues team name and exact same uniforms. I grew up with the Brewers and although I do love them and appreciate what Bud Selig did to get them here, I still feel a nostalgia for The Braves. Like they should still be here.
Never really knew this story, since every time I asked my dad why the Braves moved he just said "money". This was absolutely fascinating and exactly what I was looking for.
Perini: We want local fans in our seats, so good luck catching us on TV! Ted Turner: Even if we are in dead last, the whole nation will get to see Braves baseball!
PS Lou Perini should be in the MLB Hall of Fame as an executive/owner IMO. Not only helping to build the Braves into being a NL power in the late 1950's (winning a WS title in 1957)but most important being a visionary. Perini's gamble to moving to Milwaukee was not just a huge success, it changed MLB and US-based sports forever. The Braves started that the movement of struggling relocated teams and expansion to new profitable markets across the US and even into Canada (currently Toronto)as well.
I did not know the Boston Braves originated the Jimmy Fund. Also, the Braves never had a losing record in their thirteen seasons in Milwaukee (1953-65).
Boston Braves originated in Cincinnati in 1868, 1869 as a pro team, as the RED STOCKINGS..a name that later inspired the A.L. team there. The Red Stockings moved to Boston after they suspended play for one year in 1870, joining the NATIONAL ASSOCIATION in 1871. I do not know the year they changed to "Braves". It may have been in the 1880's, I am not sure. Anyway, what they said in the doc. was correct=oldest pro sports franchise in N.America.. By the way, if you are wondering about the other leagues/team sports.. FOOTBALL: CARDINALS 1898 AS AN INDEPENDENT SEMIPRO ATHLETIC CKUB TEAM- RACINE CARDINALS, for the street the A.CLUB was located on. They got leftover jerseys from U. CHICAGO OF A.A. STAGG, THE MAROONS JERSEYS became THE CARDINALS JERSEYS.. BASKETBALL: KINGS NEE ROYALS NEE SEGRAMS, THE ROCHESTER SEAGRAMS IN 1923, A SEMI PRO TEAM UNTIL JOINING THE NATIINAL BASK.LEAGUE(NBL) in 1945, NBL MERGED WITH BASK. ASSN OF AMERICA(BEGAN 1946)TO FORM NBA IN 1948. TEAM CHANGED NAME IN 1945 TO ROCHESTER ROYALS, THEN MOVED TO CINCINATTI IN 1957, then moved to KANSAS CITY and OMAHA AS KC- OMAHA KINGS IN 1972, MOVED ALL HOME GAMES TO KCITY, MO. IN 1975, MOVED TO SACRAMENTO IN 1985.. HOCKEY: MONTREAL CANADIENS ESTABLISHED IN 1909 in the NATIONAL HOCKEY ASSOC. (NHA) moved to NHL IN 1917 WITH THE DISSOLVING OF THE NHA. SOCCER: oldest MLS TEAM IS a tie between these franchises - COLUMBUS, L.A. GALAXY, HOUSTON DYNAMO NEE SAN JOSE CLASH, NEW YORK RED BULLS NEE NY-NJERSEY METRO STARS, WASHINGTON'S D.C. UNITED, KANSAS CITY WIZ NEE SPORTING KC, COLORADO RAPIDS, DALLAS' F.C. DALLAS NEE DALLAS BURN, NEW ENGLAND REVOLUTION..ONE FRANCHISE FOLDED OUT OF MLS, THE TAMPA BAY MUTINY..
Those were the days when the Braves were in Boston. We all were dancing the lindy hop and the Charleston, laughing it up at Charlie Chaplin and Laurel and Hardy and trying to figure out exactly what happened to the Lindbergh baby. We couldn't wait to see what the Boston Braves would do next. Those were the days. The best of times. The 1920s and early 30s.
Ironically, even though Atlanta had the "bigger market", they actually didn't reach 2 million+ attendance for a season again until 1983. They didn't even match Milwaukee's 9 straight years of 1 million+ attendance until 1991-1999.
He he, I Only Know Boston Braves, Brooklyn Dodgers, New York Giants, Washington Senators (I), St. Louis Browns and Philadelphia A's! It is Traditional! The roots are important! In Germany it would never go! Hamburger SV belongs to Hamburg, The Shit Bayern München belongs to Munich, Borussia Dortmund belongs to Dortmund, 1. FC Köln belongs to Cologne, FC Schalke 04 belongs to Gelsenkirchen, Hertha Berlin belongs to Berlin. You can't Trade Traditional Clubs to another City!
Dario Witer-The Braves should have stayed in Boston. If Lou Perini had rebuilt his team, they would have been competing for National League pennants, and fans would have been flocking to Braves Field, maybe even outdrawing the Red Sox, but he didn't want to, instead taking the coward's way out, waving the white flag, and conceding Boston to the Red Sox.
Also, if the Braves hadn't moved to Atlanta, there'd be no formation of the Falcons in the NFL in 1966. Or the NBA Hawks coming from St. Louis in 1968.
This whole franchise-shift thing would've started a little over a decade earlier if not for WWII. The St Louis Browns were interested in moving to Los Angeles & were in serious (but not heavily publicized) discussion btwn the 1941 & 42 seasons. Then Pearl Harbor was bombed. The thought of a possible west coast invasion combined with concerns of team flights over the Rocky Mountains caused the Browns to put the whole idea back on the shelf. They moved to Baltimore over a decade later, which I would think didn't exactly thrill the Senators.
Man. Learned alot watching this documetary about the modern business side of MLB especially during the wild 1950's/60's relocation/expansion era. The Braves moving first to Milwaukee and later Atlanta began the carpetbagger era of the '4' North American sports leagues which continues here in 2017/2018. IMO with the dispute between the city of Milwaukee and Bartholomay shoud been handled better. Meaning IMO What should have occurred was that Atlanta and Bartholomay's group should have just gotten an expansion club in 1965-'66 (along with say either Dallas/Ft Worth or Seattle.)and The Braves never should have left Milwaukee. Even now in the nearly 5 decades since the Milwaukee club(now the Brewers) was reborn in MLB, I always felt that that state was among the most underrated in the league. Since 1970-summer 2017, the Brewers have won only 2 playoff series and made one fall classic. Yet year after year of mostly crappy teams, the Brewers are still as far as i know have ever been dead last in MLB home attendance like say Oakland or even Tampa has been over the past 10-15 years. And after watching this, the Braves made the right choice to leave Boston. Matter of fact, surprised the Braves and say the St Louis Browns(now the Baltimore Orioles) did not was not move sooner before 1953. Just my takes as a lifelong MLB fan (Go Yankees lol) and in more recent years studying baseball and sports history as well.
One thing that isn't mentioned here is the untimely death of Fred Miller, owner of Miller Brewing. He was a big part in bringing the Braves to Milwaukee, and if he haven't suddenly died in a plane crash in 1954, everyone who knew him said he would've bought the Braves from Perini in the 60's and kept the team here.
I wonder why when Perini decided to sell none of the three big brewers in Milwaukee-Schlitz, Miller, or Pabst, who were all doing well in the early 60's-didn't step up and buy the Braves to keep them in Milwaukee. In 1953 Gussie Busch convinced the board of Anheuser Busch to purchase the Cardinals when they were for sale and it looked as if they might be sold to interests in either Milwaukee or Houston.
When the Brewers moved to the NL, I was on the fence about it. I remember Hank Aaron saying something like Milwaukee is a NL town and he was glad to see it go back to a NL town. But, the Brewers were always a AL team growing up. MLB should have put both of the expansion teams into the NL! But, they didn't want Florida to be a NL state. I find it interesting that the better team in Philly, was the one who moved! Other than the 1950 Phillies, they sucked. The A's were the best team!
Atlanta has Braves, Falcons, and Hawks. In the mid 90’s an Economic Study determined that the Atlanta 500 Raceway alone outperformed the combined contribution of the three franchises to the local economy.
If Perini taps into the TV market before 1961, he's got free reign of Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa and the Dakota's..... By not allowing any TV rights until 1961 or 62, he'd lost all of Western Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa and the Dakota's.
But he would've lost much of that anyway when the Senators moved to Minnesota. Prior to the Twins I don't know how much TV revenue those areas would've produced. Some, sure.
Chastain Park Amphitheater management (LiveNation) should focus on 28:00, when the Braves decided to disallow beer being brought in and the fan base declined rapidly. Too many Chastain concerts now disallow bringing in food and drink. The Park says the artist gets to decide that, but that is a pitiful deflection. Management can decide the rules and should not let the artists decide. Chastain loses much of its historic appeal if outside food and drink is banned.
There are not enough good players to make each team competitive. Great players used to play for one or two teams and the players would play together for years. Now days it's hard to have a dynasty , like the Yankees of old.
The owners became disconnected with the fan base, and didn't seem to try as hard to build a winning team in the early 60's. When teams decide to accept mediocrity as the norm, that will disenchant the fan base, as the fans aren't going to buy tickets for mediocrity.
No. Seattle sued the American League well after the Pilots moved to Milwaukee in 1970. The Pilots were financially bereft prior to the 1970 season and were playing in an archaic minor league park. The move was made during spring training. The city received so much capital that Seattle got a second chance at the bigs with the formation of the Mariners in 1977.
I think this PBS documentary special was meant for a regional audience in the midwest. I agree though someone else could have done it. Maybe have someone like Brewers lead TV announcer Brain Anderson narrate.
I'm 51 from Worcester Mass. Been a Red Sox fan since 82. I had no idea that the Jimmy Fund was created by the Braves. This is a great history lesson
I grew up i Pittsburgh as a fan of the Pirates. My mother was born and raised in West Bend, WI .just Northwest of Milwaukee. We vacationed every year in West Bend on Big Cedar Lake. My Dad always planned our vacation for when the Pirates played in Milwaukee. So, between 1954 and 1964, I saw at least three games at Milwaukee County Stadium each year.he Braves became my "Second" favorite team in baseball.
Very good documentary! So much I didn't know about Milwaukee and the business side of the game. But as a kid growing up in Atlanta in the 60s the Braves coming to town was like an official turning of the page from the Jim Crow "Old South" into modernity. I felt having a major league franchise gave the city something to live up to. The national profile was increased. And with racial tensions as high as they were in the country back then, I personally think having the Braves ('65) and the Falcons ('66) prevented Atlanta from becoming like Birmingham. Seeing my heroes like Henry Aaron, Phil Niekro, Joe Torre, and Felix Millan taking the field in peace and cooperation you came away with "why can't we do the same?" Watching this documentary made me feel for the fans of Milawaukee, but certainly having the Braves franchise changed the city of Atlanta and the South for the better.
Fifty years ago I started following the Braves and Eddie Mathews was my favorite player. I never learned until some years later that Eddie Mathews was born in Texarkana, Texas, in 1931, not far from Marshall, Texas, where I was born in 1946. I miss Eddie Mathews, Warren Spahn, and Hank Aaron. They and all the rest of the Milwaukee Braves gave me and my family many hours of great baseball entertainment. Even at my young age I was saddened by them having to leave Milwaukee for Atlanta. I was not happy with that move. I don't think Eddie Mathews nor any Milwaukee fans were probably, at least, not happy with the move. I wish the Milwaukee owners would have had the foresight, dedication, and pride within the Braves as Green Bay has had with their Packers.
No, I'm not from Wisconsin as one might think. I was born in Marshall, Texas, and now root for the Texas Rangers. I hope and wish for a great amount of success for my Texas Rangers. I guess it had to do with me being young at the time but I don't think any baseball team or any player will ever take the place of the Milwaukee Braves or Eddie Mathews. Maybe LOYALTY will someday be number one and money will be number two. Probably not, but m a y b e.
Milwaukee Braves-Texas Rangers Fan
That is so cool, Walter! So many great players came from down south and also played for the Braves in Milwaukee. The city of great beer, great people and The Fonz!
@Martin Jones, was he born in Texarkana, Tx?
that's fucking weird, you can just up and stop rooting for your team? guess you weren't much of a fan.
Y.A. Tittle was also born in Marshall, Texas near the Texas-Louisiana border.
This documentary was great but it made me sorta sad. My dad grew up with the Braves being his home team, even his little leagues team name and exact same uniforms. I grew up with the Brewers and although I do love them and appreciate what Bud Selig did to get them here, I still feel a nostalgia for The Braves. Like they should still be here.
Never really knew this story, since every time I asked my dad why the Braves moved he just said "money". This was absolutely fascinating and exactly what I was looking for.
Perini: We want local fans in our seats, so good luck catching us on TV!
Ted Turner: Even if we are in dead last, the whole nation will get to see Braves baseball!
I hated to be forced to see Braves baseball growing up in New England
@@SSNESS If the Braves hadn't moved from Boston, then you would have been watching Boston Braves baseball while growing up in New England.
PS Lou Perini should be in the MLB Hall of Fame as an executive/owner IMO. Not only helping to build the Braves into being a NL power in the late 1950's (winning a WS title in 1957)but most important being a visionary. Perini's gamble to moving to Milwaukee was not just a huge success, it changed MLB and US-based sports forever. The Braves started that the movement of struggling relocated teams and expansion to new profitable markets across the US and even into Canada (currently Toronto)as well.
I did not know the Boston Braves originated the Jimmy Fund. Also, the Braves never had a losing record in their thirteen seasons in Milwaukee
(1953-65).
Boston Braves originated in Cincinnati in 1868, 1869 as a pro team, as the RED STOCKINGS..a name that later inspired the A.L. team there. The Red Stockings moved to Boston after they suspended play for one year in 1870, joining the NATIONAL ASSOCIATION in 1871. I do not know the year they changed to "Braves". It may have been in the 1880's, I am not sure.
Anyway, what they said in the doc. was correct=oldest pro sports franchise in N.America..
By the way, if you are wondering about the other leagues/team sports..
FOOTBALL: CARDINALS 1898 AS AN INDEPENDENT SEMIPRO ATHLETIC CKUB TEAM- RACINE CARDINALS, for the street the A.CLUB was located on. They got leftover jerseys from U. CHICAGO OF A.A. STAGG, THE MAROONS JERSEYS became THE CARDINALS JERSEYS..
BASKETBALL: KINGS NEE ROYALS NEE SEGRAMS, THE ROCHESTER SEAGRAMS IN 1923, A SEMI PRO TEAM UNTIL JOINING THE NATIINAL BASK.LEAGUE(NBL) in 1945, NBL MERGED WITH BASK. ASSN OF AMERICA(BEGAN 1946)TO FORM NBA IN 1948. TEAM CHANGED NAME IN 1945 TO ROCHESTER ROYALS, THEN MOVED TO CINCINATTI IN 1957, then moved to KANSAS CITY and OMAHA AS KC- OMAHA KINGS IN 1972, MOVED ALL HOME GAMES TO KCITY, MO. IN 1975, MOVED TO SACRAMENTO IN 1985..
HOCKEY: MONTREAL CANADIENS ESTABLISHED IN 1909 in the NATIONAL HOCKEY ASSOC. (NHA) moved to NHL IN 1917 WITH THE DISSOLVING OF THE NHA.
SOCCER: oldest MLS TEAM IS a tie between these franchises - COLUMBUS, L.A. GALAXY, HOUSTON DYNAMO NEE SAN JOSE CLASH, NEW YORK RED BULLS NEE NY-NJERSEY METRO STARS, WASHINGTON'S D.C. UNITED, KANSAS CITY WIZ NEE SPORTING KC, COLORADO RAPIDS, DALLAS' F.C. DALLAS NEE DALLAS BURN, NEW ENGLAND REVOLUTION..ONE FRANCHISE FOLDED OUT OF MLS, THE TAMPA BAY MUTINY..
Damn the interest in the Braves in Milwaukee faded overnight ! Beer or no beer :(
Those were the days when the Braves were in Boston. We all were dancing the lindy hop and the Charleston, laughing it up at Charlie Chaplin and Laurel and Hardy and trying to figure out exactly what happened to the Lindbergh baby. We couldn't wait to see what the Boston Braves would do next. Those were the days. The best of times. The 1920s and early 30s.
excellent program.
Awesome documentary!
Ironically, even though Atlanta had the "bigger market", they actually didn't reach 2 million+ attendance for a season again until 1983. They didn't even match Milwaukee's 9 straight years of 1 million+ attendance until 1991-1999.
The 2021 Atlanta Braves are also the Miracle Braves.
1995
@@SSNESS why would u say that? The Braves were picked by most experts to win it all in 1995. Nobody picked them in 2021
@@paulthompkins4150 Indians took them to six games
@@SSNESS I know but that doesn't make them a miracle team. 2021 was moreso than 1995
@@paulthompkins4150 1995 team only won 90 games
The Braves should have stayed in Milwaukee instead of Atlanta; Milwaukee really loved this team and was a great working-class city. 😁
Nah if it wasn't for the braves Atlanta would be boring as hell
@@ninjasavage2491 the olympics? Coca cola world? Dirty south rap?
He he, I Only Know Boston Braves, Brooklyn Dodgers, New York Giants, Washington Senators (I), St. Louis Browns and Philadelphia A's! It is Traditional! The roots are important! In Germany it would never go! Hamburger SV belongs to Hamburg, The Shit Bayern München belongs to Munich, Borussia Dortmund belongs to Dortmund, 1. FC Köln belongs to Cologne, FC Schalke 04 belongs to Gelsenkirchen, Hertha Berlin belongs to Berlin. You can't Trade Traditional Clubs to another City!
Dario Witer-The Braves should have stayed in Boston. If Lou Perini had rebuilt his team, they would have been competing for National League pennants, and fans would have been flocking to Braves Field, maybe even outdrawing the Red Sox, but he didn't want to, instead taking the coward's way out, waving the white flag, and conceding Boston to the Red Sox.
Also, if the Braves hadn't moved to Atlanta, there'd be no formation of the Falcons in the NFL in 1966. Or the NBA Hawks coming from St. Louis in 1968.
This whole franchise-shift thing would've started a little over a decade earlier if not for WWII. The St Louis Browns were interested in moving to Los Angeles & were in serious (but not heavily publicized) discussion btwn the 1941 & 42 seasons. Then Pearl Harbor was bombed. The thought of a possible west coast invasion combined with concerns of team flights over the Rocky Mountains caused the Browns to put the whole idea back on the shelf. They moved to Baltimore over a decade later, which I would think didn't exactly thrill the Senators.
Man. Learned alot watching this documetary about the modern business side of MLB especially during the wild 1950's/60's relocation/expansion era. The Braves moving first to Milwaukee and later Atlanta began the carpetbagger era of the '4' North American sports leagues which continues here in 2017/2018.
IMO with the dispute between the city of Milwaukee and Bartholomay shoud been handled better. Meaning IMO What should have occurred was that Atlanta and Bartholomay's group should have just gotten an expansion club in 1965-'66 (along with say either Dallas/Ft Worth or Seattle.)and The Braves never should have left Milwaukee. Even now in the nearly 5 decades since the Milwaukee club(now the Brewers) was reborn in MLB, I always felt that that state was among the most underrated in the league. Since 1970-summer 2017, the Brewers have won only 2 playoff series and made one fall classic. Yet year after year of mostly crappy teams, the Brewers are still as far as i know have ever been dead last in MLB home attendance like say Oakland or even Tampa has been over the past 10-15 years.
And after watching this, the Braves made the right choice to leave Boston. Matter of fact, surprised the Braves and say the St Louis Browns(now the Baltimore Orioles) did not was not move sooner before 1953. Just my takes as a lifelong MLB fan (Go Yankees lol) and in more recent years studying baseball and sports history as well.
The Milwaukee Brewers are the first major league team in the era of the playoff system to make the postseason in two different leagues,
One thing that isn't mentioned here is the untimely death of Fred Miller, owner of Miller Brewing. He was a big part in bringing the Braves to Milwaukee, and if he haven't suddenly died in a plane crash in 1954, everyone who knew him said he would've bought the Braves from Perini in the 60's and kept the team here.
These cities had big league teams during the 1950s-Milwaukee,Baltimore,Kansas City,Los Angeles and San Francisco.
Then starting around 1960 the Braves became a struggling franchise once again
12:52 David Justice
I wonder why when Perini decided to sell none of the three big brewers in Milwaukee-Schlitz, Miller, or Pabst, who were all doing well in the early 60's-didn't step up and buy the Braves to keep them in Milwaukee. In 1953 Gussie Busch convinced the board of Anheuser Busch to purchase the Cardinals when they were for sale and it looked as if they might be sold to interests in either Milwaukee or Houston.
When the Brewers moved to the NL, I was on the fence about it. I remember Hank Aaron saying something like Milwaukee is a NL town and he was glad to see it go back to a NL town. But, the Brewers were always a AL team growing up. MLB should have put both of the expansion teams into the NL! But, they didn't want Florida to be a NL state.
I find it interesting that the better team in Philly, was the one who moved! Other than the 1950 Phillies, they sucked. The A's were the best team!
With hindsight they should have kept the Brewers in the AL and kept the Astros in the NL. It made zero sense what they did
@@ig8895 it made since to even the leagues. Before, the NL had 16 teams and the AL only had 14.
Atlanta has Braves, Falcons, and Hawks. In the mid 90’s an Economic Study determined that the Atlanta 500 Raceway alone outperformed the combined contribution of the three franchises to the local economy.
Thrashers too.
By 1953 Boston was all in for the Red Sox and Ted Williams.
If Perini taps into the TV market before 1961, he's got free reign of Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa and the Dakota's..... By not allowing any TV rights until 1961 or 62, he'd lost all of Western Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa and the Dakota's.
Yup. He lost the Dakotas and MN when the Senators moved to Minneapolis and became the Twins.
But he would've lost much of that anyway when the Senators moved to Minnesota. Prior to the Twins I don't know how much TV revenue those areas would've produced. Some, sure.
Western Wisconsin? Inside his own state? That’s like Shreveport Pulling for the Cowboys and not the Saints…
Love the game. Hate the business.
simple statement, but it says a lot.
Interesting documentary. However, St. Louis is in Missouri, not Illinois. At 8:05, Missouri should be shaded.
Chastain Park Amphitheater management (LiveNation) should focus on 28:00, when the Braves decided to disallow beer being brought in and the fan base declined rapidly. Too many Chastain concerts now disallow bringing in food and drink. The Park says the artist gets to decide that, but that is a pitiful deflection. Management can decide the rules and should not let the artists decide. Chastain loses much of its historic appeal if outside food and drink is banned.
Make that 60 years ago! Sorry. Older than I thought.
Milwaukee may be the smallest market now but was it actually in 1953? The city by itself was one of the largest in the country.
There are not enough good players to make each team competitive. Great players used to play for one or two teams and the players would play together for years. Now days it's hard to have a dynasty , like the Yankees of old.
At 35:07 that's McKechnie Field in Bradenton, Florida. Now it's called LECOM, super lame as my hometown sold out to big business interests. =(
Metropolitan Stadium in Bloomington, MN was built without a promise of a team.
They had the minor league team from Minneapolis that would play there immediately for the time being
How do you do a film like this and not mention Hal Goodnough?
Seems like the fans in Milwaukee kinda gave up on the team and that's why they went to Atlanta.
The owners became disconnected with the fan base, and didn't seem to try as hard to build a winning team in the early 60's. When teams decide to accept mediocrity as the norm, that will disenchant the fan base, as the fans aren't going to buy tickets for mediocrity.
Didn't Seattle sue Bud Selig and MLB?
No. Seattle sued the American League well after the Pilots moved to Milwaukee in 1970. The Pilots were financially bereft prior to the 1970
season and were playing in an archaic minor league park. The move was made during spring training. The city received so much capital that
Seattle got a second chance at the bigs with the formation of the
Mariners in 1977.
Covert? More like collusive.
Use a differant narrator next time. Get someone who doesn't sound like a robot reading a script.
I think this PBS documentary special was meant for a regional audience in the midwest. I agree though someone else could have done it. Maybe have someone like Brewers lead TV announcer Brain Anderson narrate.
Great program