Includes every major league baseball player from 1903 on!

http://www.kesslerfreedman.com/baseballquest/

You have arrived in an alternate dimension where baseball is not played on a diamond. Instead players roam the countryside clashing in violent battles with bats and balls. Pitchers baffle their opponents with wizard-like repertoires of magic pitches. Hitters wield their wooden wands with brutality.

Your mission is to find and defeat The Hall of Famers and return baseball to the national pastime it was meant to be. Travel the land gaining experience until you encounter and vanquish The Hall of Famers in an ultimate showdown!

You must accumulate 300 experience points among healthy members of your line-up to meet The Hall of Famers. You have but sixty days to save baseball!

Our meeting has been changed to NOVEMBER 15, 11 AM SHARP at Long Wong's. Our Guest Speaker will be Brewers TV Announcer Brian Anderson.

UPCOMING MEETING

The next meeting of the Ken Keltner Badger State Chapter of SABR will take place at Long Wong's Chinese-American Sportsbar, 53rd and Bluemound Road, 11 AM SHARP on Saturday November 15th.
The agenda will include:

Guest Speaker: Brewers TV Announcer Brian Anderson
Research Presentations:
                              Dennis Pajot: "The First World Series Goat": Abner Dalrymple.
                              Rick Schabowski: " Forfeit: Last game of the Washington Senators"
A Tribute to a Great Person: Bob Koehler. All are encouraged to share their feelings!
Nomination, and election of Officers
Borchert Field Project
Future meetings and Chapter Activities.

BASEBALL EXHIBIT


The Milwaukee Public Library is putting on an exhibit for the month of October to celebrate the great season the Brewers had in 2008, and to welcome them to postseason play for the first time in 26 years. The exhibit is entitled: October Baseball in Milwaukee Again. The exhibit features mem orabilia from the current Brewers and items from the Milwaukee Public Library collection. There is a book display at the Welcome Desk as you enter the library from Wisconsin Avenue. In addition, the 1st floor has a 2008 Brewer tribute in the windowed display case just outside the Media Dept. as you walk into the library. The display continues on the 2nd floor with more display cases located in the hallway across from the bathrooms.
 

UPCOMING BANQUET
 
2008 Old Time Ballplayers
Hall of Fame Inductees
 
Larry Hisle
Don Rennicke
Jim Hughes
Jerry Fisher
Tom Hartman
 
Dick Falk High School Player of the Year Award
Paul Hoenecke– West Bend West High School
 
Master of Ceremonies
Jerry Augustine
Sunday, November 9, 2008
4:30 p.m. Social Hour
6:00 p.m. Dinner Program to follow
 
America n Serb Memorial Hall
 S. 51st Blvd and Oklahoma Ave.
 
RSVP OTBA
P.O. Box 579
Thiensville, WI 53092
 
Tickets $20.00 per person
Souvenir Programs $9.00 each
Banquet Boosters $3.00 per name
For Business or Congratulatory Ads
Contact Greg Ebbert 262-292-4002
gregebbert@msn.com


=0 ADo NOT hesiatate calling me about any questions you might have, and I look forward to seeing you at these events!

Rick Schabowski

I have sad news to report--SABR has lost one of its founders, John Pardon.

John lost this battle with cancer this past Sunday. Not only was he member #4,
he was also the first Vice-President of SABR, and a Bob Davids Awardee (1998).
He was a very kind and gentleman who had great impact on me, and I will miss
him.

Tom Zocco, who roomed with John at SABR conventions noted in a SABR-L post,
"They say Sean Casey will stop and talk to any fan, even though he had never met
that person. John Pardon was the same. Whomever he sat next to at a ballgame
became an instant friend." Fellow Bob Davids Award recipient Evelyn Begley
called John, "the truest gentleman, consistently kind at conventions, local
meetings, and the HOF celebration of SABR's founding every 5 years.
Unique not only as one of the youngest cofounders, John also cofounded the NYC
chapter of SABR and played a major role in starting the Westchester Baseball
Group."

You can find an obituary on the SABR web site (www.sabr.org). You can also read
the obituary published in his local paper at http://tinyurl.com/6rzuhb
 
John is survived by several cousins; Richard and Jean Dunn of Pleasant Valley,
NY; Barbara Dunn Smith, Pleasant Valley, NY; Richard Dunn, Lake Katrine, NY;
Daniel Dunn, Larchmont, NY; Alice Jackson, Tacoma, WA; Roger Niles, Bel Air, MD,
and Cynthia Niles, Teommy, Baltimore, MD.

Visitation will be held on Thursday, October 23, 2008 from 2-4 and 7-9pm at the
EDWARD F. CARTER FUNERAL HOME 41 Grand Street, Croton-on-Hudson, NY 10520.
Memorial Services will be held on Friday October 24th at Our Saviour Lutheran
Church in Croton-on-Hudson at 11:00 am. Burial will be private and take place at
the Poughkeepsie Rural Cemetery.


Thank you for your continued support of SABR.

John Zajc
Executive Director

SABR web site: www.sabr.org


Now is the time to renew your membership for 2009


Membership Office Telephone: 800-969-7227 or 216-575-0500


Please remember SABR is counting on you to keep your membership information,
particularly your email address, mailing address, and phone number information
up to date using the secure, password-protected members-only website.

SABR
812 Huron Rd E #719
Cleveland OH 44115
1-800-969-7227

UPCOMING MEETING

The next meeting of the Ken Keltner Badger State Chapter of SABR will take place at Long Wong's Chinese-American Sportsbar, 53rd and Bluemound Road, 11 AM SHARP on Saturday November 15th.
The agenda will include:

Guest Speaker: Brewers TV Announcer Brian Anderson
Research Presentations:
                              Dennis Pajot: "The First World Series Goat": Abner Dalrymple.
                              Rick Schabowski: " Forfeit: Last game of the Washington Senators"
                              A Tribute to a Great Person: Bob Koehler:All are encouraged to participate
                              Nomination, and election of Officers
                              Borchert Field Project
                              Future meetings and Chapter Activities.


UPCOMING BANQUET
 
2008 Old Time Ballplayers
Hall of Fame Inductees
 
Larry Hisle
Don Rennicke
Jim Hughes
Jerry Fisher
Tom Hartman
 
Dick Falk High School Player of the Year Award
Paul Hoenecke– West Bend West High School
 
Master of Ceremonies
Jerry Augustine
Sunday, November 9, 2008
4:30 p.m. Social Hour
6:00 p.m. Dinner Program to follow
 
American Serb Memorial Hall
 S. 51st Blvd and Oklahoma Ave.
 
RSVP OTBA
P.O. Box 579
Thiensville, WI 53092
 
Tickets $20.00 per person
Souvenir Programs $9.00 each
Banquet Boosters $3.00 per name
For Business or Congratulatory Ads
Contact Greg Ebbert 262-292-4002
gregebbert@msn.com

Memorabilia Show

There will be a memorabilia show at Gonzaga Hall, 1441 South 92nd Street on Sunday November 16, 2008 from 9 AM- 2 PM. There will be 82 vendor tables, including one featuring some of the late Bob Koehler's collection. Admission is $1.


Do NOT hesiatate calling me about any questions you might have, and I look forward to seeing you at these events!

Rick Schabowski

It isn’t too early to make your hotel reservations for SABR 39. The host hotel
is the newly renovated JW Marriott, which is situated among the most
recognizable landmarks in Washington, DC, and provides easy access to DC
monuments, museums and other cultural venues like the National Theatre,
Convention Center, and the National Portrait Gallery. We have negotiated a
discounted convention rate of $179/night. This rate is available between Monday,
July 27 and Tuesday, August 4 (convention activities take place from July 30 to
August 2).

You can make reservations by calling Marriott reservations at 1-800-228-9290 or
202-393-2000 and mentioning that you are attending the Society for American
Baseball Research convention. All reservations must be accompanied by a first
night room deposit or guaranteed with a major credit card. You must make your
reservation by Monday, June 29, 2009 in order to take advantage of the
convention room discount.

You can also make reservations online at: https://resweb.passkey.com/go/sabr2009


Congratulations to the South Florida Chapter, which was recently the subject of
a great article in the Sun-Sentinel. You can read the article by pointing your
browser to: http://tinyurl.com/5spep2.

Many of SABR’s activities are newsworthy. If you chapter is presenting an award
or your committee releases a new dataset, make sure we know in advance. SABR’s
new Publicity and Member Services Manager, Susan Petrone, (spetrone@sabr.org)
might be able to help you get some local media coverage of your event or
research.

Thank you for your continued support of SABR.

John Zajc
Executive Director

SABR web site: www.sabr.org

The 1947 Brooklyn Dodgers Biography Project needs people to write the following
bios.
 
Rex Barney

Hank Behrman

George Dockins

Bruce Edwards

Joe Hatten

Phil Haugstad

Spider Jorgensen

Don Lund*

Rube Melton

Eddie Miksis

Stan Rojek

Ed Stevens*

Tommy Tatum

Harry Taylor

Johnny Van Cuyk*

Dick Whitman

Burt Shotton (manager)

Ray Blades (coach)

* still living

 

If you are interested in doing one or more of these bios, email me at
lspatz@comcast.net

 

Lyle Spatz

UPCOMING MEETING

The next meeting of the Ken Keltner Badger State Chapter of SABR will take place
at Long Wong's Chinese-American Sportsbar, 53rd and Bluemound Road, 11 AM SHARP
on Saturday November 15th.
The agenda will include:

Guest Speaker: Brewers TV Announcer Brian Anderson
Research Presentations:
                              Dennis Pajot: "The First World Series Goat": Abner
Dalrymple.
                              Rick Schabowski: " Forfeit: Last game of the
Washington Senators"
                              A Tribute to a Great Person: Bob Koehler:All are
encouraged to participate
                              Nomination, and election of Officers
                              Borchert Field Project
                              Future meetings and Chapter Activities.
Food and drink will be available.


UPCOMING BANQUET
 
2008 Old Time Ballplayers
Hall of Fame Inductees
 
Larry Hisle
Don Rennicke
Jim Hughes
Jerry Fisher
Tom Hartman
 
Dick Falk High School Player of the Year Award
Paul Hoenecke– West Bend West High School
 
Master of Ceremonies
Jerry Augustine
Sunday, November 9, 2008
4:30 p.m. Social Hour
6:00 p.m. Dinner Program to follow
 
American Serb Memorial Hall
 S. 51st Blvd and Oklahoma Ave.
 
RSVP OTBA
P.O. Box 579
Thiensville, WI 53092
 
Tickets $20.00 per person
Souvenir Programs $9.00 each
Banquet Boosters $3.00 per name
For Business or Congratulatory Ads
Contact Greg Ebbert 262-292-4002
gregebbert@msn.com

Memorabilia Show

There will be a memorabilia show at Gonzaga Hall, 1441 South 92nd Street on
Sunday November 16, 2008 from 9 AM- 2 PM. There will be 82 vendor tables,
including one featuring some of the late Bob Koehler's collection. Admission is
$1.


Do NOT hesiatate calling me about any questions you might have, and I look
forward to seeing you at these events!

Rick Schabowski

First, I have a correction to make regarding last week’s email. The phone for
making reservations at the JW Marriott; please call 1-800-266-9342. I apologize
for causing this inconvenience.

Online reservations can be made at: https://resweb.passkey.com/go/sabr2009

Seymour Medal Conference

The 2009 Seymour Medal Conference has been scheduled for April 24-26, 2009, at
the Radisson Hotel at Gateway in Cleveland, Ohio. The Seymour Medal is awarded
to the best book of baseball history or biography published in the previous
year.

SABR members are invited to make research presentations at the conference.
Presentations should be 25 to 35 minutes in length. Presentation proposals
should include a one-page abstract of the paper and a cover page with your name,
address, phone number and email address. To send a presentation proposal and/or
conference registration brochure, write to: Seymour Conference, 812 Huron Rd E
#719, Cleveland OH 44115, or contact Susan Petrone, Publicity and Member
Services Manager, at spetrone@sabr.org.

If you are interested in attending, make your plans to arrive in Cleveland no
later than 5:00 p.m. on Friday to enjoy all the conference activities. Friday
evening is always a fun event where attendees can get to know one another.
Saturday will include all presentations and the awarding of the Seymour Medal.
On Sunday, attendees have the option of seeing the Cleveland Indians take on the
Minnesota Twins at Progressive Field.

Hotel rooms at the Radisson Hotel at Gateway are $105/night plus tax. Make your
hotel reservations at (216) 377-9000 before March 24 to take advantage of this
special discounted price. If you would like to make reservations on the
Internet, please:

1. Visit www.radisson.com/clevelandoh_gateway
2. Go to “make reservations” tab at top.
3. Key in your dates
4. Type in the promotional code area: SABR.
5. Book the reservation online.


Membership Renewals

If you have not yet renewed your SABR membership, now is the time to do so. Over
70 percent of SABR’s revenues come from member dues, thus every renewal plays a
key role in helping SABR fulfill its mission and operate its programs. You can
renew online at sabr.org or using the form on page 15 of the November/December
issue of the SABR Bulletin.

SABR is also conducting a Member-Get-a-Member campaign through March 2009. For
every member you recruit, you receive one chance to win a random drawing for all
convention fees paid for SABR 39 OR one year free membership. If you recruit
five new members, you automatically have your SABR membership extended by one
year. New members can join online or using the form in the SABR Bulletin
(photocopied application forms are acceptable).

Thank you for your continued support of SABR.

John Zajc
Executive Director

SABR web site: www.sabr.org

Pay dues/make donations online: http://store.sabr.org

SABR 39, Washington DC, July 30 to August 2, 2009, at the JW Marriott
Pennsylvania Avenue

This originally ran as A Look Back on http://www.midwestdiamondreport.com. Future stories on Borchert will be posted on that site and on this Keltner SABR Message Board.

Magical Borchert Field

(Part One)

By Thomas J. Morgan and James R. Nitz

Milwaukee History, Winter 1992 (updated November 2008)

The August 2008 dedication of the Borchert Field/Milwaukee Bears historical marker at Clinton Rose Park (Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Drive and Burleigh Street) renewed interest in the predecessor to County Stadium. Known affectionately as “Borchert’s Orchard,” Milwaukee’s longest-standing ballpark continues to live on in the memories of many local fans. Borchert Field was the home of popcorn, peanuts, pop-ups, and put-outs for more than six decades of primarily minor league baseball competition.

Unlike most modern-day stadiums, Borchert Field gave fans a sense of participation. Because of its limited size, all spectators were seated near the field and the players, many of whom they idolized. Former Milwaukee Mayor Frank Zeidler once observed that Borchert Field was “a ballpark of human dimension.”

Originally known as Athletic Park, the field was constructed in 1888 for a reported $40,000. It occupied just one city block, bounded by North Seventh and Eighth Streets, and West Burleigh and Chambers Streets on Milwaukee’s north side. Over 6,000 fans witnessed the first contest played at Athletic Park on May 20, 1888. The Milwaukee team, then called the Creams (after the city’s nickname of “Cream City”), treated the record crowd to a victory over their Western Association rival, St. Paul. The Milwaukee Journal reported that the playing field had been in superb condition, except for a “rough surface in the outfield.” The grandstand was also reported as nice, but the press box was alleged to be cramped, too high, and exposed to cold winds.

The Creams of the Western Association performed there for several years. Their most prominent athlete was a pitcher, Clark Griffith, later the long-time owner of the old American League Washington Senators. Griffith is credited with originating one of the many myths of Milwaukee baseball history when he later observed, “The Irish (fans) sat on the right-field side and the Germans on the left-field side. It was a standing rule that the manager had to have an Irish first baseman and a German third baseman.” Unfortunately for Griffith’s reputation as a historical source, team rosters for this period do not substantiate his ethnic observations.
With two short-lived exceptions, Borchert Field was always a minor league stadium. Toward the close of the 1891 season, Milwaukee was assigned a franchise in the American Association, then considered to be a major league organization, and a team called the Brewers played for several months on that level. The American Association folded after the season closed, and baseball in Milwaukee returned to the minor leagues the following year. In 1923, the Milwaukee Bears, a franchise in the Negro National League, also used Borchert Field for its home games during an abbreviated two-month season.

The Brewer team most Milwaukee fans relate to moved into Borchert Field in 1902. During the club’s 51-year existence through 1952, these Milwaukee Brewers played nearly 4,000 games at the north side ballpark and won eight American Association pennants. Attendance was generally quite strong throughout Brewer history. From 1908 (when reliable records first became available) to 1952, an estimated 8,301,545 fans watched the team at Borchert Field. Countless other rooted for their favorites from second floor porches on homes opposite the ballpark on Seventh and Eighth Streets.
The original grandstand, with a seating capacity of 3,500, was behind home plate, with bleacher sections alongside the first and third base lines.

By 1910, the growing popularity of Brewer baseball prompted a park renovation as the bleachers were transformed into grandstands. The exact capacity was never accurately determined because there were no individual seats, only long benches. After the 1910 refurbishing, the best estimate was a 10,000 capacity, but, on special occasions, standing-room-only crowds might reach 17,000. At those games, the outfield was roped off so standing fans could be crowded against the outfield fences from foul line to foul line. Balls hit into this overflow audience were automatic ground-rule doubles.

Because of the rectangular dimensions of the property on which it was located, Borchert Field, like New York’s Polo Grounds, had very short foul lines (only 266 feet). What made the playing field unique was that the power alleys in right- and left-center fields (each ending in a sharp corner) were farther from home plate than the 395 feet to straight-away center field.

Borchert Field’s angular structure meant that fans could not see the complete field from certain areas of the grandstands. Depending upon one’s location, a fan could view right field or left field but not both at the same time. Many times, the best way to judge whether a batted ball was caught was by the response of the crowd. As Mike Kelley, owner of the Minneapolis American Association ball club, commented: “You have to pay two admissions to see one game at Borchert Field. The first day you see what happens in right field. The next day you come back to see what happens in left field.” In 1942, Brooklyn Dodger manager Leo Durocher agreed with Kelley. After an exhibition game against the Brewers, Durocher declared, “I’ve seen a lot of ballparks in my time but never one like that Milwaukee park. I had to get off the bench and run out to the foul line to see what happened every time a ball was hit to right field.”

There were other peculiarities to Borchert Field’s distinctive design.
The center-field bleachers were wedged in between the wooden flagpole in the left-field power alley and the scoreboard in right-center field. In the later years of Borchert Field, the wooden outfield fences were painted with numerous billboards by Art Siemann Advertising. The manually-operated scoreboard consisted of white numerals hung on nails against a black background. In an earlier time period, a painted bull touting a popular tobacco rose high over the outfield fence. Any batter who struck the bull received $50. After too many batters had earned the prize, the target was permanently withdrawn.

The left- and right-field fence planks contained numerous knotholes. For many youthful fans, it was survival of the fittest as the most aggressive kids found and occupied the most strategically-placed knotholes in the Seventh and Eighth Street fences.

Other lucky fans found that the best view of a Brewer game was from the second-floor porches of houses located across Seventh and Eighth Streets. According to some accounts, the Koutny residence at 3060 North Seventh Street was unsurpassed in its vantage pint. The scoreboard and the public address system gave the Koutnys and their fortunate guests all the basic information they needed about the lineup and score, rendering Mickey Heath’s WEMP radio broadcast unnecessary. Bernice Koutny Stone and her brother, Ray, could observe everything but the right fielder from their second-floor vantage point. Although the Koutnys rented out the upstairs unit, they retained the valuable rights to the porch. In an effort to be considerate of the tenants, Bernice, Ray, and their friends would ascend to the deck with a ladder instead of intruding through the tenants’ quarters.

Neighborhood homeowners often had uninvited guests, in the form of errant baseballs, shatter their windows. Very few of them complained because the Brewers had a policy of promptly paying for repairs. Sportswriters and announcers would make light of the situation by declaring that any ball hit out Borchert Field had landed on the legendary “Frau Hasenpfeffer’s” flower bed or front porch.

For many adult fans, it was an accepted fact that the best seats in the house were near the bar behind home plate. Except during the years of Prohibition, thirsty fans would occupy the two rows of benches, savor a cold beer, and not miss any of the action on the field.

In 1920, Otto Borchert, descendant of a Milwaukee brewery family, had emerged as the sole owner of the Brewers, thus beginning the gradual transfer of the ballpark’s identity from Athletic Park to Borchert Field.

Borchert proved to be as adept at making money in baseball as his family was in producing beer. The Brewers of the 1920s sent a number of talented players to the majors, as the front office signed up young prospects, developed them, and then profitably sold their rights to big league teams. This produced a source of revenue that was vital to the survival of an independent club such as Borchert’s Brewers.

Colorful as well as a shrewd businessman, Borchert delighted in having a good time at his ballpark. He loved to interact with the patrons by ambling through the stands, adorned in his frock coat and carrying his walking stick. On sunny days, the middle-aged executive would secure a pregame tan in the outfield and then saunter into the seating area with a wide grin before the first inning. The fans would teasingly jeer Borchert as he made his way to his seat.

Milwaukee’s baseball king died on April 27, 1927, while speaking before 600 people at an Elks Club dinner given in honor of Borchert and the Brewers. Near the end of his remarks, the vibrant 52-year-old collapsed into his chair, stricken with a fatal cerebral hemorrhage. The first three games of the new season were delayed until the funeral proceedings were completed. The ballpark was then officially renamed Borchert Field.

This name stuck, and the older names of Athletic Park and Brewer Field fell into disuse. After Borchert’s death, his wife, Idabell (often called Ruby), took over the Brewers. She eventually sold the baseball club to attorney Henry J. Killilea, an important figure in Milwaukee baseball affairs early in the century, but retained ownership of the park and leased it to the Brewers.

Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig visited Borchert Field on October 28, 1928, during a barnstorming tour following the World Series. Some 8,000 fans attended the game and witnessed Ruth’s team beat that of Gehrig and Al Simmons (a Milwaukee native and former Brewer) by a score of 5-4. Fittingly, Ruth’s eighth- inning homer was the winner. His titanic shot sailed over the right-field fence, allegedly cleared a dwelling on Seventh Street, and landed in the backyard of a Sixth Street residence. Ruth also pitched the ninth inning, striking out Gehrig and inducing Simmons, known to many Milwaukeeans as “The Duke of Mitchell Street,” to pop up to preserve the victory. The Babe was impressed with Milwaukee’s fans. “I don’t think I ever played on a colder day,” Ruth pronounced. “But say, this must be a great ball town to get that many people out there on day like this.”

Baseball was not the only sport to be played at Borchert Field. Many high school, college, amateur, and professional football games took place at the north side park. Marquette University played several contests at Borchert Field in the early 1920s. On Thanksgiving Day 1923, a then-record Milwaukee football crowd of 15,000 attended the season finale against the University of Vermont. This 20-0 homecoming victory was Marquette’s last home game played at a site other than Marquette Stadium. The Milwaukee Badgers of the National Football League also performed at Borchert Field from 1922 to 1926. A dismal team, the Badgers achieved a won-lost-tied record of just 16-27-6. The 1933 Green Bay Packers played one game at Borchert Field. The Packers lost to the New York Giants, 10-7, despite the Giants making no first downs and completing just one pass (a 25-yard touchdown)! Over 12,500 fans paid up to two dollars for a ticket, a sizable sum for a sporting event in those days.

Besides baseball and football, other more novel events which occurred at Borchert Field included boxing and wrestling matches, six-day bicycle races, circuses, rodeos, hot air balloon races, and donkey baseball (a unique version of the national pastime in which the batter was required to ride a donkey around the basepaths).

The first night baseball game played at Borchert Field on June 6, 1935, saw the Brewers lose to St. Paul, 7-3. A smaller-than-expected crowd of 4,747 braved the chilly evening in order to see 350,000 watts of light illuminate the ballpark. The new lighting system cost $19,000 and featured 100-foot light poles which projected from the grandstands, obstructing the view from many seats. In 1948, the posts were relocated to the outside of the facility. Surprisingly, the lights drew few complaints from the neighbors. Most considered night contests to be a part of their life in the neighborhood.

Some Brewer diehard fans claimed that the 1936 team was the best minor league ballclub ever assembled. The heavy-hitting team captured the American Association pennant before drubbing Buffalo of the International League four games to one in the Little World Series. This was the first of Milwaukee’s three Junior World Series titles. Ralph Otto, a former catcher in the Brewer farm system in the mid-1940s, recalled the 1936 Brewers: “That was 56 years ago and there has yet to be a minor league team with such talent. I saw them play, I was fifteen at the time, and my Dad took me. What a thrill! This club could have played in the big leagues and won. Many of them ended up there.”

In the 1940s, local ownership was anxious to sell the club, and a buyer appeared in the person of the legendary Bill Veeck, then a young man eager to get into the business end of professional baseball. Veeck purchase the Milwaukee club on a shoestring and set out to resurrect the once-proud Brewer franchise.

Veeck, who was posthumously inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1991, vowed that there would be fun at Borchert Field and that the Brewers would again become winners. The “Barnum of Baseball” lived up to his promises by creating exciting promotions and a competitive team that attracted large numbers of paying customers. That, in turn, transformed an almost-bankrupt franchise into a highly profitable one. As Charlie Grimm, Veeck’s manager, explained in his autobiography, “Milwaukee’s Borchert Field was a built-in laboratory for Bill’s somewhat unusual approach to baseball. There were no fans, so he had nothing to lose except money, which never bothered Bill, especially when it wasn’t his own.”

Veeck’s first priority was to spruce up Borchert Field. Because the run-down park had supposedly not been painted in 17 years, he hired 100 cleaning ladies to scrub the grandstands completely one night before a fresh coat of light gray paint was applied to the entire structure. In addition, a new ladies’ room was constructed as Veeck sought to make the decrepit ballyard more appealing to all fans. Naturally, these proceedings drew attention from the neighborhood and the press, just as Veeck had hoped. The publicity generated by his activity resulted in a crowd of 4,800 for the next game, more than had been attracted in several years for any one game under the often-frugal ownership of Veeck’s predecessor, Henry Bendinger.

The list of promotions Veeck employed were endless: giving away 200-pound cakes of ice, kegs of nails, step ladders, butter, fruits and vegetables, and livestock such as old horses, turkeys, geese, rabbits, and pigeons. On one “fish night,” live eels, lobsters, and crawfish were to be handed out to fans, but the game was rained out and the fish died. He also considered the use of firework displays, but because of Borchert Field’s wooden construction, the risk of a conflagration was too great. Veeck also hired tight-wire walkers to perform above the right-field scoreboard. Another fan enticement was the gift of a free ticket to anyone who donated a pint of blood to the Red Cross.

A popular act at home games was the Brewer strolling band. Manager Charlie Grimm strummed on his left-handed banjo: Rudie Schaffer, the club secretary-treasurer, plucked a homemade bull fiddle; Mickey Heath, the radio announcer, performed on the washboard; and Veeck played the jazzbo, a sliding tin-whistle. One inventive promotion during World War II was “Rosie the Riveter” morning games. Doughnuts and bowls of cereal were distributed to the late-shift factory workers by ushers sporting nightgowns. Meanwhile, a band entertained in pajamas and nightcaps for the milk- and coffee-drinking fans. Veeck, who received his first national publicity from these early morning games, allowed free admittance to women wearing welding caps or riveting masks. The young entrepreneur did not advertise his promotions in advance. This created the feeling that if fans did not attend, they might be missing something.
By 1942, the Brewers had jumped to second place in the American Association standings, and their league-best opening day crowd of 15,599 was almost one-fourth of their total 1940 season attendance figure of 68,320. Veeck’s willingness to listen to his customers by wandering the stands helped create this improvement in fan loyalty.

Borchert Field also provided Veeck with plenty of opportunities to aid the Brewers with a few extra victories. One evening when the Brewers were losing, an expected rainstorm was delayed in reaching Milwaukee’s north side. Veeck had the lights shut off one out before the game became official. By the time the alleged malfunction was solved by the electricians, the rain had moved in and the game had to be replayed in its entirety, thus preventing a loss for the Brewers. That incident led to a change in the league rules by which contests stopped by a light failure only became suspended.

To be continued next week. More information can be obtained via the Milwaukee County Historical Society at http://www.milwaukeecountyhistsoc.org.

 Look Back: At Borchert Field

By Thomas J. Morgan and James R. Nitz

Milwaukee History, Winter 1992 (updated November 2008)

This story is part of the Borchert Field Project of the Keltner SABR Chapter

(Part 2)

One of the more spectacular events at Borchert Field during the Veeck years had absolutely nothing to do with action on the diamond. On June 15, 1944, a fierce thunderstorm struck the park during the seventh inning of a night game. The 56–mph gales blew off a 100-foot section of the first-base grandstand roof. The flying lumber slammed against flats on Seventh Street and car-damaging debris was strewn over the entire neighborhood. Of the 5,000 fans in the park, thirty were injured, four seriously. The field lights also went dead, creating some panic. Fortunately, most fans calmly left the park. One major concern that evening was for the boy who worked on the grandstand roof. Paid to retrieve foul balls, the young man could not be located after the windstorm. Firemen chopped through piles of rubble, fearing the worst. After an hour of desperate searching, police thought to call the boy’s home, where he was found unscathed.

This infamous evening was vividly recalled by Bernice Koutny Stone. As on most summer nights, she was taking in the Brewer game on the second-floor porch with her father. Exhibiting great common sense, Bernice suggested that they vacate the deck as the storm approached. Being the die-hard fan that he was, Mr. Koutny insisted upon staying until it was almost too late. Only when the grandstand roof was bearing down upon them did Mr. Koutny decide to scurry down the ladder. Bernice then jumped into his arms for safety.
 
The 1944 season was also significant because it was the one season that the legendary Casey Stengel managed the Brewers at Borchert Field. Stengel stepped in when Charlie Grimm took the opportunity to manage the Chicago Cubs. The “Old Perfessor’s” club won the AA pennant, but differences with Bill Veeck resulted in Stengel moving on to become the Kansas City manager.
 
Men were not the only ballplayers to call Borchert Field home in 1944. The Milwaukee Chicks, members of Phillip K. Wrigley’s All-American Girls Professional Baseball League, won the pennant in their only year in town. Unfortunately for Milwaukee fans, the entire championship series had be played in Kenosha because Borchert Field was not available to the Chicks that September. The lack of home-field advantage did not prevent the team from defeating the Kenosha Comets, four games to three. The Chicks were led by pitcher Connie Wisniewski, whose won-lost record in the series was a spectacular 3-1.

After the 1945 season, Bill Veeck sold the Brewers to Oscar Salinger, a Chicago attorney. The master promoter, whose teams won three American Association championship titles, collected $250,000 after taxes, a healthy return for the $83,000 he paid for the team in 1941. Salinger then sold the club and its territorial rights in 1946 to Lou Perini, owner of the Boston Braves.

Perini’s Brewers of the late 1940s competed in what had become an archaic, ramshackle ballpark. Veeck had done his best to keep Borchert Field patched together, but city building codes allowed for few major renovations. The bleacher fans could create a “swaying ballpark” by bouncing and stamping their feet during intense moments of competition. Local historian Stephen Hauser recalled his father telling him, “You could feel the whole place sway and you just had to hope that it didn’t give way somewhere along the line.”

A major renovation by Lou Perini moved the diamond 20 feet north and away from the grandstand to improve fans’ sight lines. By reducing the center-field distance from 395 feet to 375 feet, both foul lines were finally visible to most grandstand patrons. Two new bullpens were placed in the enlarged areas alongside the stands created by the infield relocation. The previous pens had been in front of the right-field scoreboard. Now, Milwaukee relief pitchers were adjacent to the first-base grandstand so that they could be easily observed from the Brewer third-base dugout. This alteration allowed Cliff “Tarzan” Mapes of the Kansas City Blues to become the only player in Borchert Field history to knock a ball over the 35-foot-high scoreboard. His prodigious clout of May 31, 1947, sailed over the Roundy’s Coffee Cup sign and landed on the pavement near Seventh and Burleigh, traveling at least 500 feet. Perini also converted the Borchert Field foul poles into trendy neon-lighted markers protected by wire netting. Some 3,000 new box seat chairs were purchased for $15,000. The Brewers no longer had to borrow chairs from the Chicago Cubs, as they had done since 1941.

Numerous opportunities for employment existed both in the ballpark as well as in its vicinity. Baseball-mad youth could worship their heroes and get paid for it in a number of different ways. Whether it be car watching, bagging peanuts, retrieving seat cushions or baseball, selling newspapers, or running errands for George Washington Buckner, the Brewer African American trainer and clubhouse manager, young fans could become a part of the Borchert Field excitement.

Neighborhood informants Ray Koutny and Audrey Jacobsen Roth profited by “car watching.” The arrangement began by convincing an auto owner to let the “watcher” guard the vehicle for a nickel, dime, or quarter. Protection was provided from both errant baseballs and passersby who might scratch the hood by using it as a seat for the game. Of course, the car watcher had exclusive rights to carefully stand on top of the car in order to observe the field. This was done before the Borchert Field fences were heightened for the new 1935 lights. After the fences were made higher, trees on Seventh and Eighth Streets became heavily populated with young fans during games.

Ray and his pals also kept busy selling concessions inside the ballpark. Originally purchased wholesale in large burlap bags, the peanuts were dumped on tables and then stuffed into small paper sacks for resale during the games. Kids twisted the tops closed and paraded through the stands marketing peanuts, scorecards, and seat cushion rentals. Those who only bagged peanuts and picked up cushions did not get paid. They were compensated with free admittance and baseball practice time on the hallowed diamond. Newspaper vendors were also allowed in at no charge and would earn a penny for each three cent newspaper retailed.
Ball watching was the most exhilarating job. The luckiest youths were situated on the grandstand roof. From there, they would yell to their peers down on the street as a ball sailed over the fence. The street retrievers were to recover the ball and return it to management. However, neighborhood kids made this a rigorous task as they ganged up on the Brewer employees and played keep-away until the fleetest runner would abscond with the prized souvenir. If the street watcher lost too many baseballs in this fashion, he was quickly replaced.
 
The most fortunate boys were allowed to assist George Washington Buckner. Buckner, a very popular black man in a white man’s sport, compensated his aides with broken bats and worn-out spikes. Of course, this equipment was of far greater value to a young baseball fan than cash.

Many adults also discovered that working at Borchert Field provided memorable experiences as well as a paycheck. Marvin Pfennig, a long-time usher at County Stadium, spent the 1951 and 1952 seasons working at Borchert Field. To witness future Braves’ stars such as Eddie Mathews and Johnny Logan, then players for the Brewers, was a thrill for Marv. As a Brewer usher, he was paid two dollars per game and was provided with only a small-billed red usher’s cap for his uniform. The 12-man ushering crew was required to arrive 90 minutes before the first inning, but could exit with fans after the game. Marv was responsible for the lower box seat section behind home plate and for guarding the equipment in the dugouts between games of doubleheaders.

The taverns in the Borchert neighborhood did great business, as Marv recalled. Brewer employees, fans, and even players (many of who boarded in the area) would frequent Sluggy Walters and Steve’s Baseball Tavern. Sluggy’s, located on the southeast corner of 10th and Chambers for over 40 years, had a splendid baseball atmosphere with its many baseball photos and a game ticket window. Steve’s also sold Brewer tickets and had the advantage of being kitty-corner from Borchert Field’s main entrance at Eighth and Chambers.

By 1950, it had become evident that Borchert Field was nearing the end of its days. The park had become inadequate for the era’s more discerning fans. The electrical and plumbing facilities were quite dilapidated. With the increased use of automobiles, Borchert Field’s residential location had become unappealing as convenient parking was virtually non-existent.

Several factors contributed to 1952 becoming the Brewers’ last year at Borchert Field. First, their long-term, strictly-enforced lease with Mrs. Otto Borchert expired on January 1, 1953. Under terms of the lease, the Brewers, who never had sufficient capital to acquire land and build their own stadium, had to pay $6,000 a year in taxes and $10,000 a year in general maintenance. Together with an additional $9,000 rental charge, these expenses became excessive for an increasingly inadequate facility.
More important, the construction of Milwaukee County Stadium meant that the shift of a major league franchise to Milwaukee was probable. At first, it was thought that the St. Louis Browns might move here. But territorial rights to Milwaukee belonged to Brewer owner Lou Perini, whose National League Braves were drawing poorly in Boston. Thus, it was not really surprising when the Boston franchise moved to Milwaukee in time for the opening of the 1953 season.

The final Brewer game at Borchert Field, played on September 21, 1952, was the seventh and deciding contest of the American Association championship playoff series between the Kansas City Blues and the Brewers. Milwaukee lost, 8-7, in dramatic fashion. Trailing 8-2 going into the bottom of the ninth, Milwaukee scored five runs before the final out was recorded. Moose Skowron of the Blue smacked the last Borchert Field home run, a wind-aided shot over the right-field fence.

Mrs. Borchert sold her ballpark and the land to the City of Milwaukee in 1952 for $123,000 after completion of County Stadium had become a certainty. In 1937, the property had been assessed for only $73,000 with $13,000 attributed to the decaying structure.

The timeworn ballpark, with all of its idiosyncrasies, was dismantled by 1954. The site served as a playground until the Locust Street section of the Interstate 43 North-South Freeway, running precisely between Seventh and Eighth Streets was completed in 1963. Venerable “Borchert’s Orchard” was not totally discarded, however. At the time of demolition, the City of Milwaukee’s Central Board of Purchases marketed much of Borchert Field’s salvageable equipment on bids. These items included the beautiful long wooden park benches behind home plate and the newer box seat metal chairs. Some wooden planks were used in the County Stadium pedestrian bridge over the Menomonee River. Former Mayor Zeidler preserved a handful of field dirt, years before it was fashionable to save artifacts of historic ballparks.

As of 2007, 145,000 vehicles per day pass through the site on I-43 where so much of Milwaukee’s baseball history was made. No sign or marker identifies the immediate location, but many older residents of the Milwaukee area keep alive the memories of the ball clubs of a bygone era and the ballpark, named after Otto Borchert, where they performed.
Editor’s Note: The extensive documentation for a lengthier version of this article may be consulted at the Milwaukee County Historical Society’s research center. You can find out more at http://www.milwaukeecountyhistsoc.org.

This story first ran as A Look Back on http://www.midwestdiamondreport.com

Deans Cause a Riot

By Bob Buege

In autumn of 1934, no ballplayer was more celebrated than Dizzy Dean. At age 23 the hard-throwing right-handed mound star of the St. Louis Cardinals’ “Gas House Gang” had conquered the baseball world. In just his third big-league season, young Diz had won 30 games, lost only 7, and earned the National League’s Most Valuable Player Award.

More important, he had led his wacky team to the National League pennant, overtaking the New York Giants in the final week. Dean started and won three of the Cardinals’ final six games, including two of the last three, both shutouts.

To make the story even better, Dizzy’s little brother Paul, a.k.a. Daffy, a lean 21-year-old rookie right-hander, had won 19 games for the Cardinals, most notably a no-hitter against the Dodgers on September 21. These two uneducated hillbillies from the Ozarks had led their club past Bill Terry’s defending world champions from the big city.

Against the Detroit Tigers in the World Series, the Deans did nothing to diminish their fast-growing legend. Dizzy started three games, winning two; Daffy started two games and won both. Two of the Series games featured incidents that became part of baseball lore. In the deciding seventh game, St. Louis slugger Ducky Medwick slid hard into third baseman Marv Owen. When Medwick returned to his position in left field, Detroit fans pelted him with fruit, lunch boxes, and whatever debris they could get their hands on. Commissioner Kenesaw Mountain Landis quelled the disturbance by ordering Medwick removed from the game, a move that had no impact on the outcome because the Cardinals, and Dizzy Dean, were leading 9-0 at the time.

What could have been a more serious incident occurred in game four. In the fourth inning of a close contest, Cardinal manager Frankie Frisch sent his star hurler, Dizzy Dean, who was not pitching that day, into the game as a pinch runner. That decision seems foolhardy today and nearly proved so at the time. Trying to break up a double play, Dean went into second base standing up and was struck square in the forehead by shortstop Billy Rogell’s relay.
 
Dizzy was knocked unconscious and carried from the field. To Frisch’s great relief, Dean suffered no serious injury and in fact pitched the next afternoon. The most enduring memory of that near-tragedy, though, is the statement that Diz gave to reporters the next day: “The doctors x-rayed my head and found nothing.”

All of this is to establish the fact that, in October of 1934, the Dean brothers were baseball’s hottest property. One can only imagine the excitement in Milwaukee when it was announced that on October 15, six days after the Cardinals won the World Series, Dizzy and Daffy Dean, supported by a team of local all-stars, would play an exhibition game in Borchert Field against a barnstorming Negro team, the renowned Kansas City Monarchs.

Promoters of the event announced that the Brothers Dean would split the pitching chores, five innings for one, four for the other. What fans did not know was that, before the game, the Deans received a long-distance phone call from Sam Breadon, president of the St. Louis Cardinals. He warned Daffy, who had experienced pain in his throwing arm late in the season, not to risk further injury in the exhibition.

Dizzy started the game for the “home” team and pitched two innings, allowing one run on two walks and a base hit. Daffy took a position in right field. In the third inning Dizzy moved out to left field while Daffy stayed in right. The crowd of 3,300 began to grow restless, realizing they may have been hoodwinked out of their seventy-five cent admission fee.

In the bottom of the third, Dizzy provided the only highlight of the brothers’ performance by lining a home run over the left-field wall and onto Eighth Street. After that the Dean family quietly continued to occupy their outfield locations until the bottom of the sixth. Then both abruptly left the premises.

They were not the only ones. Hundreds of fans began leaving their seats and heading for the stadium box office to demand a refund. Some in the crowd drew up and circulated petitions demanding that justice be served. Fearing violence, promoter Eddie Stumpf summoned the riot police. Captain Arthur Luehman and ten members of his doughnut squad soon arrived and restored relative calm.

Inside the ballpark, the Monarchs scored four times in the top of the ninth to take an 8-5 lead. The Deans’ former club rallied, however, with three runs in the last of the ninth to tie the game. No one cared to continue, and most of the crowd had left, so the game was declared a draw. By that time Dizzy and Daffy, richer by $1,700 minus expenses, were on the train bound for Chicago.

After the game promoter Stumpf, who had rented Borchert Field and hired the World Series heroes for the occasion, lamented, “If they had only stayed around until the finish to satisfy autograph hunters, it wouldn’t have been so bad.”

Now through the end of the year, all SABR members can pre-register for the SABR
39 Convention in Washington, DC for only $85 ($2 less than the rate this past
year in Cleveland). Your registration fee allows you access to all research
presentations, panels and special topics, as well as the trivia contest and
research committee meetings. In addition, you’ll receive a convention goody bag
(which I’ve been told will be well stocked).

The early bird rate of $85 is only valid through December 31. On January 1,
2009, the rate will be raised to $115, so don’t miss your chance to save $30 on
registration. You could even ask family or friends to buy your registration as a
holiday gift (please place holiday gift orders at least four working days in
advance of gift-giving to get a special certificate to be presented as the
gift).

Sign up today for SABR 39 at the SABR Store, http://store.sabr.org. While you
are at the store, please consider renewing your SABR membership at the same
time.

After you’ve registered for the convention, don’t forget to book your hotel room
at the JW Marriott. This past Saturday, Orbitz was offering room rates at the JW
during the SABR convention for $380/night. The SABR rate for our limited number
of rooms is $179/night, but the convention discount is only in place until June
29. You can make your reservation online at: https://resweb.passkey.com/go/sabr2009.

Thank you for your support of SABR, and I look forward to seeing you in
Washington next summer

John Zajc
Executive Director
Society for American Baseball Research
812 Huron Rd E #719
Cleveland OH 44115
1-800-969-7227
www.sabr.org

The Founder and CEO of the Impulsive Group, hank freid got his start in the industry in the mid-1970s. He took a chance on a rooming house at Broadway and 101st Street and transformed it into the 126-room Broadway Hotel.

Next SABR Meeting

The next Ken Keltner Badger State Chapter meeting of SABR will take place on Saturday, February 28th, 2009, 11 AM at Long Wong's Chinese-American Sportsbar, 5230 Bluemound Road, Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

Guest of Honor: Doak Ewing, owner of Rare Sportsfilms. Doak has graciously offered to show the perfect game pitched by Don Larsen on October 8, 1956. This is an event which is unique! This game has been shown public only on a few occasions, and we THANK Doak for offering to do this!!

We plan on a Research presentation, there will be items for sale including some of Doak's great sportsfilms, and a 50/50 raffle. Food and your choice of beverage will be available! Special Thanks to Paul Wong and his staff for hosting this event!

Reservations are recomended for this event, as seating is limited. You can reserve a spot to watch this historic game by sending an e-mail to Rick Schabowski at RICKIU76@aol.com or calling at 414-322-4997.

Have a Great Thanksgiving!

Rick

Edited by author 11-26-2008 08:14 AM
Japan’s All-Stars at Borchert Field
     
By Dennis Pajot--U.S.A and Yoichi Nagata--Japan
            
On Tuesday, June 11, 1935, a baseball game was played at Borchert field between a team of Japanese All-Stars and the Milwaukee Red Sox. The game was scheduled to start at 8:15, “under the new floodlights”.

The Milwaukee Red Sox were made up of leading AAA and semi-professional players from Wisconsin. Managed by Al Moran and Eddie Stumpf—who also acted as the club’s general manager, the team played in the Chicago City League, as well as against other independent teams across the country.

This Japanese All-star team was made up of ex-college and ex-prep school players, and had enjoyed great success on their US tour, which had begun early in the spring of that year, playing minor league and local semi-pro teams. Lefty O’Doul, then managing the San Francisco Seals, named the All-Stars the Tokyo Giants for promotional purposes on the tour. The All Stars played the eight teams of the Pacific Coast League, winning 6 and losing 17. Entering Milwaukee the Giants record on the American tour was 59 wins, 30 losses and one tie. It was reported in the Milwaukee Sentinel the Japanese players played the game as well as Americans, except they did not hit as well.

The game on June 11 was attended by about 1,400 at Borchert Field. The Japanese All-Stars won 9 to 4, “with a masterful exhibition of fielding, timely hitting and some really high class flinging by Eiji Sawamura, the 18-year old ace of all Japan”. [He was reported as being 17 in the Wisconsin News.] Toshihide Hatafuku started for the All-Stars and pitched the first three innings. Sawamura pitched the last six innings, allowing 6 hits and striking out 9, en route to being credited with the win. Sotaro Suzuki, the All-Stars business manager, explained he was forced to pitch the youngster more than he had planned on the tour, as he did not figure on so many doubleheaders. The All-Stars had split a doubleheader Sunday in Chicago, but Sawamura had not pitched. However, he pitched 12 innings the day before the Milwaukee game in Battle Creek, Michigan, (a 12 inning tie game), and 9 innings on Saturday in Detroit. The Wisconsin News, told its readers that Sawamura had held Babe Ruth’s American leaguers to five hits the previous winter, but lost 1 to 0 on a home run by Lou Gehrig. “He is something of a national hero”, the paper reported.

Larry Kessenich—a former local sandlot star-- started for the Red Sox, but was forced to leave the game when he was hit in the stomach by a line drive in the third inning. Doug McWeeney—a former major leaguer and former Milwaukee Brewer-- then took over. McWeeney gave up four runs in the fourth inning to take the loss.

One odd moment in the game occurred when the Red Sox’s catcher, Bob Casey, was ejected by the umpire for arguing balls and strikes. Manager Eddie Stumpf pleaded with umpire Schiefelbein not to eject his only catcher, and Casey was allowed to stay in the game.

         Red Sox All-Stars
    AB R H E AB R H E
  Mudlaff 3b 4 2 2 0 Yajima rf 1 0 0 0
  Kedzierski ss 5 1 1 2 Fuma rf 4 0 1 0*
  Brooks cf 4 0 1 0 Tabe 2b 5 1 3 0
  Sherbarth 1b 4 0 0 1 Karita ss 5 0 0 1
  Roessler rf 2 0 0 0 Horio cf 5 0 0 0
  Berka rf-2b 2 0 0 0 Shintomi lf 5 1 1 0
  Maglio lf 4 0 0 0 Mizuhara 3b 5 2 1 0
  Walenta 2b 3 1 1 0 Nagasawa 1b 5 2 1 0
  Casey c 4 0 2 0 Uchibori c 5 2 1 0
  Kessenich p 1 0 0 1 Hatafuku p 1 1 0 0
  McWenny p 1 0 0 0 Sawamura p 2 0 2 0
  Hust rf 2 0 1 0
  Golem p 0 0 0 0
  Wozniak p 0 0 0 0
  K’minski ph 1 0 0 0
     37 4 8 4 43 9 10 1
  All Stars 0 0 2 4 0 0 0 2 1 0 - 9
  Red Sox 2 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 - 4
 *Yoichi Nagata related Isamu Fuma stayed in Japan, and did not go on barnstorming tour. It is likely Shiro
       Tsuda replaced Yajima in right field—as he did in Madison the next day.


However, the real interesting story of this game comes from Yoichi Nagata. Yoichi relates the following account. After the Giants were to leave the field after the game, a man in his 40s came up to Sotaro Suzuki and asked “When do you give me Eiji Sawamura? Schoolboy Sawamura signed with me.” This man introduced himself as a baseball scout, showing a player contract signed by Sawamura. The stunned Suzuki asked Sawamura how that occurred. Sawamura explained, “In the pre-game practice, I chased a loose ball to the outfield, where he came up to me. He wanted me to sign the paper. I thought he was a fan seeking my autograph”.

Business Manager Suzuki refused the man’s request for Sawamura. However, the scout did not retreat, saying that he would bring this case to the Baseball Commissioner. Suzuki countered “It is no problem. The Tokyo Giants are not in organized baseball.” Milwaukee Red Sox manger Eddie Stumpf and Ralph Siners, who were at the field, seconded Suzuki.

Eiji Sawamura and the Tokyo Giants continued their barnstorming tour, however, it was said it had cost Suzuki some money to get the contract back from the scout. Who was the scout? Sotaro Suzuki at one time said he was a St. Louis Cardinal scout, and another time a Pittsburgh Pirate scout. Another source reported the man scouted for an American Association team.

The day following their win over the Milwaukee Red Sox, the All-Stars played the Madison Blues in Madison, before a record attendance of 4,601. The Madison team won 9 to 3. The Tokyo Giants finished their 109 game tour, including 5 games in Hawaii, with 74 wins and 34 losses, plus the one tie.

Eiji Sawamura is a legend of Japanese baseball. He was born on February 1, 1917, in Ujiyamada, Japan. He first gained fame on November 20, 1934, in a game at Kusanagi Stadium in Shizuoka, Japan, against the barnstorming team of American major league players mentioned above in the Wisconsin News. The 17-year old started and completed the game, giving up 5 hits and striking out 9 in eight innings (the Americans were the home team), including Charlie Gehringer, Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig and Jimmie Foxx in a row. Sawamura did give up a home run to Gehrig in the seventh inning—thus losing 1 to 0.

In 1936 Sawamura recorded 14 wins against 3 losses with the Tokyo Giants in his first professional season in the Japanese League. (The league had a spring fall split-season; Sawamura had a 1 and 1 record in the spring, and 13 and 2 record in the fall season). On September 15 he pitched the first no-hitter in that league. In 1937 Sawamura went 33 and 10 for the entire season (24 wins against 4 losses in the spring, 9 wins and 6 losses in the fall portion); pitching another no-hitter, and being named the MVP in the spring season.

In January 1938 Sawamura was drafted into the Japanese military, and served three tours of duty. He injured his shoulder while in the military and was never again a dominant pitcher. However, in parts of three seasons in the 1940s he had a 16 and 9 record, including his third no-hitter.

On December 2, 1944, the transport ship carrying Eiji Sawamura was sunk by an American submarine. Eiji Sawamura was dead at the age of 27.

In 1947 the Japanese Baseball League began awarding the Sawamura award to the league’s best starting pitcher each year, similar to America’s Cy Young Award. The award is still given out.

Eiji Sawamura was inducted into the Japanese Baseball Hall of Fame in 1959.