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Milwaukee's baseball history boasts a World Series title, but it belongs to a different franchise than the current Brewers. In 1957, the Milwaukee Braves, a team that captured the city's heart, achieved the ultimate prize in just their fifth season after relocating from Boston.
During their 13 seasons in Milwaukee, the Braves never endured a losing record at County Stadium. They reached consecutive World Series in 1957 and 1958, winning the first in seven games over the New York Yankees and falling in the rematch the following year. The team's early years drew some of the largest crowds in baseball, but the franchise's departure after the 1965 season left a wound that still lingers, even after Bud Selig helped bring the Brewers to town in 1970.
Before becoming the Atlanta Braves, the Milwaukee roster featured Hall of Fame talents like Hank Aaron, Eddie Mathews, and Warren Spahn. However, it was pitcher Lew Burdette who emerged as the hero of the 1957 Fall Classic. The Braves, with a 95-59 record, were considered underdogs against the Yankees, who finished 98-56.
Game-by-Game Recap
Game 1: The Yankees took the opener 3-1 behind Whitey Ford's complete game before a crowd of 69,476 at Yankee Stadium. Spahn lasted just six innings, and a sacrifice-bunt single by Jerry Coleman gave New York a 3-0 lead. Red Schoendienst drove in Milwaukee's only run with a seventh-inning single.
Game 2: Burdette's legend began with a complete-game effort, allowing two earned runs as the Braves evened the series with a 4-2 win. Aaron tripled and scored on a Joe Adcock single, and Johnny Logan homered. Wes Covington's single and an error by Milwaukee native Tony Kubek plated two runs in the fourth. It marked the first World Series game won by a non-New York team since 1948.
Game 3: The Yankees romped 12-3, chasing Bob Buhl early. Don Larsen, in his first World Series appearance since his perfect game the previous October, threw seven innings of relief. Kubek homered twice in his hometown, and Mickey Mantle also went deep.
Game 4: In a thrilling 10-inning affair, the Braves walked off on Eddie Mathews' two-run homer after Johnny Logan tied it with a double. The inning began with Nippy Jones being awarded first base after showing shoe polish on the ball. The Braves had been one strike away from a 4-1 win in the ninth before Elston Howard's three-run homer off Spahn tied it.
Game 5: Burdette tossed a complete-game shutout, allowing seven hits and striking out five on just 86 pitches, outdueling Ford in a 1-0 win. Adcock's two-out single in the sixth drove in the only run.
Game 6: The Yankees forced a Game 7 with a 3-2 win at home. Bob Turley went the distance, and Hank Bauer's seventh-inning homer off Ernie Johnson proved decisive.
Game 7: Burdette again was magnificent, spinning his second shutout and third win of the Series, allowing seven hits and striking out three. The Braves scored four in the third, highlighted by Mathews' two-run double and Aaron's RBI single. Del Crandall homered in the eighth, and Burdette escaped a bases-loaded jam in the ninth to seal Milwaukee's only World Series championship.
1958 Rematch
The Braves aimed for a repeat in 1958 and took a 2-0 series lead. Bill Bruton's walk-off single in Game 1 and Burdette's complete-game win (plus a three-run homer) in Game 2 set the stage. After five games, Milwaukee held a 3-2 edge, but the Yankees won Game 5 and then took Game 6 in 10 innings at County Stadium. In Game 7, the Yankees rallied for four runs in the eighth to win 6-2 and deny the Braves a second straight title.
Aaron hit .333 in the Series, but Milwaukee managed just three home runs, none by Aaron or Mathews. The 1957 championship remains a cherished memory for Milwaukee, a testament to a team that shone brightly before departing for Atlanta.
Originally reported by yahoo.