Borchert Field: Stories from Milwaukee's Legendary Ballpark

by Bob Buege

Overview

Someone lucky enough to live on Milwaukee’s near north side between 1888 and 1952 could experience the world without ever leaving the neighborhood. Nestled between North Seventh and Eighth Streets and West Chambers and Burleigh, Borchert Field was Milwaukee’s major sports venue for 64 years. In this rickety wooden stadium (originally called Athletic Park), Wisconsin residents had a close-up view of sports history in the making, along with rodeos, thrill shows, and even multiple eruptions of Mount Vesuvius. In Borchert Field, baseball historian Bob Buege introduces the famous and fascinating athletes who dazzled audiences in Milwaukee’s venerable ballpark. All the legendary baseball figures—the Bambino, Satchel Paige, Ty Cobb, Joltin’ Joe, Jackie Robinson, the Say Hey Kid—played there. Olympic heroes Jim Thorpe, Babe Didrikson, and Jesse Owens displayed their amazing talents in Borchert. Knute Rockne’s Fighting Irish competed there, and Curly Lambeau’s Green Bay Packers took the field 10 times. Buege tells stories of other monumental moments at Borchert as well, including a presidential visit, women ballplayers, the arrival of television broadcasting, the 1922 national balloon race, and an appearance by scat-singing bandleader Cab Calloway. Borchert Field is long gone, but every page of this book takes readers back to the sights, sounds, and spectacle of its heyday.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780870207884
Publisher:	Wisconsin Historical Society
Publication date:	03/10/2017
Edition description:	1
Pages:	392
Sales rank:	1,080,702
Product dimensions:	5.40(w) x 8.40(h) x 1.20(d)

About the Author

Bob Buege is the author of The Milwaukee Braves: A Baseball Eulogy and Eddie Mathews and the National Pastime. He is president of the Milwaukee Braves Historical Association, director of the Wisconsin Old Time Ballplayers
Association, and a member of the Society for American Baseball Research.

Table of Contents

Introduction: Borchert's Orchard ix

1 This Old House 1

2 Pioneer in a New Park 9

3 Gay Nineties 14

4 Major League 20

5 Tragedy of the Rube 27

6 Send in the Clowns 33

7 Iron Man 43

8 Wordsmith 48

9 Georgia Peach 54

10 A Touch of Ginger 59

11 Eight Men In 65

12 Loose Cannon 70

13 Wet and Wild 75

14 Sweet Science 81

15 Frozen Tundra South 87

16 The Rock 94

17 Up, Up, and Away 99

18 Grid Showdown in Athletic Park 106

19 Tigers and Bears 114

20 Papa Bear 121

21 Tall Tacticians Team 126

22 Galloping Ghost 134

23 Better Than Thorpe 139

24 Bully in Blue 144

25 Bambino Comes to Beertown 150

26 Whataman 157

27 Father and Son 164

28 Nowiny Polskie 169

29 Nats in Town 176

30 Hot Enough for Ya? 182

31 Deans Cause a Riot 187

32 Stars of the Negro Leagues 191

33 No Runs, No Hits 197

34 Out of Darkness 203

35 Added Attractions 209

36 Strike Up the Band 215

37 Goober Zuber Beans Splinter 220

38 Men in Pinstripes 224

39 Jack and Bunny 229

40 No Tie 235

41 Ladies Days 243

42 The Mighty Casey 249

43 Life and Limb 257

44 Hail to the Victors 263

45 Lights, Camera … 270

46 Yatcha 276

47 Teenaged Catcher 282

48 The Buck Stops Here 287

49 Art Imitates Baseball 291

50 King of the Ring 298

51 The Real M & M Boys 303

52 Say Hey to Borchert Field 308

53 Quiet Pioneer 312

54 Etcetera 318

55 Best for Last 330

Notes 341

Acknowledgments 361

Index 363