Building the Brewers: Bud Selig and the Return of Major League Baseball to Milwaukee has been published by McFarland & Company.
Order it here:
eBook versions will be available after publication.
To summarize in nice bullet points, the book:
- Weaves a backstory through Milwaukee’s rich baseball history and Selig’s childhood baseball experiences to put his quest into proper context
- Presents a history of the minor league American Association Milwaukee Brewers and owner Bill Veeck’s over-the-top promotions at Borchert Field
- The rise and fall of the Milwaukee Braves which led to Selig’s new ownership group (Teams Inc. – later Milwaukee Brewers Inc.) fighting to first keep the Braves in town, then doing everything possible to acquire a new franchise
- Tells how initial fervent community support for the Braves later turned into anger and apathy that carried over to the new Brewers team
- Similarities between baseball history in Seattle and Milwaukee and the court battles fought on both fronts over baseball franchises – leading to the loss of one team and the birth of another
- Covers the brief history of the Seattle Pilots, from their expansion into major league baseball through financial ruin and bankruptcy court
- Details the mad scramble to relocate a team with just one week before season
- Provides a breakdown of the 1970 baseball season, including everything from countless roster moves to wacky promotions such as witches casting a winning spell over the team, and 69 year old Milt Mason being christened “Bernie Brewer” while spending the summer on top the scoreboard
- Summarizes the events that followed that first year and how quickly a roster can be “deconstructed”
- Follows the team from the 1970’s to the end of the Selig family ownership, through all the extreme highs and lows players and fans have experienced
I also have other works on the backburner that will follow the Brewers book.
