BUSHVILLE WINS
The 1957 Milwaukee Braves season was the year that the team won its first and only World Series championship while based in Milwaukee. The Braves won 95 games and lost 59 to win the National League pennant by eight games over the second-place St. Louis Cardinals. The club went on to the 1957 World Series, where they faced the New York Yankees and clinched the championship with the seventh game played in New York City.
“Bushville Wins”, was the slogan seen and heard across the world as the Milwaukee Braves defeated the New York Yankees in the 1957 World Series. It was the first professional sports championship for Milwaukee and one that deserved a celebration unlike anything seen in the city.
Minutes after Eddie Matthews’ foot touched first base, signaling the final out of the Series, Milwaukeeans all over rushed into the streets celebrating. Restaurants closed, traffic stopped. People even brought beer kegs into the streets. As the team flew back from New York, over 100,000 people jammed Mitchell Airport and an additional 400,000 spectators overflowed on both sides of Wisconsin Avenue, the main route for the victory parade. Cardboard cutouts, depicting an Indian brave holding a bat while sitting on top of the world were attached to every lamp post along the route.
This CO was thrilled when her Dad OK'd a trip to Wisconsin Avenue to join the nighttime celebration... only 9 years old and the biggest event of my life! The victory parade for the team was a reminder of how success in professional sports whether it is an underdog like Milwaukee or a goliath like New York, can give the city and its people what it feels like to be a champion.
In thirteen years the Milwaukee Braves never had a losing season, a statistic that no other franchise can claim. Fan support was fanatic and a matter of civic pride for people in Wisconsin. As a result the Braves set attendance records and shattered expectations. During their tenure in Milwaukee, the Braves were the hot ticket and were even more popular than the Green Bay Packers. The town fought furiously to keep the Braves but in the end lost them to Atlanta after the 1965 season. For many though, (me included) the Milwaukee Braves are an all-time classic team.