It seems like ancient history, but there was a time when Milwaukee almost lost the Brewers - again. County Stadium was crumbling and the team and city were in dire need of a new stadium, and coming off of the 1994 strike was not exactly an ideal time to be walking into the state Capitol with your hand out. In fact, the fate of the team came down to the vote of just one state senator. But here we are 30 years and a tenth-cent sales tax later, and and American Family Field is still one of the gems of Major League Baseball hosting an perennially competitive team. The reason I mention this is that it's outlandish to think a city with that volatile history and the smallest media market in MLB could support another team, let alone multiple teams, but as it stands, the city of Oconomowoc was just announced as a new member of the independent American Association for the 2022 season.
I think if you asked Milwaukeeans if they considered Oconomowoc, a small pastoral lake town that is over 30 miles west of the CBD, to be a part of their metropolitan area, most would scoff at that - at least after these last two elections. But for sake of my argument let's say that it is (and technically the U.S. Census Bureau does consider Waukesha County as part of Milwaukee's statistical area). That will make this now the 4th team in Milwaukee's metro area: the Milkmen and aforementioned O-Town team of the indy American Association, obviously the Brewers, and the summer-collegiate Chinooks up in Mequon. If you want to stretch that even further down to Kenosha and include the Kingfish, that makes 5. However you slice it, it's a lot of baseball that has come to southeastern Wisconsin in the last decade. Oconomowoc's team is not new news - a ballpark was already under construction - but the shift from the Northwoods League to a semi-pro league is big news. Summer Collegiate teams have little to no overhead with a lot of unpaid players and summer interns and exist primarily for purposes of player development, but in the professional American Association, you're actually looking to build a product that is successful on and off the field.
It's great news for baseball fans like me and it shows that perhaps more goes into these decisions than just market size. The Brewers have, against all odds, consistently drawn around 3M fans the last 15 years and been in the top half of the league in attendance, and have proven to investors that there is an appetite for more ball in the area. The Milkmen and Chinooks have both won championships since their inception, and now I just hope the Brewers can reach the apex before this other new team does. I look forward to having another new close-by ballpark option, and for the sake of broadcasters and PA announcers, I hope "Oconomowoc" is not in the team name. PS - fun little tidbit about the team - one of the investors is Jarred Kelenic's dad, who all baseball fans will recognize as the highest drafted player ever from the state of Wisconsin and who recently made his MLB debut for the Mariners.
touch with baseball when his childhood heroes Robin Yount, Paul Molitor, and Jim Gantner retired but the Great Home Run Chase of 1998 reignited his passion. As a student at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, Erik became involved with the campus chapter of Habitat for Humanity. With this group Erik traveled to Portland, OR and Baltimore, MD to work on construction projects and help the group raise $25,000 to partially sponsor a house in Milwaukee. Also at UWM, Erik met Peter Nagel. The two attended their first Brewers game together during Opening Weekend 2003. Despite their failure to ignite the coals at their first tailgate, the two had a blast and were soon making weekly trips to the ballpark. Erik has gone on to several colleges and changed careers several times, and has moved all the way out to New Hampshire, but has always stayed true to his baseball roots by holding part-time stadium usher jobs. To this day he looks back fondly on his incredible cross-country journey.
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