It feels like the USA Semiquincentennial has been capturing the minds and spirits of Americans for most of this year (and rightfully so). With that event now come and gone, I wanted to draw attention to a couple of significant baseball anniversaries happening this year in Milwaukee that I feel have gotten lost in the excitement of America250. The first of these is the 25th Anniversary of the opening of what is now referred to as American Family Field. This technically occurred on April 6th of this year, but is being celebrated with an Alumni Legends Game on July 24th. At least one member of the Brewers from the last 25 years will be represented in this game, and it is a follow-up to the extremely popular Alumni Homerun Derby that occurred for the 25th season last summer. The headliner will undoubtedly be Ryan Braun, who to this day remains one of the most popular and greatest Brewers of all time, still my favorite player of all time, and not to mention is still on the Brewers payroll and an important part of the Milwaukee community. He is 42 years old, but looks like he could suit up tomorrow and not be much worse of a DH than Christian Yelich is right now. This event features $2.50 beer and brats and I really wish I could attend if I weren't working at German Fest. I would be shocked if this doesn't become an annual event, so I'm sure I'll get there one day.
The other lesser known but still important milestone occurring for the Brewers this year is the 125th Anniversary of the original Brewers major league franchise. Most Brewers fans probably know that the current iteration of the team began as the Seattle Pilots in 1969. Many Brewers fans probably also know that the current Atlanta Braves had a stint in Milwaukee from 1953-1965 at County Stadium, winning it all in 1957 for the city's only baseball championship to date. There may even be some fans old enough to remember that Milwaukee had a minor league team - also called the Brewers - for half a century until the Braves came to town, who played at old Borchert Field, which has since been paved over as present-day Interstate 43. However, it takes a particular baseball weirdo like myself to know that for one season in 1901, the Brewers briefly existed as a major league franchise in the newly-formed American League. In fact, the American League was actually founded as a major league at a former hotel in Milwaukee, and there is still a plaque on MLK & Kilbourn commemorating this event. Following the 1901 season, the Brewers would relocate to St. Louis to become the Browns, and would eventually go on to become the modern-day Baltimore Orioles. So technically, if it wasn't for Bud Selig moving the Pilots in 1970 and saving baseball in Milwaukee, we might all be Orioles fans, or Braves fans, or God forbid maybe even Cubs fans. May 6th 2026 marked the 125th anniversary of our original major league hometown 9 and it is a milestone worth celebrating. If you want to get even more in the weeds, there were also some minor league versions of the Brewers that date back to the 1880s, but let's just stop our lesson at 1901 for today.
Stay tuned next week for a full report on Tour 2026!
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.