If The Braves Never Left Boston

[Gringo]

How weird would that be, having 2 ball clubs within one mile of each other?

 

Along what lines would the fandom break down?

 

Were the Braves always considered the smaller club? More blue collar?

 

Does anyone have any stories from their grandparents about that era?

 

I have to admit, it would be pretty wild with 2 clubs in town....

[La Munson]

My grandfather (who had season tickets to Sox games basically the whole time he lived at home because his dad worked for Boston), said he was a minor fan of them and went to a few games. He didn't really seem to be all that sad when they moved though, so I don't think there was a hatred between both sides.

 

It was pretty obvious the Red Sox were the main team though, that's mostly why a lot of people don't talk much about the Boston Braves.

[Spitball]

When I was a kid in the late '50s and early '60s, there were people around who still followed the Braves in Milwaulkee. I remember Eddie Matthews, Hank Aaron, and Warren Spahn baseball cards were pretty hot commodities. When we played wiffle ball, no one was allowed to be the Red Sox so one friend always chose the Braves. There was some evidence that the Braves had some kind of following, but it was not a strong

 

It seemed once the Braves moved to Atlanta in '65 or '66, there was a little too much seperation to keep the already weak interest alive.

[SoxFanForsyth]

How weird would that be, having 2 ball clubs within one mile of each other?

 

Along what lines would the fandom break down?

 

Were the Braves always considered the smaller club? More blue collar?

 

Does anyone have any stories from their grandparents about that era?

 

I have to admit, it would be pretty wild with 2 clubs in town....

 

See: Yankees and Mets. It's virtually the exact same situation. If the Braves and Red Sox were both AL teams, it may be different, but a lot of people have a favorite AL team and a favorite NL team, so I don't think it would do too much damage.

[SoxSport]

I was a kid when the Braves were in Boston. Those two team days are gone, except for the big media cities.

 

They moved to Milwaukee the year Hank Aaron came up as a rookie, so Boston never saw Aaron play.

Eddie Matthews was also a rookie around that time.

 

The Braves had some good teams in Boston-won the pennant in '48. Led by Warren Spahn. They also had a black speedster named Sam Jethroe--years before the Red Sox had a black player. And they would have had Aaron in Boston, had they stayed another year. Boston missed out on a few Braves' championships after that in the 50s and 60s, when they had great teams.

 

They played in Braves Field, which became BU field, the site of the first AFL game between the Patriots and Broncos in 1960. That property is now something else, I believe.

[Spitball]

They played in Braves Field, which became BU field, the site of the first AFL game between the Patriots and Broncos in 1960. That property is now something else, I believe.

 

BU's Nickerson Field stands there now I believe. I understand it had a gigantic outfield.

[Gringo]

BU's Nickerson Field stands there now I believe. I understand it had a gigantic outfield.

 

It was advertised as the "Biggest Ballpark in the World", which seems a stretch, when I've seen photos, and an eerie silent home movie I found on Youtube filmed the year after they left town. I'll try to find it and link it.

 

It did have a very unique front facade, not brick, but white stucco, or something.

[Gringo]

Pretty cool photos in this montage-

 

[Gringo]

This is the eerie abandoned Braves Field one-

 

[SoxSport]

Nice pics, thanks.

 

I was never a Braves fan--always the Red Sox. Never went to Braves field until 1960, when I was at the first AFL game between the Patriots and the Denver Broncos--won by the Broncos 14-10. By then, it was Nickerson Field--owned by BU, but used by the Boston Patriots.

 

The Red Sox lost a playoff game in '48 to Cleveland to decide the AL pennant (I was at that game in Fenway with my dad, but can't remember), or else it would have been a Braves-Red Sox World Series. The Braves got very good very fast when they moved to Milwaukee, largely because of players in their farm system when they were in Boston.

[Dojji]

If the Braves had gotten good just a few years earlier, I wonder if there might have been silent home movies of an abandoned Fenway in the 50's. goodness knows there were times when the Sox' fortunes were way down.

[SCM33]

http://www.ballparktour.com/Former_Boston.html

 

History of the old Braves Field as well as links for other old and new stadiums. Extinct stadiums interest me.

 

 

Look at old Exhibition Stadium in Toronto. Can you believe that place actually hosted the Toronto Blue Jays up until the late 80's????

http://www.ballparks.com/baseball/american/exhibi01.jpg

[BOSOX11]

As a matter of trivia, Eddie Matthews was the only Brave to have played in Boston, Milwaukee and Atlanta.

[SoxSport]

As a matter of trivia' date=' Eddie Matthews was the only Brave to have played in Boston, Milwaukee and Atlanta.[/quote']

 

I guess he played in Boston as a rookie, behind Bob Ellliot at 3B. He was 18 or 19, real young.

 

Imagine, one more year in Boston, and Aaron would also have played there. Two HOFers.

They also had Johhny Sain to go with Spahn. Remember Spahn and Sain, and two days of rain?

 

The Braves, owned by Lou Perini?, had at least as good an organization as the Red Sox, but didn't get as much fan support--maybe because of Ted Williams and Fenway Park. They became powerhouses the next few years in Milwaukee.

 

They lost the '48 series to the Guardians. 4-2, but most of the games were very close and low scoring. Sain beat Feller in the first game 1-0. Bob Lemon had two wins for Cleveland.

 

Johnny Sain was famous for being maybe the best pitching coach of all time--but he was also a great pitcher--for the Boston Braves, and later for the Yankees, who traded a young Lew Burdette to the Braves for him. Burdette killed the Yankees later in the World Series. Sain was both a starter and a closer in NY in the early to mid 50s. He was the last pitcher to face Babe Ruth and the first to face Jackie Robinson.

 

Sain should be in the Hall of fame as a coach, but coaches don't make the Hall of Fame--yet sportsmedia types do. Go figure.

 

Those Braves in Atlanta will always be a part of Boston and Milwaukee as well.

[TeddyBallGame9]

I guess he played in Boston as a rookie, behind Bob Ellliot at 3B. He was 18 or 19, real young.

 

Imagine, one more year in Boston, and Aaron would also have played there. Two HOFers.

They also had Johhny Sain to go with Spahn. Remember Spahn and Sain, and two days of rain?

 

The Braves, owned by Lou Perini?, had at least as good an organization as the Red Sox, but didn't get as much fan support--maybe because of Ted Williams and Fenway Park. They became powerhouses the next few years in Milwaukee.

 

They lost the '48 series to the Guardians. 4-2, but most of the games were very close and low scoring. Sain beat Feller in the first game 1-0. Bob Lemon had two wins for Cleveland.

 

Johnny Sain was famous for being maybe the best pitching coach of all time--but he was also a great pitcher--for the Boston Braves, and later for the Yankees, who traded a young Lew Burdette to the Braves for him. Burdette killed the Yankees later in the World Series. Sain was both a starter and a closer in NY in the early to mid 50s. He was the last pitcher to face Babe Ruth and the first to face Jackie Robinson.

 

Sain should be in the Hall of fame as a coach, but coaches don't make the Hall of Fame--yet sportsmedia types do. Go figure.

 

Those Braves in Atlanta will always be a part of Boston and Milwaukee as well.

 

Great post, SoxSport! I was a little kid when the Cleveland Guardians beat the Braves in the 1948 World Series. It seemed like they had that one great year but became much more solid after moving to Milwaukee. I think, had they remained, they would always be the Red Sox' little brother. Btw, what a great pitching coach Johnny Sain was!!

[TeddyBallGame9]

Eddie Matthews was a rookie for the Boston Braves in 1952 which was the last year for the Braves in Boston and in 145 games he hit 25 home runs with a .242 BA and fanned 115 times in 528 AB.

[SoxSport]

Great post' date=' SoxSport! I was a little kid when the Cleveland Guardians beat the Braves in the 1948 World Series. It seemed like they had that one great year but became much more solid after moving to Milwaukee. I think, had they remained, they would always be the Red Sox' little brother. Btw, what a great pitching coach Johnny Sain was!! [/b']

 

RIP Feller

 

I met Bob Feller at a sports dinner about 10-12 years ago. One of the greats. He was on the USS Alabama in WWII, and one of his bunkmates was the older brother of a kid who lived across the street from me. There is a picture of Feller and his bunkmates on the Alabama in his autobiography, and one of them is this kid's older brother. I mentioned it to Feller, but he didn't remember. He was in his 80s.