The Original Costumed Mascot, 1942

Today, the Brewers' Famous Racing Sausages celebrate their 20th Anniversary.

On Thursday, June 27, 1993, the sausages graduated from an animated cartoon on County Stadium's old black-and-white scoreboards to a live costumed event. Back in those days, there were only three sausages; Italian, Polish and Bratwurst, who won that inaugural race. They were later joined by the Hot Dog and Chorizo.

Milwaukee baseball was chock-a-block with costumed mascots that year; a costumed Bernie Brewer had just started cheering on the Brew Crew from his new Chalet installed high above the bleachers.

But Bernie wasn't the first, either.


That's skipper Charlie Grimm with a six-foot version of Owgust, the original Barrelman, way back in 1942.

I'd love to see him make a return to the ballpark, perhaps as a new incarnation of Bernie Brewer (the current mustachioed one has been that interesting to me). Can you imagine him going down the slide? Mascot logos are the best.

Majestic 1948 Throwback Jersey Review

Following up on yesterday's review of the Brewers' 1948 throwback caps, today we're going to look at Majestic's contribution to the Turn Back the Clock event, the throwback jerseys. Specifically, a retail version customized with the number of catcher Jonathan Lucroy.

The jersey features the elegant "Brewers" script wordmark introduced in 1942 set against a cream-colored polyester. This appears to be the preferred way to replicate a sense of flannel in most cases; the Brewers' 1913 throwback uniforms used exactly the same base color.

The initial Photoshop mockups on MLB's online store were not entirely accurate. They showed, and continue to show, simple red piping on the placket and cuffs. Fortunately, the actual retail jerseys include the blue/red/blue piping of the originals, reflecting the team's association with the Boston Braves.

On the back, no name. Just simple block numbers in red trimmed with navy.

It's a beautiful design, classic baseball. But how authentic is it to the original jerseys our Brews wore in 1948?

When we compare this jersey to the vintage 1948 Walt Linden jersey, we can see exactly how well they did.

The first thing that jumps out is the zipper. A staple of the original club's jerseys (every jersey they ever wore with "Brewers" on the chest had one), it's been replaced here with Majestic's standard six-button front. The button-placket also means that the piping is slightly wider than on the original.

Majestic also decided to use set-in sleeves rather than the original's raglan. Strange, since the Brewers use raglan sleeves on all their modern jerseys.

But that's where the nitpicking ends. Other than that, it's a remarkably faithful reproduction of the original, down to the number style.

Curious that they didn't include the ever-present batterman logo found on the back collars of all modern jerseys, especially since New Era put it on the backs of the caps.

I just can't get enough of that wordmark. Amazing.

Kudos to Majestic for a job very, very well done.

These are still available on MLB.com - get 'em while they're hot.

One final note on this 1948 Turn Back the Clock event; I'm still somewhat surprised that the Twins had almost no "St. Paul Saints" throwback merchandise available online. The visiting Brewers were much more well-represented. I'd like to believe that indicates a sense that Milwaukee fans are interested in their city's baseball history, but it's puzzling nonetheless.

New Era 1948 Throwback Cap Review

For the Brewers/Twins throwback game last month in Minneapolis, Majestic and New Era outfitted the teams in 1948-style uniforms. We're going to look at those uniforms over the next few days, specifically the retail versions, to see how well they recreated the period style.

First up, we have the Brewers' throwback caps manufactured by New Era and available on MLB's online store.

Blue cap, red bill & squatchee, white block "M". Simple and bold. It's a gorgeous look, obviously most commonly associated with the Milwaukee Braves but actually introduced by the Brewers as a nod to the similar cap worn by their parent club in Boston.

This cap was introduced in 1948, when the team's traditional sans-serif red letter was replace with a white block "M". With minor variations to the monogram, the style was worn through the Brewers' final game in 1952.

But how authentic is this 1948 throwback cap?

First of all, there are the concessions to modern construction and specifications. This cap was made in the United States of the relatively-new synthetic COOLERA^™ fabric. It features a black underbrim and MLB "batterman" logo on the back. Obviously, neither of these elements would have been present on the originals, but I don't have a problem with including them here.

And no, I'm not going to keep that massive New Era sticker on the brim. That would be goofy. I present it here with the retail stickers intact, just as it came out of the box, to illustrate how these caps are sold.

So that's the construction of our 1948 reproduction. But how close the style of this cap comes to the originals is worth exploring in detail.

This photo of Brewer shortstop Johnny Logan, from the 1948 edition of Who's Who in the American Association, gives us an excellent look at the original period caps. With that in mind we can evaluate New Era's reproduction.

The first thing that jumps out to me is the color. The navy seems a little light.

It's a quirk of the manufacturing process that New Era only produces caps in a limited palette of colors. Red is red is red, be it the Cardinals or Reds or Angels, who all wear the exact same color cap, the same red as this brim. New Era does offer MLB teams a choice of two shades of navy blue, however. The Brewers wear the lighter navy, while teams like the Yankees sport a darker "midnight navy":

Our 1948 reproduction uses the same lighter navy the Brewers regularly wear. Comparing the colors of this cap to other red-and-blue capped teams, it's the same as the Indians, not the Braves:

I suspect the original Brewer cap in 1948 was closer to the Braves' midnight navy than the Indians' lighter shade. That would seem to be backed up by the vintage 1948 jersey in the museum's collection, a jersey trimmed in a blue so dark that the original auction catalog listed it as "black".

Even accounting for the age of this jersey, the Brewers' shade of blue at the time was clearly very dark. New Era's midnight navy would probably have been a better match.

Which brings us to the "M".

New Era has an ongoing problem with this logo, everywhere it appears. I don't know if the problem lies with the Cooperstown Collection style guide, or if it's just bad work on the manufacturers, but their "M" has never been right.

Look how squat their standard letter is (with the triangular crotch extending almost all the way down to the bottom) compared with the originals:

The letter should be significantly taller than it is wide, but for some reason in recent years we've seen nothing but squat, square "M"s on reproduction caps.

This modern style is especially incongruous when compared with the logo worn by the Brewers in 1948. Later seasons would see the exact same "M" made famous by the Milwaukee Braves, but in its first season, the letter was particularly narrow. Compare the square New Era monogram with this photo of catcher Walt Linden, also from the 1948 edition of Who's Who in the American Association.

So, on balance, how did New Era do? Their reproduction 1948 cap is good with all the broad strokes, but just misses on the details. Still, it's a fantastic design, and well worth picking up while you can.

Back in Blue, Part III: More on the Brewers' Second 1970 Prototype

This AP wire photo from 1970 recently turned up on eBay.

MILWAUKEE, WIS., April 6—Player John Kennedy and airline stewardess Barbara Heimann enter Milwaukee airport as Milwaukee Brewers made first appearance in the city since moving from Seattle. Miss Heimann wore a brewers uniform.

We've discussed in some detail the jersey Ms. Heimann is wearing; it is the prototype briefly used by the Brewers in the heady days after a Washington court allowed Bud Selig to buy the bankrupt Pilots and move them to the Cream City. You might remember that when Selig formed his group to bring baseball back to the Cream City, he borrowed the name and mascot of his boyhood team.

This particular jersey was actually the second prototype; the first was a pinstriped number displayed in the window of College Athletic sporting goods on Plankinton Avenue in downtown Milwaukee to raise interest before the Pilots' sale and move was even approved.

	BREWERS' BACKER — Wearing a Brewers' uniform, airline stewardess Barbara Heimann, Chicago, gave a victory sign shortly after the plane carrying the team arrived at Mitchell Field.

This wire photo brings to five the total number of pictures we currently have of this jersey, all taken within the span of less than one week as the newly-minted Milwaukee Brewers were scrambling to prepare for rapidly-approaching Opening Day. I'd like to put all five photos here, in one place, so we can create as complete an image of the second prototype as possible.

The first two extant photos were taken at Mitchell Field as the Brewer players arrived at their new hometown. While the AP photographer above was capturing Ms. Heimann and second baseman John Kennedy entering the Mitchell Field terminal, a Milwaukee Journal shutterbug, crouching down, was capturing the same shot, Ms. Heimann staring right into his lens. Same raised arm, same V-for-victory salute (rather ironic, since Milwaukee's return to the majors was coming in the person of a truly dreadful team barely removed from its expansion roots).

The other three were taken four days before at Spring Training in Arizona right after the move was made official. The first of those shows a before and after of the transition, with the prototype uniform and the old Pilots uniform side-by-side:

TEMPE, ARIZ.—THE NEW AND THE OLD—Manager Dave Bristol models one of the new uniforms his team will be wearing now that the Seattle Pilots have become the Milwaukee Brewers. Catcher Jerry McNertny wears one of the old uniforms.

An almost-identical photo, snapped as Bristol turned his head, was published in the Ludington (Michigan) Daily News:

Pilots to Brewers

Although they sport different uniforms Manager Dave Bristol (l) and catcher Jerry McNertny (r) represent the same team. Bristol wears the uniform of the American League's newest city, Milwaukee, while McNertny wears the uniform of the now defunct Seattle Pilots. A bankruptcy referee recently approved the sale of the Seattle Pilots to the Milwaukee Brewers. The Brewers open their home season tomorrow against the California Angels.

Finally we have this handsome full-frontal shot of the jersey, modeled by pitcher Marty Pattin:

TEMPE, ARIZ.—Marty Pattin, who won seven games for the Seattle Pilots in 1969, breaks out a Milwaukee Brewer uniform at the Pilot-Brewers training camp here 4/1, a day after the Pilots became the Brewers.

The caption is kind to ol' Marty: he won seven games for Seattle but lost twelve. Milwaukee would be good to him for the two years he spent there, first doubling his win total in 1970 for a 17-12 record, and then following it up in 1971 with an even 14-14 mark.

Adding this new wire photo to the mix, I'm more convinced than ever that there was only one prototype of this style made, passed from Pattin to Bristol to the flight attendant so they could display it for the cameras.

We still don't know what the color scheme was. A reader was able to confirm that the Brewers' first prototype, a pinstriped number created before the Pilots' sale was official, was the blue and red of our American Association Brewers. This second prototype looks more like blue and gold to me, but we can't be sure.

Closing Time for the Orchard

Sixty years ago today, the Milwaukee Braves were playing the New York Giants in an afternoon game at their brand-new County Stadium. The ballpark was originally built for the Brewers to use while the city lured a major league team, but had been so successful that the latter happened before the former could.

Five miles northeast of County Stadium, the old ballpark it replaced was in the process of being torn down. The Milwaukee Sentinel ran these pictures in its June 19, 1953 edition, showing the demolition in progress:

Borchert Orchard Is Now Just a Memory

The once densely populated 8th and Chambers Borchert Field is now just a memory. What some of baseball's greatest fence busters couldn't do has been done by wrecking crews during the last few months and today this picture shows all that is left of the diamond where minor league greats performed for decades. Milwaukee is major league now and the hub of activities is the new Milwaukee Stadium. The good burghers who for years kept their windows screened to protect against flying baseballs can now breathe easier. And with the cheers of thousands no longer ringing in their ears they can probably sleep better, too.

At the time the old park was being torn down, the city didn't quite know what it was going to do with its newly-aquired, newly-empty full city block.

Until just a few months before, Borchert Field and the land it stood on had been owned by Idabel Borchert, widow of prominent Milwaukee sportsman and former Brewer owner Otto Borchert, who (with some partners he later bought out) had purchased the Brewers in January of 1920: land, ballpark and all. When Otto died on the eve of the 1927 season, she sold the team but hung on to the real estate. Mrs. Borchert owned the park through the various changes of Brewer ownership, from Phil Ball of the St. Louis Browns to Bill Veeck to the Boston Braves and more in between. All the while, the namesake's widow remained landlady to the Brews, who had them signed to a lease through 1954.

But the coming of County Stadium meant the end of an era, and the team and city settled on an ingenious method of getting out of the last year left on their Borchert Field lease: the city bought the place from Mrs. Borchert. They paid her $123,000 for the land, and in a ceremony between halves of a double-header on August 26, 1952, the lease was publicly burned by Mrs. Borchert, Brewer general manager Red Smith and Milwaukee Mayor Frank P. Zeidler (himself no stranger to public performances in the Orchard):

The ashes were "placed in a recepticle and hauled away in a horse drawn hearse to the accompaniment of doleful organ music." At the end of the ceremony, the entire crowd stood to sing "Auld Lang Syne" on the imminent passing of the wooden park.

At the time, Mayor Ziedler indicated that the land might be used for housing, or possibly for a kids' playground. And we can see in this 1962 photo, the city chose the latter:

The choice might have indicated something about the city's general level of commitment to the plan, given that it was the easier one to undo. Even at the time, there were indications of a greater plan for the land, and that the "Borchert Field Tot Lot" wouldn't last. On Thursday, January 22, 1953, before the demolition work had even begun, the Milwaukee Journal indicated that

A special committee of city, county and school board officials (...) favored keeping Borchert Field, former home of the Milwaukee Brewers baseball team, an open area for a playground or park until final plans are decided for the north leg of the city expressway system.

And that's exactly what happened. The "tot lot", along with additional city blocks to the north and south, were razed and the ground lowered to accomodate what is now I-43. These pictures published in the April 16, 1967 Milwaukee Journal show a before and after of the stadium site, looking east towards Lake Michigan:

Borchert Field Gone

The sound of cheering crowds and the sharp crack of baseballs off bats have been given way to the din of freeway traffic in the block bounded by N. 7th, N. 8th, W. Chambers and W. Burleigh sts. In 1928 the block was the site of Borchert field (lower), home of the old Milwaukee Brewers baseball club. Today the grandstand is gone (upper), replaced by the twin concrete ribbons of the North-South freeway. W. Chambers st. has been cut by the freeway. In the background of both of the pictures is Garfield park (upper left).

Garfield Park was renamed Clinton Rose Park in the late 1970s upon the passing of the district's County Supervisor, Clinton Rose. That park, two blocks east of the Borchert Field site, is where the Orchard's historical marker was placed in 2008.

The irony is that by the time these two pictures were published in the Journal, the Braves had skipped town and Milwaukee was left without a big league team, the whole raison d'être for tearing down the old ballpark in the first place. Bud Selig was already hot on the trail of a new club, and almost exactly three years later Milwaukee would be home to a brand new (if somewhat improvised) Brewers, carrying on the Orchard's traditions.

Today, the name "Borchert Field" lingers on as one of Milwaukee's many colorfully-named neighborhoods, like Brewers' Hill, Tippecanoe and Walker's Point.

Curiously, the old ballpark site itself does not appear to fall within the boundaries of this neighborhood, which from what I can find online reaches as far southeast as Burleigh and Eighth, or kitty-corner from where the ballpark used to be.

The "Borchert Field" neighborhood is in red, the site of old Borchert Field itself in blue.

For a larger view of where the neighborhood sits in relation to downtown, Miller Park and other Milwaukee landmarks:

Milwaukee's baseball past lives on, sometimes in subtle ways.

Bobby and the Orchard

In honor of Father's Day, I'd like to share with you this story told to me by reader Sue Bosman about her dad, Bobby Parron, and the times he spent at the Orchard when he was a boy.

Bobby Parron about age 7 (c. 1935)

I wanted to share a little memory my dad told me before he passed away. He lived on 10th and Locust, just a block or two from Borchert Field. This was from around the early 1930s or so.

He used to watch the game through the knot holes, but when fans came to park their cars there, as a little kid, he would say "Hey mister, I'll watch your car for a nickel." They would say sure and give him a nickel. He kept doing this to car after car until he came up with enough money to buy himself a ticket to the game.

Bobby and his aunt (his mother is partially visible behind him)

On a side note, my grandmother (dad's mom) was an entertainer at a roadhouse in Milwaukee during the 1920s. It was a well known roadhouse where celebrities, sports figures and various well-known people of the time went. Grandma became friends with many "regulars" there including Babe Ruth.

She became good friends with Babe, enough to call him by his name "Herman", which he preferred as he did not like his first name. When Babe was in the area for a game, he would golf at Bluemound Country Club during the day, and at night he would come into the roadhouse with his golfing attire on. I asked grandma if she got his autograph and she indignantly said "Friends don't ask friends for autographs."

Grandma had many nice things to say about Babe, including that he was "a real big tipper" and a really happy, personable guy who enjoyed to eat and drink. And "when Al Capone came in there with his people, if he asks you to dance, you dance."

I know it's short, but it's a memory that I wanted to contribute.

I'm so glad you did, Sue. Thank you.

Personal stories like these bring real human life to a field of study quick to sink into sepia-toned photographs and dry statistics. In our detail obsession, it's easy to lose sight of the men who actually played the game, and the men, women, and especially children who loved it.

Inspired by Sue's contribution, I've started a new tag – "PERSONAL REMEMBRANCES" – to catalog stories like hers. If you have a memory surrounding Borchert Field that you'd like to share, drop me a line. We'd love to hear from you.

"Whattaman" and Wife, 1931

This Acme wire photo gives us another look at Charles Arthur Shires, also known as Art "the Great" Shires, also known as "Whattaman" Shires. Shires was profiled by Paul Tenpenny three years ago, but this photo is new to us.

BACK TO THE BUSHES WITH THE GREAT SHIRES

PHOTO SHOWS – First photo of Art "the Great Shires" in the uniform of the Milwaukee (Wis.) Brewers with whom he will play during the coming season. The former big league ball player was photographed with Mrs. Shires at Hot Springs, Ark., during his initial practice with the minor league team.

Art is looking pretty sharp in his pinstriped 1931 Brewer uniform. I also love the cloche hat Mrs. Whattaman is wearing; very Jazz Age. She was Elizabeth "Betty" Greenabaum, an 18-year-old student at the University of Wisconsin. They were relative newlyweds when this picture was taken, having been married the previous November 7th in Los Angeles, where Shires was spending the off-season working as an actor.

Shires had been traded from the Chicago White Sox to the Washington Senators during the 1930 season, but the rowdy ways that sent him out of the Windy City also caused him trouble with Clark Griffith. Washington sold him to the Brewers on December 1st, 1930, for a reported $10,000. "Shires," Griffith was quoted as saying, "is the best ball player I have ever sent back to the minors."

If they were hoping that marriage would settle him down, early indications weren't promising. After the ceremony, Shires joked around with the reporters covering him. "Now, I've got a wife, and I'll need more money. Guess I'll have to be a hold-out next spring." He called his courthouse wedding "batting practice", suggesting that "there will have to be a church wedding later, although I’d rather face that great pitcher 'Lefty' Groves [sic] than do this over again."

Outstanding.

The photo itself is fascinating; it has been manually touched up to enhance some elements. The most obvious are the shadow above Shires's right shoulder and the white space behind the former Miss Greenabaum. What might not be so readily apparent is the re-drawn pinstipes on his jersey and an outlining on the left half of the jersey's Milwaukee "M". When the light strikes the photo just right, the outlining takes on a calligraphic quality, almost like Japanese brush strokes:

A lost art, replaced by the impersonal hand of Photoshop.

"Johnny Brewer"

Tomorrow, in a pregame ceremony, longtime Milwaukee Braves shortstop Johnny Logan will be honored with a plaque at the Walk of Fame at Miller Park.

The Brewers' press release for the event reads:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
TUESDAY, JUNE 4, 2013
CONTACT: BREWERS MEDIA RELATIONS
414-902-4500
Brewers.com

FORMER MILWAUKEE BRAVES SHORTSTOP JOHNNY LOGAN TO BE INDUCTED INTO MILLER PARK WALK OF FAME THURSDAY
Press conference scheduled for 4:15 p.m., on-field ceremony starts at 6:40 p.m.

MILWAUKEE – Former Milwaukee Braves shortstop Johnny Logan will be honored on Thursday as the newest member of the Miller Park Walk of Fame. In January, the Brewers announced Logan received over 72% of the vote (32 votes) in Walk of Fame balloting, which includes members of the media throughout Wisconsin as well as Brewers executives. Logan's election marks the first time since Lew Burdette (2010) that a player will be inducted.

Logan played in Milwaukee from 1953 – 1961 and appeared in four All-Star Games as a member of the Braves. For his 13 year career, Logan hit .268 with 93 home runs and 547 RBI. He was a member of the Braves World Series Championship team in 1957 and the National League Championship team in 1958. Logan was signed by the Boston Braves in 1947 and made his Major League debut with Boston in 1951. After playing in Milwaukee, he played three seasons with the Pittsburgh Pirates.

Other past winners of the award include Hank Aaron, Rollie Fingers, Paul Molitor, Robin Yount in 2001; Commissioner Bud Selig and Cecil Cooper in 2002; Bob Uecker and Harry Dalton in 2003; Jim Gantner and Gorman Thomas in 2004; Don Money and Harvey Kuenn in 2005; Eddie Mathews, Warren Spahn and John Quinn in 2007 (the first year that former Braves players appeared on the ballot); and Lew Burdette in 2010.

Each inductee is honored with a granite plaque that is placed into the terrace area walkway that surrounds Miller Park.

All of that is good. All of that is true. But it doesn't tell the complete story. It neglects to mention, for example, that Logan "played in Milwaukee" before 1953; before he was a Brave, he was a Brewer.

Johnny Logan in 1952

Logan's start in Milwaukee was inauspicious. He came back to Borchert Field in 1948 from the Evansville Braves of the Illinois-Indiana-Iowa League.

1948 Milwaukee Brewers
(Logan second row, second from right)

The 1948 edition of Who's Who in the American Association had this to say about the new kid, beaming out from beneath his blue-and-red cap:

In this program from that season, Logan is listed as a "utility player", assigned #2.

Logan struggled with the Brewers, and on June 24th was sent down to the Dallas Eagles. He performed well in Dallas, well enough to earn another shot at Milwaukee the following spring. He was taking over for Alvin Dark, who in one single season at Borchert Field had set a pretty high bar for Brewer shortstops.

Logan reportedly clashed with longtime first baseman Heinz Becker, who would "give it" to Logan when the young man sent a wild throw to first. It got so bad, Sentinel scribe Red Thisted reported, that the Brewers had to ship Becker to the Seattle Rainiers. Logan was, after all, the future, and although Becker was beloved in Milwaukee, his career was winding down.

The Brewers replaced Becker at first with soft-spoken Nick Etten in 1949. Etten was just what Logan needed, never reproaching him no matter how many times the youngster bounced throws to first. Logan thrived as the regular shortstop, racking up defensive averages behind only Bill Costa of Columbus in the American Association. He was involved in 111 double plays, also second best in the Association, with a "respectable" batting average of .286, 69 RBI and 14 home runs.

That performance was good enough to solidify his position in the starting infield for 1950. This was his entry in that season's edition of Who's Who in the American Association:

In 1951, Logan had a 46-game errorless streak, from May 13 through June 24th. That single error was his only misstep of the season.

1951 souvenir visor with facsimile Logan autograph (center, below Charlie Grimm)

The Braves were watching him closely, and Logan earned his ticket to Boston on the Fourth of July.

Braves infield, late 1951: from left, Earl Torgeson (1B) / Roy Hartsfield (2B) / Johnny Logan (SS) / Bob Elliot (3B)

He played the rest of the season at Braves Field, but when 1952 started he was back at Borchert's Orchard.

Logan and second baseman Jack Dittmer in 1952

The Braves had a new manager that season in Tommy Holmes, and a new shortstop named Jack Cusick, a sophomore acquired from the Chicago Cubs. Both had a short tenure in Boston, as Holmes was fired on May 31st. Holmes was replaced by Brewers skipper Charlie Grimm, who immediately called up his regular shortstop.

When Johnny next returned to Milwaukee, it was with the rest of the Braves, moving in to the brand-new County Stadium days before the start of the 1953 season.

Logan's time with the Milwaukee Braves is well-documented. He anchored the infield for a decade, and was a key member of the World Champion squad in 1957.

Logan finished his career with a four-year stint in Pittsburgh (1961-63) and one with Japan's Nankai Hawks (1964). After hanging up his glove he returned to Milwaukee, where he hosted a sports radio show on WOKY. He moved into television in 1973 as the color commentator for the new American League Milwaukee Brewers.

Logan tried his hand at politics, unsuccessfully running for Milwaukee County Sheriff three times: 1966, 1968 and 1978. This matchbook is from the 1968 campaign, the only time he ran as a Republican.

It seems that Braves nostalgia was already pretty deep in Milwaukee County, to be featured so prominently. This was just a few years after the club moved to Atlanta, and would have obviously been fresh in fans' minds during the dark period between the loss of the Braves and the coming of the new Brewers.

After the death of his wife in 1989, and at the suggestion of former Braves teammate and longtime friend Bob Uecker, Logan began working for the Brewers as a radar gun operator. He sat behind home plate, clocking every pitch (and, no doubt, greeting Milwaukee baseball fans). He later moved on to scouting for the Brewers.

Logan with Bob Uecker

Logan has been a key player in keeping Milwaukee baseball memories alive. He is frequently sought out for interviews about both the Braves and the old Brewers. In 1999, he co-founded the Milwaukee Braves Historical Association. With that group, Logan conceived of and raised funds for a monument to the Braves outside Miller Park, a monument that was unveiled in of 2002.

As awareness of the American Association Brewers has increased, Logan has also become a stand-in for his original Milwaukee club. When the Brewers sponsored an historical marker to commemorate the site of Borchert Field in 2008, Logan attended the ceremony to represent the Brews.

I hope that the old Brewers don't go unmentioned at tomorrow's ceremony. But even if they do, we'll know. And we'll help keep those memories alive, with the help of our very own "Johnny Brewer".