It could be said that the modern baseball era began in 1953, when the Braves moved from Boston to Milwaukee. It was the first major league franchise move in fifty years, and began the westward movement of baseball as it followed the shifting population of the country.

SHOPPING » Look for Milwaukee Braves books at BN.com » Look for Milwaukee Braves books at Amazon.com Your purchases keep BaseballLibrary.com online. Thank you!

RELATED LINKS » 1956: October's Revenge » 1959: The Greatest Game Ever Lost » 1982: Rickey's 119th in 1982 Book Excerpts » The Braves' last game in Milwaukee Submissions » #41: That World Series Homer by Fred Antonelli » My All-Time Braves Team by Michael Rapaport Ask The Experts » : Can you give me the team roster for the 1955 Milwaukee Braves? » Who wore #11 for the Milwaukee Braves? Around the Web » Baseball family patriarch Boone dies from chicagosports.com Jump directly to Library content from any website!

From 1948 to 1952 Lou Perini's Boston Braves suffered a devastating 80% drop in attendance from their 1948 pennant-boosted figures. Unhappy competing with the Red Sox for fan loyalty and dollars, Perini moved his team to Milwaukee, a town that for years had supported a minor league franchise. At first, the move succeeded beyond all expectations. Braves attendance in 1953 was more than 1.8 million and set a National League record. The Braves' young talent included Hank Aaron and Eddie Mathews, and the team contended throughout the rest of the decade. They won the WS in 1957 and followed it with a NL pennant in 1958, but attendance had already begun to drop somewhat. This trend was accelerated when the team failed to contend in the early 1960s, and by 1966 Milwaukee had lost to Atlanta the team it had greeted so enthusiastically in 1953. (SH)

FROM THE BASEBALL CHRONOLOGY » March 18, 1953: The Boston Braves become the Milwaukee Braves, the first franchise shift in baseball since 1903 when Baltimore moved to New York. The Braves have been in Boston for 77 years. Milwaukee assumes Pittsburgh's place in the Western Division for scheduling purposes and night games. The Brewers move to Toledo. » April 13, 1953: In Cincinnati, over 30,000 see the Milwaukee Braves win their first game 2-0 behind Max Surkont. » July 21, 1953: The Milwaukee Braves suffer their worst shutout loss in the history of the franchise, losing to the Phils 10-0. » February 1, 1954: The Milwaukee Braves send pitchers Johnny Antonelli, Don Liddle, infielder Billy Klaus, and C Ebba St. Claire to the New York Giants for OF Bobby Thomson and C Sam Calderone. Giant fans will howl in protest at the loss of Thomson, but will quiet down when Antonelli posts a sparkling 21–7 record. » September 23, 1957: The Milwaukee Braves clinch the pennant by beating the Cardinals 4-2 on Hank Aaron's 11th-inning HR. » March 31, 1961: The Milwaukee Braves send infielders Andre Rodgers and Daryl Robertson to the Cubs for pitchers Moe Drabowsky and Seth Morehead. » January 30, 1962: The Milwaukee Braves sign Peter Marchegiano, brother of former heavyweight boxing champ Rocky Marciano, to a minor league contract. » November 16, 1962: John McHale and six former stockholders of the White Sox purchase the Milwaukee Braves from the Perini Corporation for $6,218,480. » April 7, 1963: A public stock offering of 115,000 shares in the Milwaukee Braves is withdrawn after only 13,000 shares are sold to 1,600 new investors.