 1911 colorized postcard of Athletic Park exterior | |
 | |
| Former names | Athletic Park (1888–1927) |
|---|---|
| Location | Milwaukee,Wisconsin, U.S. |
| Coordinates | 43°04′26″N87°55′14″W / 43.074°N 87.9205°W /43.074; -87.9205 |
| Capacity | 13,000 (1952) |
| Field size | Left Field – 267 ft (81 m) Left-Center – 435 ft (133 m) Center Field – 392 ft (119 m) Right-Center – 435 ft (133 m) Right Field – 268 ft (82 m) |
| Surface | Natural grass |
| Construction | |
| Opened | 1888; 137 years ago (1888) |
| Closed | 1952; 73 years ago (1952) |
| Demolished | 1953 |
| Tenants | |
Milwaukee Brewers/Creams (WL) (1888–1894)
Green Bay Packers (NFL) (1933) | |
Borchert Field, known at various times asAthletic Park andBorchert's Orchard, was abaseball park inMilwaukee,Wisconsin. The home field for several professional baseball clubs from 1888 through 1952, it also hosted two football teams: theMilwaukee Badgers from 1922 to 1926 and theGreen Bay Packers in 1933. The stadium became obsolete after the construction ofCounty Stadium in 1953 and was demolished later that year. After serving as a recreational area for a decade,Interstate 43 was built on top of it.
The park was built on a rectangular block bounded by North 7th, North 8th, West Chambers, and West Burleigh Streets. Home plate was at the south end (Chambers), with the outfield bounded by the outer fence, making fair territoryhome-plate-shaped, with short fields in left and right and very deep power alleys, a configuration used by a number of ballparks of the era that were constrained by a narrow block.
Borchert Park, known when it opened as Athletic Park, was constructed in 1888 at a cost of $40,000 ($1.4 million in2024). The site was located in a residential area, situated on a rectangular block bounded by four streets. The shape of the property created unique conditions in the outfield: the fences in field and right field were located only 266 feet from home plate, while dead center was 395 feet.[1] However, the fences in left-center and right-center were 435 feet from home plate, creating deep "power alleys".[citation needed] The park was dedicated on May 19, 1888, with a game between clubs from Milwaukee andSaint Paul, Minnesota.[2] The ballfield replaced theWright Street Grounds.(Podoll, p. 46) Although designed as a baseball stadium, the park was also used as anice hockey rink,[citation needed], as well as hosting rodeos, wrestling, and civic assemblies.[1]
Athletic Park / Brewer Field was officially renamed Borchert Field at the start of the 1928 season in honor of previous owner Otto Borchert,[3] who had died the previous year at a baseball dinner that was being broadcast live on the radio (Podoll, p. 218). During the 1920s, the ballpark had been unofficially dubbed "Borchert's Orchard" by the media (Podoll, p. 189).
The ballpark suffered weather damage on June 15, 1944. During a game with Columbus, a windstorm pulled off the roof on the right side of the stands, sending debris flying and damaging some houses on 7th Street. The game was immediately stopped, ending in a tie. There were some serious injuries reported, but no known fatalities.[4] That portion of the stands remained uncovered for the remaining years of the park's existence.
The final game at the ballpark came on September 21, 1952, a Brewers loss to the Kansas City Blues in the American Association playoffs.
Experimental night games had been staged at Borchert from time to time, using portable lighting. The trend, especially in the minor leagues, was toward night games. Permanent lights were installed at Borchert in 1935, with the first Brewers night game being held on June 6. All of the light standards were mounted on the playing field, including a set of double poles near each corner, limiting the view of the field from some box seats.
The left and right field corners were so steep and close to the field that the only observers who could see the entire field were the players themselves, and the fans in the center field bleachers. AfterLou Perini bought the Brewers, he had home plate and the infield moved about 20 feet (6.1 m) toward center field.[5] This allowed for placing bullpens in the left and right field corners, each team's pen on the opposite side of the field from their dugout so the coaching staff could watch them. It also had the effect of allowing fans to see more fair territory than they could previously.
One of the more colorful times for the stadium occurred during the early 1940s whenBill Veeck owned the team. The "PT Barnum of Baseball" brought an element of whimsy and marketing to the park, including fan giveaways of livestock, butter and vegetables, and staging morning games for third-shift wartime workers. According to his own autobiography,Veeck – As in Wreck, he claimed to have installed a screen to make the right field target a little more difficult for left-handed pull hitters of the opposing team. The screen was on wheels, so any given day it might be in place or not, depending on the batting strength of the opposing team.
There was no rule against that activity as such, so he got away with it, until one day when he took it to an extreme, rolling it out when the opponents batted, and reeling it back when the Brewers batted. Veeck reported that the league passed a rule against it the very next day. It has been speculated that the story was made up by Veeck; research by two members of theSociety for American Baseball Research revealed no evidence of either a movable fence or any gear (pulleys, etc.) required for it to work.[6] As early as 1944, newspapers were reporting on the story of the screens, though specifics have been elusive.
In that same book Veeck wrote: "Borchert Field, an architectural monstrosity, was so constructed that the fans on the first-base side of the grandstand couldn't see the right fielder, which seemed perfectly fair in that the fans on the third-base side couldn't see the left fielder. 'Listen,' I told them. 'This way you'll have to come back twice to see the whole team.'" Veeck's comments referred to the exceptionally high corners, which could theoretically hide the closest outfielder from a given spectator's view at times.
Borchert Field's first baseball tenant was theMilwaukee Brewers, a minor league baseball team in theWestern League, who played there from 1886 to 1892.
TheMilwaukee Creams, a minor league baseball team that existed in various forms from 1889 to 1913 played at Borchert Field andLloyd Street Grounds. The Creams played at Borchert for two seasons in 1889 and 1913, and two seasons at Lloyd Street (1902 and 1903).
An independent minor league named theAmerican Association formed in 1902, including a newMilwaukee Brewers club.[7] Meanwhile, another new minor league club, the Creams, began play in a new version of theWestern League. The Creams retained the lease on the Lloyd Street property, so the Brewers re-opened their1887–1894 ballpark, initially calling itBrewer Field, although the name Athletic Park endured until around 1920. Otto Borchert, son ofMilwaukee brewing pioneer Frederick Borchert, purchased the field in 1920.[8] The park thereafter became known as Borchert Field. Its original seating capacity was 4,800 (Pajot; 2009), but was later expanded to 10,000.
The ballfield was also sublet to theMilwaukee Brewers club of the major leagueAmerican Association for the latter part of the 1891 season, replacing the disbandedCincinnati Kelly's Killers. After the major league American Association merged into theNational League in 1892, the Milwaukee franchise was discontinued.
Because Milwaukee was too small to support two ballclubs, the Western League entry folded after 1903. The AA Brewers played for 51 seasons before being displaced by the major leagueMilwaukee Braves.
Borchert Field was also home to theMilwaukee Bears of theNegro National League in 1923. After a 12–41 record in league play during its inaugural season, the team disbanded. Although based out of Borchert, they ended up playing only nine games there, with most of their games being on the road.[9] Borchert hosted Games 3 and 4 of the 1937Negro American League Championship Series, which matched theKansas City Monarchs against theChicago American Giants (the Monarchs won both games and the Series).[10]
TheMilwaukee Chicks of theAll-American Girls Professional Baseball League also played their only season at Borchert Field, in 1944. The Chicks rallied during the second half of the season, going 40–19, and won the championship series against theKenosha Comets. Borchert Field was unavailable during the series, so all seven games were played inKenosha, Wisconsin. However, high tickets prices, poor attendance, and competition with the Milwaukee Brewers led the team to move toGrand Rapids, Michigan in 1945.[11]
TheMilwaukee Badgers entered theNational Football League (NFL) in 1922 and played at Borchert Field until 1926, when the team folded.[12] During their five years in the NFL, the Badgers suffered from poor management, with their ownership group originally located inChicago. Even though the Badgers had big-name players throughout their history, includingFritz Pollard,Duke Slater,Paul Robeson,Bo McMillan,Jim Conzelman,Johnny "Blood" McNally,Red Dunn, andLaVern Dilweg, they were never able to translate that to success on the field; they only achieved a winning record once, going 7–2–3 in 1923. The Badgers also were punished forplaying four high schoolers in a league game; they incurred a $500 ($8,965 in2024) fine and their owners were forced to sell the team. The Badgers were readmitted to the league under new ownership before the start of the1926 season, but after a 2–7 record the team was withdrawn from the NFL.[13]
Borchert Field hosted the first NFL game for theGreen Bay Packers in Milwaukee.[14] The Packers had played, and won, seven games in Milwaukee since 1921, but none of them were official league games.[14][15][16] In September 1933, Packers leadership announced that an October 1 game against theNew York Giants, originally scheduled to be played inGreen Bay, Wisconsin, would be moved to Milwaukee.Lee Joannes, thepresident of the Packers at the time, made the announcement, noting support from the NFL for the move. Joannes stated that for many years prior, fans in the southern Wisconsin area had pushed for a game to be played in Milwaukee.[17] Noting their strong support in the region, the Packers expected to fill Borchert Field, which had been chosen for the game, with 12,000 to 14,000 fans.[15][16]
The decision was not popular in Green Bay, but the game ended up drawing the largest crowd that season for a Packers game.[18] About 13,000 fans ended up attending the game, although the Packers lost 10–7 to the Giants. Post-game analysis from theGreen Bay Press-Gazette blamed the Packers' own mistakes and the Giants' strong defensive performance for the upset loss.[19][20] The game though initiated a 62-season presence for the Packers in Milwaukee. They would continue playing a few games a year there until 1994, first atWisconsin State Fair Park (1934–1951), thenMarquette Stadium (1952), and last atMilwaukee County Stadium (1953–1994).[14]
By the 1950s, Borchert Field was in disrepair and too small to accommodateMajor League Baseball.[1][12] Milwaukee civic leaders, seeking a major league franchise, builtMilwaukee County Stadium to replace Borchert Field.[12] It was intended that the minor leagueBrewers would move from Borchert to play in Milwaukee County Stadium in the 1953 season.[21] However, early that year their parent club, theBoston Braves, relocated to Milwaukee and made Milwaukee County Stadium their new home.[22] In a corresponding move, the minor league franchise moved toToledo, Ohio, after theToledo Mud Hens had moved the previous year.[23] The team was renamed the Toledo Glass Sox where they won the American Association pennant that same year.[24][25]
In December 1952, with Milwaukee County Stadium expected to be open for the 1953 season, Borchert Field was demolished. The demolition occurred with little public attention, with the wood from the grandstands piled up for members of the public to take for free for kindling.[12][26] The city had purchased the property in 1952; during the demolition, there were proposals to use the site for a playground, homes, a school, or a highway.[12] The field remained for some ten years as a recreational park. In 1963, the former site of the ballpark (and the entire block) became fully occupied byInterstate 43, Milwaukee's major north-south freeway.[27]
| Preceded by first stadium | Milwaukee Home of the Green Bay Packers 1933 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by first stadium | Home of the Milwaukee Badgers 1922 – 1926 | Succeeded by last stadium |
| Preceded by first stadium | Home of the Milwaukee Brewers 1894 | Succeeded by |
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Former stadiums of the National Football League | |
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| Early era: 1920–1940 |
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| Post-war and pre-merger era: 1941–1969 |
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| Current era: 1970–present |
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| Stadiums used by NFL teams temporarily |
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†= Team's stadium under construction or refurbishment at time | |
