Highlights Archives
Annual Rite of Spring — Baseball's Opening Day
Even if Wisconsin's weather doesn't quite say spring yet, you'll know spring is here when Americans celebrate the opening of the 2006 Major League Baseball season this week. Wisconsin's own team, the Milwaukee Brewers, plays its home opener against the Pittsburgh Pirates on Monday, April 3, at Miller Park.
People have been playing baseball in Wisconsin for around 150 years. Organized baseball began after the Civil War in towns like Baraboo and Beloit. Enterprising publishers began issuing baseball trading cards with pictures of famous athletes in the 1870s. For a firsthand look at the early days of baseball in Wisconsin, be sure to mark Saturday, June 24, on your calendar. That's when Old World Wisconsin turns back the clock to the 1860s as its own authentically attired vintage "base ball" team (yes, it was originally two words), the Eagle Diamonds, faces off against the Milwaukee Cream Citys during Base Ball History Day.
By the early 20th century, Indian teams (PDF, 488KB) were playing baseball on Wisconsin reservations, and teams were wearing formal uniforms like this one worn by Wittenberg's own Bill Gates.
With many men away during World War II, the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League was established to entertain baseball fans. The league drew young women from around country to teams in cities like Kenosha and Milwaukee. Wisconsin's own Racine Belles won the league's first championship in 1943.
You can see more about Wisconsin baseball at Turning Points in Wisconsin History, including memorabilia from the Milwaukee Braves, a bat from Red Schoendienst, and the "charm school" rules for female baseball players.
:: Posted March 29, 2006
|
