The true story of "one of the most colorful—and neglected—underdog champions in baseball history" (Mark Frost, New York Times–bestselling author).
The rip-roaring tale of baseball's most unlikely champions, featuring interviews with Henry Aaron, Bob Uecker and other members of the Milwaukee Braves, Bushville Wins! takes fans to an era baseball and the Heartland will never forget.
In the early 1950s, the New York Yankees were invincible—World Series champions for eight consecutive years. Then the Boston Braves moved to Milwaukee in 1953. Led by visionary owner Lou Perini, the Braves formed a powerful relationship with the Miller Brewing Company and foreshadowed the Dodgers and Giants moving west. But the rest of the country wasn't sold. Why would a major league team move to a minor league town? In big cities like New York, Milwaukee was thought to be a podunk train station stop-off where the fans were always drunk and wouldn't know a baseball from a beer. They called Milwaukee Bushville.
The Braves were no bushers! Eddie Mathews was a handsome home run hitter with a rugged edge. Warren Spahn was the craftiest pitcher in the business. Lew Burdette was a sharky spitball artist. Taken together, the Braves reveled in the High Life and made Milwaukee famous, while Wisconsin fans showed the rest of the country how to crack a cold one and throw a tailgate party. And in 1954, a solemn and skinny slugger came from Mobile to Milwaukee. Henry Aaron began his march to history.
With a cast of screwballs, sluggers and beer swiggers, the Braves proved the guys at the corner bar could do the impossible—topple Casey Stengel's New York baseball dynasty in a World Series for the ages.
