Milwaukee’s Best, Part 5: The 50 Best To Play For Braves, Brewers: 10-1
By Phil Watson
Jun 29, 2014; Milwaukee, WI, USA; Milwaukee Brewers right fielder Ryan Braun (8) hits a solo home run in the fourth inning against the Colorado Rockies at Miller Park. Mandatory Credit: Benny Sieu-USA TODAY Sports
Dairyland Express’ look at the 50 best players for the Milwaukee Braves and Milwaukee Brewers concludes today. If you missed the first four parts, you can find them here.
The Milwaukee Braves and Milwaukee Brewers have had some of the best players in baseball on their rosters at various times.
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The Braves, during their stay in Milwaukee from 1953-66, had six future Hall of Famers on the field, including three who were with the club for all or nearly all of their stay in Milwaukee.
Eddie Mathews came to the Braves from Boston and left with the club for Atlanta, becoming the only man to play for the franchise in all three of its home cities. Warren Spahn also accompanied the team to Beer City and was with the Braves for almost its entire stint in Milwaukee.
Hank Aaron, meanwhile, debuted with Milwaukee in its second season, 1954, and remained with the Braves until they left for Atlanta after the 1965 season.
He later came back to play his final two seasons with the Brewers in 1975-76.
The Milwaukee Braves also suited up Hall of Famers Red Schoendienst (1957-60), Enos Slaughter (1959) and Phil Niekro (1964-65).
There have been five Hall of Famers wear the uniform of the Brewers since the franchise moved to Milwaukee from Seattle in 1970.
Two of those players, Paul Molitor and Robin Yount, spent the majority of their careers in Milwaukee, with Yount playing his entire career for the Brewers.
Along with Aaron, the Brewers also had future Hall of Famers Rollie Fingers (1981-85) and Don Sutton (1982-84) on the club at various times.
The Braves would go on to retire the numbers of Spahn, Mathews and Aaron and the Brewers have retired the numbers of Molitor, Young, Fingers and Aaron and will retire No. 1 to honor longtime commissioner and former Brewers owner Bud Selig sometime this season.
So we’re reached the cream of the crop—the 10 best players to wear the red and blue of the Braves or the blue and gold of the Brewers.
Next: 10. Slugging First Baseman Came Of Age In Milwaukee