In the summer of 2007, the Wisconsin Historical Museum will present a major new exhibition celebrating two of the pinnacles of Wisconsin’s baseball history: the Milwaukee Braves’ victory in the 1957 World Series (50th anniversary in 2007) and the Milwaukee Brewers 1982 American League Pennant (25th anniversary in 2007). The exhibit will pair the stories of two great Milwaukee teams of different generations, both of which featured four future members of the Baseball Hall of Fame. Troy Kinunen of MEARS is acting as guest curator for this project.
The Wisconsin Historical Museum intends to feature as many game-used artifacts as possible from players who were members of these two great teams. The Wisconsin Historical Museum is an agency of the Wisconsin State government charged with preserving and interpreting the history of Wisconsin and its people. All loans to the museum will be fully insured, safeguarded and treated with the utmost care.
We are especially anxious to locate the following objects. Some of these items have appeared at auction in recent years; others are rumored to exist; others we simply hope to discover.
1. Jersey worn by Hall of Fame second baseman Red Schoendienst.
2. Warm-up jacket, c. 1955, worn by Hall of Fame pitcher Warren Spahn.
3. Glove used by Spahn (any year).
4. Jersey, glove or other equipment by Lew Burdette, 1957 World Series MVP.
5. Ball, marked with shoe polish, which struck Nippy Jones to begin the 10th inning rally that won Game 5 of the 1957 Series.
6. Glove used by Eddie Mathews to make the final out of the 1957 Series.
7. Bats, jerseys or other equipment used by the following players: Wes Covington, Bob Hazle, Andy Pafko, Felix Mantilla, Nippy Jones, Johnny Logan, Frank Torre
8. Yankees jersey (1958) worn by Tony Kubek (born in Milwaukee, 1957 Rookie of the Year, hit 2 home runs against Braves in Game 3 of 1957 Series).
9. Detroit Tigers jersey (1959) worn by Harvey Kuenn (from West Allis, Wisconsin; manager of the 1982 Brewers).
10. Jersey, glove or other equipment used by pitcher Don Sutton.
11. Jersey, glove or other equipment used by pitcher Mike Caldwell, winner of two World Series games.
12. Bats, jerseys or other equipment used by the following players: Cecil Cooper, Jim Gantner, Don Money, Charlie Moore, Ben Oglivie, Ted Simmons, Jim Slaton, Gorman Thomas.
If you have any of the above items, or other equipment, uniforms, trophies from either of these teams, please consider lending them to the Wisconsin Historical Museum for this exhibit. Contact David Driscoll at 608-264-6571 or by e-mail at David.Driscoll@wisconsinhistory.org by March 1, 2007 to find out more. Your assistance can truly help make this exhibition a once-in-a-lifetime experience for Milwaukee and Wisconsin baseball fans.