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Bob Buege
remembers the "golden age of baseball."
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Some think beer made Milwaukee famous.
Not Bob Buege. The Greenfield educator and author says it was
baseball. But Buege’s not referring to the Brewers; he means the
Braves.
"I grew up in the Milwaukee area
at the time the Milwaukee Braves moved here from Boston," says
the UW-Milwaukee lecturer and former Milwaukee Public Schools English
teacher. "I was 7 at the time. Everyone in that situation ...
became an instant Braves fan. I was a huge fan of that team ... and
very upset when they moved to Atlanta."
The team moved here in 1953 and left in
1965, but Hall of Fame pitcher Warren Spahn visited in 1985, and Buege
met him at an event held at the old Eagles Club. "He was one of
the biggest stars of the Milwaukee Braves," he says. "I just
wanted to see him." But something about meeting Spahn changed
Buege. "I was inspired by that moment to write an article about
him."
But in doing research for the article,
Buege became frustrated that there was no written history of the
Braves. "At that time it seemed someone should’ve written about
the history of this team," says Buege. That’s when Buege
decided he’d write what he considers one of the "all-time great
sports stories" in the country, and "The Milwaukee Braves: A
Baseball Eulogy" was published in 1988. It was while writing that
book Buege hit on the idea for a book about Braves third baseman Eddie
Mathews.
"Eddie Mathews was probably my
No.1 hero as a child," he says. "I would say he was the most
popular player on the team. I wanted him to do the forward of my
Braves book, and he did."
Years later, Mathews agreed to let
Buege write his life story in "Eddie Mathews and the National
Pastime," published in 1994.
Buege, who is a member of the Society
for American Baseball Research and Milwaukee Braves Historical
Association, says: "I’m a baseball fan. I’m a Brewers fan
because that’s the team. (But) it’ll never replace the
Braves."
There’s just something about the game
and that simpler time — the golden age of baseball. "The Braves
captured the affection of the whole state — and surrounding
states," Buege says. "They won right from the start. These
guys were all stars. Milwaukee just fell in love with it."
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