County Stadium

• Tenants: Milwaukee Braves (NL, 1953-1965); Chicago White Sox (AL, 20 games in 1968 and 1969; Milwaukee Brewers (AL, 1970-1997; NL, 1998-2000)
• Opened: April 6, 1953
• FIRST GAME: April 14th, 1953 vs. the St. Louis Cardinals (Braves 3, Cardinals 2 (10))
• LAST GAME: September 28, 2000 vs. the Cincinnati Reds (Reds 8, Brewers 1)
• Jeff D'Amico (L) vs. Elmer Dessens (CG-W); HR: Juan Castro, Sean Casey

• Milwaukee Braves Record: 602-414-7 (.592)

• Demolished: February 21, 2001
• Capacity: 36,011 (1953); 43,394; (1954); 53,192 (1975)
• Dimensions: 315 to left field line, 362 to left-center, 402 to center, 362 to right-center, 315 to right field line. For most of the park's existence, the right field foul pole was incorrectly marked at 302 feet from home plate.

The Milwaukee Braves moved to County Stadium from Boston in 1953. The park, set in the Menominee River valley next to the Veterans Home, saw three World Series during its lifetime, and two All-Star Games. The first game was played on April 14, 1953, with the Braves defeating the St. Louis Cardinals, 3-2. The final game saw the Cincinnati Reds defeat the Brewers, 8-1, on September 28, 2000.

County Stadium, 1998

Among the important baseball events that happened here during that time:

• The Milwaukee Braves won the 1957 World Championship and the 1958 National League Pennant.
• Harvey Haddix of the Pittsburgh Pirates pitched 12 perfect innings on May 26, 1959 against the Braves before losing in the 13th inning.
• Warren Spahn pitched a no-hitter on September 16, 1960, and won his 300th career game, August 11, 1961.
• The Chicago White Sox played 20 home games in 1968 and 1969, one against each AL opponent.
• The Brewers brought Major League Baseball back to Milwaukee after a four-year absence on April 7, 1970.
• Hank Aaron hit his 755th and last career home run on July 20, 1976.
• The Milwaukee Brewers won the 1982 American League Pennant.
• Paul Molitor hit in his 39th consecutive game in 1987.
• Dale Sveum hit a walk-off home run on Easter Sunday, 1987, to give the Brewers their 12th consecutive win.
• Robin Yount collected his 3,000th career hit in 1992.

The ballpark was renovated several times during its existence, beginning with the addition of an upper deck once it was announced the Braves were moving to the city.

The most notable feature in the park during the last half of its existence was the larger Beer Barrell in center field, with a chalet where the Brewer mascot "Bernie Brewer" slid down into a large beer mug.

The park was home to bratwurst and "secret stadium sauce," and featured a sausage race in the middle of the game. Fans sang "Roll Out The Barrel" after singing "Take Me Out To The Ballgame for the seventh inning stretch.

The interior scenes to the movie Major League were filmed here.

Current Site: Helfaer Field, a little league-sized ballpark, is on the approximate footprint of the stadium's field. Home plate is located in the third-base concourse of the park. A monument to the Milwaukee Braves is located just outside of the park, down the left field line.

Further Reading

• Gregg Hoffmann: "County Stadium", in Gregory H. Wolf, ed.: Thar's Joy in Braveland: The 1957 Milwaukee Braves, SABR, Phoenix, AZ, 2014, pp. 254-257. ISBN 978-1933599717
• Adam McCalvy: "30 years ago, the first Sausage Race was run", mlb.com, June 27, 2023. [1]
• Gregory H. Wolf, ed.: From the Braves to the Brewers: Great Games and Exciting History at Milwaukee's County Stadium, SABR, Phoenix, AZ, 2016. ISBN 978-1-943816-23-1

Related Sites

• County Stadium (Milwaukee, WI) at the SABR Bio Project
• Coverage of the final game at County Stadium