Teams playing outside of their home city for a few games is not entirely uncommon these days. However, that was not always the case. When the Chicago White Sox announced nine home games in Milwaukee for the 1968 season, it had been over six decades since a team played outside of their home city.
In the early days of baseball, teams would play away from their home stadium on a somewhat frequent basis. With baseball still considered a bit of an outlaw sport, and laws in certain municipalities prohibiting baseball on Sunday, teams would travel to nearby cities in order to play their scheduled games. However, after 1905, most of those laws had changed, allowing each American League team to play their home games in their actual cities.
As such, it was decades before another team traveled away from home for a “home” game. That changed for the 1968 season, as the Chicago White Sox announced that they would play nine of their games in Milwaukee. Each of these games would be played on a Sunday, allowing the teams to have time to travel to their home away from home.
While it may have seemed to be a strange decision, Milwaukee had a proud baseball history prior to the Brewers relocating there for the 1970 season. It had been the site of one of the original American League teams, the original Milwaukee Brewers, who moved to St. Louis after the 1901 season. Several minor league teams called the city home, and it served as the home for the Braves for 13 years.
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These games were not played with the expectation that the White Sox would pack up and head to Milwaukee. Instead, Bud Selig contacted team owner Aurthur Allyn to play a few games there, in order to show support for baseball remained strong in the city. An exhibition game the previous year drew 51,000 fans, and Selig sought to bring a new franchise to his home town.
Those nine games proved to be a success. The White Sox drew over 260,000 fans, proving that support for baseball remained strong in the city. Another eleven games were played in Milwaukee the following year, and while attendance decreased, it still provided a higher percentage of the White Sox total than in 1968.
This experiment played a large part in Selig being able to purchase the Seattle Pilots, and to move the franchise east to Milwaukee. Selig also attempted to buy the White Sox with the same intention, but was unsuccessful in his plans of landing an established ballclub.
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The Chicago White Sox served an important role in Major League Baseball returning to Milwaukee on a full time basis. On this day in 1967, as a favor for Bud Selig, the White Sox announced nine games in Brew Town.