SIX OUTS TO GO! A BASEBALL ANTHOLOGY

“Six Outs To Go, A Baseball Anthology” is not so much a sports history as it is an informative, entertaining, fact-based narrative that brings to life characters and events which have defined Milwaukee’s baseball heritage since the late 19th Century. By way of research and first-hand accounts, author Doug Schmidt takes the reader on an anecdotal journey through 130 years of professional baseball in Milwaukee, starting with a litany of players and executives who put Brew City on the map during baseball’s formative decades. The story continues with the arrival of the Braves from Boston in 1953 and the hold they had on this writer as well as thousands of other fans, followed by a dissection of the Braves bolt from Milwaukee to Atlanta after just 13 years. Finally, Schmidt takes the reader behind the scenes through a series of unvarnished, and sometimes uncensored, clubhouse interviews accumulated during his 18 years of serving as a baseball correspondent at Milwaukee County Stadium for United Press International and the Associated Press from 1976 through 1994. The journey is augmented by photos and illustrations taken from Schmidt’s personal collection.

“Hang on to your batting helmet, Grandma. Doug Schmidt is going to take us on a whirlwind excursion through Brew City’s baseball history, from Bill Veeck’s three-toed outfielder to a one-legged manager who kicked Milwaukee baseball back into high gear. Along the way, we are guaranteed to smile, laugh, and maybe even shed a tear or two.”
—Bob Buege, author of The Milwaukee Braves: A Baseball Eulogy and Borchert Field

Doug Schmidt has been writing about sports and local history since he was a teenager. After receiving his B.A. degree in journalism from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee in 1973, he became managing sports editor for 21 weekly newspapers in the suburban Milwaukee area. His passion for baseball was instilled virtually from birth by his father who grew up an avid fan of the original minor league Brewers during the 1930s. Together they reveled in the success of the Milwaukee Braves beginning in 1953. When the Braves left for Atlanta in 1966 Doug began writing extensively about the impact of their departure. After the Brewers arrived in Milwaukee in 1970, he became a wire service correspondent covering baseball for United Press International and the Associated Press for a span of 18 years. Along with chronicling Milwaukee’s baseball history, Schmidt is recognized as Wisconsin’s preeminent bowling historian. He was inducted into the Milwaukee Bowling Hall of Fame in 2004 and his first book, “They Came to Bowl, How Milwaukee Became America’s Tenpin Capital,” was published by the Wisconsin Historical Society Press in 2007. “Six Outs To Go!” is Schmidt’s third work