March 27, 1953 – Lew Burdette smacked a ninth-inning home run off Ralph Branca to give the Braves a 3-2 exhibition victory over the Brooklyn Dodgers. “Now I’m as famous as Bobby Thomson,” a jubilant Burdette yelled in the clubhouse after the game.
History of the World Series – 1953 Carl Erskine led the pitching staff with 20 victories, Russ Meyer went 15-5 and Billy Loes 14-8. Preacher Roe posted an 11-3 record, boosting his three-year mark to 44-8. Clem Labine won 10 games in relief and 11 overall. And rookie pitchers Johnny Podres and Bob Milliken combined…
1953 – The St. Louis Browns sign free agent Bob Elliott. The veteran third baseman will play just 48 games before being dealt to the Chicago White Sox.
1953 – Larry Raines, on leave from military service, plays his first game for the Hankyu Braves. He will stay for the 1954 season, return in 1962, and will end his Japanese baseball career with a .302 batting average.
1953 – U.S. Senator Edwin C. Johnson offers a bill to give clubs the sole right to ban radio-TV broadcasts of major league games in their own territory. The antitrust division of the Justice Department outlawed this practice in 1949. Johnson believes that it started the decline of baseball in small towns and cities throughout the country. His bill aims to restore the equity between large communities and the small areas.
1953 – The Milwaukee Braves become the first franchise to move since 1903, when the Baltimore Orioles became the New York Highlanders. The Braves have been in Boston, MA for 77 years. In a related move, the minor league Milwaukee Brewers move to Toledo, Ohio, where they become the latest incarnation of the Toledo Mud Hens.
Milwaukee County Stadium will be available to the Boston Braves at a very reasonable rental rate.
Bill Veeck says that he will accept an offer of $2.475 million for his 80 percent of the St. Louis Browns stock. Baltimore Mayor Thomas D’Alesandro seeks a syndicate to buy Veeck out. The group will eventually purchase 206,250 shares at $12 per share.
The Braves’ spring training game against the Yankees in Bradenton will prove to be the team’s last full one representing the city of Boston. During the sixth inning of tomorrow’s exhibition contest, the club learns the National League has approved its shift next month to Milwaukee, unlike the Junior Circuit’s decision two days ago that denied Bill Veeck permission to move his Browns to Baltimore due to the short amount of time left before Opening Day.
1953 – American League owners turn down a bid made by Bill Veeck to move the St. Louis Browns to Baltimore, MD. Spearheaded by Washington Senators owner Clark Griffith, the vote is 6-2 against. Some observers speculate that the rejection is meant to force Veeck into selling his majority interest in the franchise. The next day, Veeck announces his willingness to sell the Browns for just under $2.5 million. The vote only delays the move by a year, however.
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