That Time I Wrote George Bamberger

Note: This is a guest post from Christopher Zantow

I grew up in Wisconsin as a Milwaukee Brewers fan, but when I first started following the team in the mid-70’s, they were nothing to write home about.  I probably started paying attention when Hank Aaron decided to do his two-year farewell tour with the Brewers.  Beyond Hammerin’ Hank, they had a young kid named Robin Yount that didn’t quite look like he was ready for prime time just yet.

But everything changed in late 1977 when Bud Selig stepped in and cleaned house.  Newspapers called his actions “The Saturday Night Massacre.”  It sounded like a horror flick – but after all, he did axe the general manager, manager, and the entire coaching staff.  Selig hired Harry Dalton as GM, and in turn, Dalton hired George Bamberger to manage the club.  Suddenly fans had hope for something resembling a .500 team in 1978.  We were all about to be pleasantly surprised at what Dalton and Bamberger could do with our Brew Crew.

George Bamberger was different than previous managers and had higher aspirations than finishing 81-81.  Guys who came before him like Alex Grammas and Del Crandall also had long baseball careers, but Bambi was the pitching coach of the Baltimore Orioles for 10 years.  Yup – for the team that won a hatful of pennants and the 1970 World Series.  He turned the Milwaukee pitching staff around and it helped that his hitters started slugging homers and driving in runs like crazy.

You can well imagine the state of Wisconsin went nuts for “Bambi’s Bombers” after years of baseball futility.  My friends and I dug the team and got a huge kick out of watching Bamberger run things with that huge smile.  He fit in with Brewers fans too – especially since he was known to stop off at post-game tailgate parties in the County Stadium parking lot.

Spring Heart Attack

After proving the Crew could contend in the tough AL East with 95 wins in 1979, we all got ready for another great year in 1980.  Bamberger had a heart attack in spring training that March and wasn’t going to be around for the season opener.  He had a bypass surgery, was going to be hospitalized for a while, and it was expected he wouldn’t make it back into the dugout until June.

Local newspapers published where fans could write and wish Bamberger well.  I kept a Brewers scrapbook in 1979-80 that somehow survives to this day, and I was able to locate that article plus some updates as Bamberger recovered.  I remember asking my parents if I should write Bamberger, even though I figured he’d never see my letter.  But they said that I should write and help cheer Bambi up (although they probably thought he’d never see the letter either).

I have no idea exactly what I wrote, but I’m sure I wished Bambi well in recovering and coming back to the team.  I know for sure I didn’t ask for an autograph, so I was absolutely shocked a few weeks later when a photo arrived in the mail, complete with a message and signature.

Bamberger thanked the “thousands of fans that wrote me” after his hospital release.  He also joked that “I’ve been cleared to drink all the beer I want.”  He went on to say that it wasn’t so much the beer itself that was a problem – it was the calories in the beer!

The eleven-year-old me learned that George Bamberger truly was a class act, and I’ve treasured that photo and memory ever since.

 

ABOUT CHRISTOPHER ZANTOW: By day, Chris is a writer of training and resource materials.  By night he’s finishing edits on a historical book about the Milwaukee Brewers. The book covers the backstory of eventsthat led to the Braves moving to Atlanta, and Bud Selig’s fight to bring baseball back to Milwaukee through numerous setbacks and disappointments and the early years of the new Milwaukee franchise. He blogs about the Brewers and can also be found on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.