We need to keep the Brewers

by J. Patrick Reilly

For us baseball fans the thought of the Brewers leaving Milwaukee if stadium upgrades are not put in place is not good news.

Ever since that fateful day in 1991 when the University of  Wisconsin eliminated baseball from its list of sport offerings the Brewers have become the go-to baseball team in the state. Helping fill the void of the only Big 10 (or 100) school without baseball has been amateur and collegiate wood bat leagues but we don’t have a team at our flagship university.

Fighting the fight to get it back is another issue and hopefully the new athletic director will at least look at proposals to bring baseball back.

Have you ever looked at the roster of the Northwoods League teams?  We have collegiate players from throughout the nation on them and there are also many from our state universities and junior colleges.  If the UW had baseball there would be a place for them to play within a short distance.

We realize the prospect of baseball returning is in the “iffy” state (UW-Eau Claire and UW-River Falls have brought baseball back after eliminating it about the same time as the Badgers) but it can be done.

While we wait for this to happen let’s not lose the Brewers.  The team is a great resource and attraction for us all.