The Milwaukee "Creams" began play as members of the 1889 eight-team
Western Association. The
Milwaukee Brewers adopted the Creams moniker for the 1889 season. Some references list other Brewers teams as both the "Brewers" and "Creams" combined in various other seasons. The 1889 team finished the season with a record of 58–63 and placed fifth, playing under manager
Ezra Sutton.
Baseball Hall of Fame inductee
Clark Griffith pitched for the 1889 Milwaukee Creams at age 19. Griffith had a 23–18 record for Milwaukee, throwing 328 innings. The 1902 Milwaukee Creams team became members of the
Class A level
Western League. The Creams began play as the second team in Milwaukee, as the
Milwaukee Brewers played as members of the American Association. Milwaukee having two Class A franchises at the same time proved to be a tenuous arrangement. The Milwaukee Creams placed third in the 1902 Western League. Milwaukee ended the season with record of 80–54, finishing 1.0 game behind the first place
Kansas City Blue Stockings. Milwaukee played under Hall of Fame member player/manager
Hugh Duffy, who hit .291 in 505 at–bats at age 35. In the 1902 Western League standings, the Milwaukee Creams finished a close third place. The
Kansas City Blue Stockings (82–54) finished mere percentage points ahead of the second place
Omaha Indians (84–56), followed closely by the Milwaukee Creams (80–54). They were followed by the
Denver Grizzlies (81–57),
St. Joseph Saints (71–68),
Colorado Springs Millionaires (63–75),
Des Moines Midgets (54–83) and
Peoria Distillers (35–103) teams in the final standings. Milwaukee finished with a record of 83–43 under returning player/manager Hugh Duffy, who hit .300 in 75 games. The Creams finished 8.0 games ahead of the second place Colorado Springs Millionaires, with Kansas City Blue Stockings in third place, 18.0 games behind the first place Milwaukee Creams. In 1913, the Milwaukee Creams briefly returned as members of the
Class C level
Wisconsin-Illinois League before relocating amidst controversy. The Milwaukee team was owned by Charles Moll, the previous president of the Wisconsin–Illinois League. Milwaukee was chosen as the replacement city for the folded
Aurora Blues franchise in the league. This led to legal action by shunned Aurora owners. On Wednesday, April 30, 1913, Milwaukee, nicknamed the "Mollys" by local Milwaukee newspapers, opened the Wisconsin-Illinois League season at Athletic Park, with Milwaukee Mayor Gerhard Bading throwing out the first pitch. With approximately 400 fans in attendance, Milwaukee defeated the Appleton Papermakers by the score of 12–5 in the home opener. ==The ballparks==