Bonnie Brewer
Bonnie Brewer is a former official
mascot for the
Milwaukee Brewers baseball team, appearing at
Milwaukee County Stadium from
1973 to
1979. Bonnie was portrayed as a young blonde woman in a
gold blouse and short
blue lederhosen, wearing a baseball cap and frequently carrying a blue-and-gold broom which she would use to sweep the bases.
Bonnie was first introduced as the female companion to the Brewers' mascot
Bernie Brewer. Bernie and Bonnie were created by then-team vice president Dick Hackett as part of an effort to create a lively atmosphere at County Stadium, which also included hiring organist Frank Charles to play a Wurlitzer during the games. As Hackett remembers it, Bernie and Bonnie were added over the objections of team owner
Bud Selig.
"(Selig) said, 'This is a baseball team.' I said, 'They sell tickets.' We had a difference of opinion, but I won," Hackett said.[
1]
Bonnie was portrayed by a series of teenage girls, each of whom were paid $5 per game and given four tickets to each Brewers home game.
Bonnie was noted mainly for her colorful antics during the
seventh-inning stretch. As the grounds crew swept the infield, Bonnie wielded her signaure broom, sweeping off each base in turn. After sweeping third base, she would playfully swat the opposing team's third-base coach on the backside with her broom, following it up with a kiss on his cheek.
Bonnie was discontinued after the 1979 season, although no clear reason has ever been given for her "firing". Bernie Brewer was discontinued as a mascot in 1984, although he was broughh back as a costumed mascot in 1993, complete with full-body costume and large foam head. Bonnie Brewer has only returned once, as part of the nostalgia-heavy final home stand at County Stadium, September 18-28, 2000.
*
List of Major League Baseball mascots*
April 9, 2005 Milwaukee Journal Sentinel article: Where have all the Bonnie Brewers gone?*
OnMilwaukee.com Milwaukee Buzz: Bonnie Brewer listed as one of 100 Milwaukee memories
