Milwaukee Braves.info George Webb Restaurants

George Webb Predicts... As a child growing up in Wisconsin I can remember the trips to my relatives who lived in Milwaukee. One thing that I always remembered fondly was George Webb. Eating at the restaurants was always enjoyable with my family. I can also remember hearing on the radio "George Webb predicts the Milwaukee Brewers will win 12 straight this season". It was part of the culture of the city and the team. If the Brewers did win 12 straight it was free hamburgers for all!!! This was in the 1980's, my childhood years. George Webb was founded well before that. George Webb is a Milwaukee based restaurant chain that was founded in 1948 and is still going strong today 60 years later. As the story goes George Webb first started these predictions in the late 1940's. He first predicted that the minor league American Association Milwaukee Brewers would win 17 straight. When the Milwaukee Braves moved from Boston in 1953 the prediction became 11 wins a row. ( a lot of stories say 12 but we have a picture to the right that proves it). During the first few years with the Braves the number changed depending on the quality of the team. Later on this prediction settled in at 12 and remains that way today. This bold prediction was painted on the side of the restaurants and advertised throughout the city. It became a part of Milwaukee's love affair with the Braves. The closest George Webb came to paying out on this prediction with the Braves first came in 1956. With only one more game to go it is rumored George paced his house with radios on wondering if he would be paying out 10,000 free hamburgers (read the entire newspaper article here).Unfortunately the Braves lost to Philadelphia 4-2 and the streak would have to start anew. (On an interesting side note, on April 19, 1987 the Milwaukee Brewers won their 12th straight. Three days later George Webb gave away 168,194 free hamburgers.) In November of 1956, George Webb suffered a heart attack but recovered in time to make his annual road trip to the Braves spring training camp in Bradenton, Florida in February 1957. On the drive home, Webb suffered another heart attack in Cartersville, Georgia, and died on March 12, 1957 at the age of 56. He was survived by his wife Evelyn. The picture below and to the right shows George Webb in 1957 at the Braves training camp. This is one of the last known photos of George Webb. Prediction by Year: 1948-53 Milwaukee Brewers (minor league) 17 1953 Milwaukee Braves 11* 1954 Milwaukee Braves 12* 1955-63 Milwaukee Braves 12 1964 Milwaukee Braves 12* 1965 Milwaukee Braves 12 1966-69 unknown 1970-Present Milwaukee Brewers 12* *These years are confirmed with images of old advertisements. If you can help confirm the other years it would be greatly appreciated. Here are some additional George Webb and Braves related photos. George Webb Club Card George Webb Restaurant Another George Webb Restaurant A big thanks to Bobby Pantuso, Historian from George Webb, for his contributions to this page.

George Webb Links Official George Webb Website 1964 Ad