Ball Game

The  Ball Game (sometimes spelled Ballgame) opened at an address well-known for queer spaces, including the Nite Beat, Castaways, The Seaway II, and New Jamie's.

Owner Rick Kowal decided to open Ball Game after declining a promotion with Federated Dept Stores. 

"I was working for Boston Store. They wanted me to transfer out to Philadelphia and run another store in the chain. I didn't want to go. I wasn't done yet with Milwaukee. Along came Gene O'Brien, and he said, hey, let's go into business together. So we did," said Rick. "I was nervous, but optimistic."

Rick and Gene bought the building from Jimmy Zingale in 1973, following the demise of Castaways in 1972 and New Jamie's in 1973. 

"This is an old, old building, built in 1868, going back to the earliest days of the Fifth Ward," said Rick in 2010. 

"It was a family saloon for years, and it was apparently pretty rough in here! When the widow died, the family sold to Stan (of Nite Beat fame.) There are tunnels in the basement that led to god knows where. I've been told they were used for ice delivery, rum runners, even the Chicago Mob. There was a rooming house upstairs for nearly 100 years. You wouldn't believe the things we found up there, when we first moved in. Horse saddles. Passports. German Bibles. Framed family photos. A lot of residents died up there. A little spooky, right?" 

On one hand, Gene and Rick were joining a rapidly growing village of gay bars -- on the other hand, the most popular bars (River Queen, Factory, Wreck Room) were now in the Third Ward. They were really taking a gamble. A gamble, it seems, they nearly lost right away.

"We were only open a month before the big fire happened across the street," said Rick. "Four gay bars gone in one night! All of a sudden, it was real quiet down here. Some nights we'd wait all night for anyone to show up. But they did, and they kept us in business during that tough first year." 

New owners Gene O'Brien and Rick Kowal completely redecorated the bar, and opened it saying "it's a whole new ball game", and using the motto "where you'll never strike out". The August 1976 issue of the local "GLIB Guide" describes the bar as follows: "Comfortable cocktail bar social, established crowd. Potpourri decor." It became a tradition to celebrate the bar's anniversary on St. Patrick's Day. 

Following the demise of the New Riviera (183 S. 2nd St.,) Ball Game became the new home of the Milwaukee Entertainer's Club and a highly respected showbar. They hosted some of the biggest names of the early 70s, including Tiger Rose, Jamie Gays, Mama Rae & Ronnie Marx. 

"The kids needed a place to put on shows," said Rick. "We had a lot of space, and so we let them have it, and then they let US have it." Although the Factory later became more well-known for drag shows, Ball Game continued to run full stage productions and pageants well into the 1980s. 

Ball Game was also one of the first Milwaukee gay bars to have television sets. 

"Some people thought I was wrong," said Rick, "but people wanted to watch the game, and so we let them cheer for their favorite teams from the bar. So we became the first gay sportsbar, before there were even straight sportsbars." 

Although O'Brien died one day after St. Patrick's Day 1984, Rick operated the bar solo for nearly three more decades. 

Ball Game was always known as a place people could go -- when they had nowhere else to go -- for holidays. Over the years, they served up hundreds of thousands of pounds of corned beef on St. Patricks days, hundreds of Thanksgiving turkeys, hundreds of Easter hams. Rick would put out a full buffet of food, offer drink specials, and welcome anyone who had no family of their own to join his.

"I had been lucky to have a mother who was supportive of my lifestyle," he said in 2011. "I knew most men did not have that. It broke my heart to think of anyone being alone, sad, and unable to enjoy a holiday. So I always tried to make them a big, big deal, so people would remember they always had each other. They always had community. We could be that family."

Rick also allowed customers to rent out his backroom for free, so they could host neighborhood, community or family celebrations of their own. His only ask was that they treat their bartenders well and tip heavily.

Drink prices were frozen in the 1970s, with "pull tab nights" twice a week offering drinks as cheap as 25 cents. Its customers were aging, and many old-timers were only able to make it to cocktail hour, if they could make it at all. Rick himself battled declining health, but was still involved in the day-to-day bar operation.

But it was impossible to notice the changes outside. All of the other gay bars in the "village" were gone by 2008. The older, rougher, abandoned Fifth Ward was long gone, replaced by soicalites and even young families exploring artisanal ice cream and chocolate shops, cocktail lounges, and restaurants. People lived in the neighborhood again -- for the first time in over 100 years. What was Milwaukee's "Skid Row" of the 1950s and the "gay village" of the 1970s was now Milwaukee's hottest neighborhood.

Rick Kowal knew it was time to go. In August 2012, he announced his retirement and the bar closing. But the bon voyage never happened. 

Over the next two weeks, keepsakes from over the years (statues, signs, etc.) began to disappear from the bar. It was supposedly "looted" by customers who wanted their piece of the 38-year collection. Vintage LGBTQ posters, advertisements, etc. long-ago promised to friends and family were outright stolen. And, along with those items, the thieves stole Rick's heart.

On Sunday, August 19, a series of confusing messages began to appear on the bar's Facebook page.

"Well it's been a good run. A special thank you to all who helped make it happen. We will officially close our doors on Tuesday 8-21-12. Come on out & say goodbye." - Sunday, August 19, 12:27 a.m.:

"HEY IF YOU LOVE THE BALLGAME Come on out & help celebrate Ricks RETIREMENT! We'll be reminiscing & paying tribute to him with a farewell celebration this Tuesday 8/21/12. COCKTAIL SPECIALS FROM OPEN TILL CLOSE! (Call in sick for Wednesday It's gonna be a hell of a night!) WE'RE GONNA DRINK TILL ITS GONE! Rick we Love you! Thanks for years of great times & sweet memories! And we hope to see you all tomorrow!" - Monday, August 20, 8:49 a.m.

"Dear friends of Ballgame. I regret to inform you that Ricks retirement celebration has been canceled. After coming in to find the place that he loved and kept going for over forty-two years had been looted. People had taken keepsakes that he had collected over the years right from the walls Rick was heartbroken that after the amount of time he has spent making others happy that people would stoop so low.EFFECTIVE IMMEDIATELY THE BALLGAME IS CLOSED! We will NOT REOPEN. TO THOSE OF YOU WHO KNOW PEOPLE WITH KEEPSAKES FROM THE BAR THEY ARE THIEVES! RICK WANTS NOTHING TO DO WITH THE BAR AT ALL ANYMORE. THANKS FOR RUINING IT FOR RICK & THE PEOPLE WHO TRULY LOVED THE BALLGAME." - Monday, August 20,12:14pm.

There are conflicting reports about whether or not the bar's collection of historic objects was actually "looted." 

Deeply depressed about this betrayal, Rick cancelled the retirement party and closed the bar immediately. From that day forward, he wanted nothing to do with the LGBTQ community. He refused to take interviews from the Wisconsin LGBTQ History Project for the next eight years. He said it was too painful to think about all he had done for others, only to be robbed in the end.

It was a sad end to a long Milwaukee legacy. There are so many questions we have for Rick that will never be answered. 

Even worse, when Rick died in April 2020 at age 90, it was the height of the COVID pandemic. Even his closest friends and family were denied the chance to pay their respects at a funeral, memorial or celebration. He was just gone -- like his bar -- instantly.

Lucky Joe's, a tiki bar, moved into the space and repainted the building a shocking blood red.

Today, the Ball Game is retail space. The building was beautifully restored into the Mabbett & Breed complex, which includes beautiful storefront windows (not open to the street since the mid-1960s) and modern apartments in the former rooming house space upstairs.

"Rick’s decades of contributions to the community cannot be overstated," said historian Michail Takach. "So many people, passed and present, have so much gratitude for this man, this space and the memories he created."