Miller Park

Milwaukee Brewers, National League

8/10

Milwaukee was another park that fell victim to the great camera caper, but rest assured, I went, I have the fridge magnet to prove it.


I swung through Milwaukee after driving from Indiana, back through Chicago(and it`s total gridlock) and up in time for a Saturday night game against the Washington Nationals. The gates opened pretty early, which gave me time to have a look around. The stadium is one of the few newer parks with a retractable roof, similar to Seattle`s Safeco Field or Marlins Park in Miami. I've heard complaints that it is somewhat cavernous, but I honestly enjoyed my visit.

I was looking forward most of all based off my multiple visits to Maryvale Ballpark, the Brewers' spring home. Maryvale has some of the best food and atmosphere you'll find anywhere and the Brewers home field is much the same. People were tailgating on a hot Saturday afternoon in the nearby parking lots and had clearly driven from all over the state to take in the game(as evidenced by stadium cups lying around at a rest stop a few hours away after the game).

The food at Miller was pretty good I have to say and by food, I mean Brats. You must have a Bratwurst at either Miller Park or Maryvale, they're easily the best at any ballpark anywhere. People also enjoyed their beer at Miller, I can't remember if I had one here, but Leinenkugel's is a favourite of mine from Spring Training that's popular in Wisconsin.

The game itself was Negro League night, with the Brewers taking on the colours of the Milwaukee Bears and the Nationals the Homestead Grays. I enjoyed it pretty thoroughly, people were into it and just seemed to really enjoy being there. I thought Miller did a relatively decent job of being an outdoor park with the roof open. Now, Safeco Field is still the best in that regard and I think Phoenix does better too, but Milwaukee is ahead of Toronto in this regard for sure.

The only real drawback to my trip to Miller Park was the Parking. Getting in was easy. Getting out was almost an hour. Showing up early punishes you in the end. Also, leaving the game, Milwaukee had to be the most intoxicated crowd I've ever been around. Even getting out of the parking lot was an adventure, as a drunk thought he'd assist me in getting out by standing in front of me and giving me hand signals(not that hand signal, but still). Overall, I'd say Miller Park is slightly above average, the Brewer fans are some of the most fun to watch a game with anywhere and combining that with the food, I would absolutely go back to Miller Park. I likely will if I go back to Wrigley again in the near future.

Update 2016: This place could maybe factor into my summer travel plans. Looking back on it almost 4 years after the fact, the question is, if the atmosphere and food were both good points, why isn't Miller Park a 9 under the new rating system? I have no good answer for this. I have upgraded the rating here from 8 to 9.

Linescore
2012-07-28 
                        123     456   789     R H E
Washington       000    310    000    4 11 0
Milwaukee         000    100    000    1  6  0
Temp: 76F    Time: 2:41 Att: 41,890