M-M-M-Miller

Miller Park marks the 29th MLB baseball stadium we’ve been to and undoubtedly will rank among our favorites.

The beauty of the day (Memorial Day 2009) probably accounts for some of our pleasure with Miller Park but we would have loved the stadium anyway. We saw an afternoon game with the bright sun warming our backs. Everyone around us was having a good time. The game itself was a pitchers’ duel with no hits until the 6th inning, with the Brewers beating archrival St. Louis 1-0 in 10 innings.

Milwaukee’s Yovani Gallardo gave up just 2 hits over 8 innings , while the Cardinals’ Chris Carpenter had a perfect game until the 7th inning. Bill Hall won the game for the Brewers with a two-out single, scoring Casey McGehee, who reached first to start on the inning on an error by third baseman Brian Barden.

Miller Park has an old-time baseball feel even though it opened in 2001 and has a fan-shaped retractable roof. There’s lots of brick on the exterior. Arched windows circle the stadium. There are a number of statues in the front, including one of Hank Aaron.

The park, with construction starting in 1996, had been scheduled to open in 1999 and was to have been the site for the 1999 All Star game. But financing problems stalled the construction (the original $250 million cost went to $400 million), as well as a crane accident in July 1999 that killed three construction workers. There’s a monument to the workers near the front of the stadium (see photo). The All Star game was finally played at Miller Park in 2002.

The field has a huge color screen past center field, as well as a scoreboard that stretches 76 feet. Past left-center field is a yellow slide for the mascot, Bernie the Brewer, to slide down. Inside the park is a Brewers Hall of Fame and the Miller Park Kids Zone play area.

We were told a must-have for lunch was a brat. I tried one and was disappointed, a Johnsonville brat would have been better than the one I had. Alta had a huge pretzel (10-12 inches across) that was dipped in melted butter and sprinkled with cinnamon sugar.

Sausage as well as beer is a definite feature of Miller Park. Beside the kind you eat, there is a “sausage race” during the 7th inning stretch, when “Roll Out the Barrel” is played on the loudspeakers.

We walked to the park from our motel (Best Western Woods View Inn on National Avenue), a 20-minute walk past a VA hospital and through a wooded park. A very nice experience on a beautiful day. The park is adjacent to Wood National Cemetery, established in 1871 originally for the burial of Civil War veterans. Among those buried there are five Medal of Honor recipients. Since we were there on Memorial Day weekend flowers, flags and personal mementos had been placed on all the grave sites (photo).