| I guess we can thank Bud
Selig for something else - first the wild card, then interleague play,
and now Miller Park. Among the three, Miller Park is probably
the best innovation, but that is not meant as any sort of complement.
Among parks that have opened since 1992, this is probably the worst of
them. Even U.S. Cellular Park, which opened in 1991, is far better now that renovations have been completed.
Miller Park is only better than Rogers Centre because it has real grass. Sure, Miller
Park is a nice enough new park to watch a game in, but is it better in
any way than old County Stadium ? Maybe the seats are a little wider
? Maybe there are a few more bathrooms ? The biggest differences
I noticed here were the higher prices and seats further from the field.
From the outside, this park is huge, and sticks out like a sore thumb from
miles away. Why build a new park in a big open space when almost
all new parks are being built in downtown locations ? Yes, I realize that Brewer fans love to tailgate, but I still think the primary reason for the location was so that Bud and the Brewers could save money. They may
have saved money, but they ended up with a rather boring park. Yes,
it's fun to see the roof open and close, but do they really need a dome
in Milwaukee ? Even when the roof is off (like it has been on the nights
I've been there), it still feels somewhat like a dome. Almost all the
seats remain undercover, unlike Enron Field and
Safeco Field. Also, the air doesn't seem to circulate much, making it feel much stuffier than most outdoor ballparks. There are some good things about Miller Park - the
concourses are very wide, the food selection good, the scoreboard is impressive,
and Bernie Brewer still has his slide (though no longer lands in a beer mug). Among the concession choices, you'll find the normal ballpark fare as well as non-traditional items like pasta and oriental noodles. But if you are only coming here once, you have to have a bratwurst with the secret stadium sauce. Yummy ! And if you like beer, you'll
find a vendor selling Miller every 5 feet. The seating here is decent - the first level and loge do offer a good view of the field.
Though parts of the outfield can be blocked due to the way the seats bend
in down the lines. The upper deck, however, is simply too far from the action
- this certainly rivals the height of the upper decks in some of the 70's
circular parks. Brewer fans tend to be a pretty passionate bunch, so the atmosphere is pretty good here. The sausage race and the singing of "Roll out the Barrel" really seem to get the fans excited. My only complaint is with the Diamond Girls - does a baseball team need cheerleaders ? Parking at Miller Park is a bit too
expensive, too far from the park, and they cram the cars in too tightly.
You'd think that space was limited the way they park them here. Unless you buy parking in advance, you will either pay a lot or have to walk a long distance. I'm
sure Miller Park will serve the fans well for many years - if they keep
coming. It wouldn't surprise me to see attendance drop down to County
Stadium levels within a few years. County Stadium was memorable,
Miller Park is not.
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