All Smiles at Miller Park

It's true what they say: Everyone is friendlier in the Midwest.  I noticed this throughout the weekend in Milwaukee and Madison, Wisconsin.  Everywhere you go, people are smiling, wishing you a great day, and generally being cheerful.  When I found out that my Sunday night flight back to the East Coast was cancelled because of Hurricane Irene, I couldn't even muster the anger required to be stressed about it.  Things are so relaxed out by the Great Lakes that you can't help but sit back and smile.  The friendliness I experienced all weekend started on Friday night, when I made my first trip to Miller Park in Milwaukee to watch the Brewers host their rivals, the Chicago Cubs.  From hours before first pitch until the final out, I experienced a calmer side of baseball that was extremely refreshing.  Immediately after we parked and checked out the awesome, football-esque tailgating scene that blankets the Miller Park parking lot, we were greeted by a giant sign welcoming us.

Everything around Miller Park is designed to welcome fans to the facility.

Given that I had no real plans in Milwaukee other than an afternoon tour of the Miller Brewery facility (I'd recommend it), we got to the ballpark extra early to catch batting practice.  I'll have to do a separate post on "BP" sometime soon, but in short it's one of my favorite things to do at the ballpark.  You get to watch tons of swings, see some mammoth home runs and sometimes bond with the players who are shagging balls in the outfield.  On Friday, we went out to right field to watch, and after standing there for about ten minutes Cubs reliever John Grabow (see right) tossed a ball into the stands, and I caught it.  I gave the ball to a little kid sitting behind me, was thanked numerous times by his parents, and I could tell that Grabow took notice.  Twice after that he threw balls clearly intended for me, one of which fell short of his target and another that my brother, standing next to me, caught.  The friendliness of Milwaukee had rubbed off on me right away - I gave my first-ever BP ball to a little stranger - and on Grabow, who was looking to reward the good deed with another baseball.

After batting practice, we took the baseball to our comparatively reasonably-priced seats on the third base side.  Again using ScoreBig, we secured two tickets in the second deck for $35 each, which was slightly below face value and way below what comparable tickets would cost at Yankee Stadium or Citi Field.  The view of the game was fantastic from our vantage point, and we sat near a good mix of Brewers and Cubs fans.  The stadium as a whole was probably 20-25% Cubs fans, most of whom made the short drive from Chicago, but since our section housed a lot of secondary ticket market buyers the ratio in our area was closer to 50:50.  Unlike other baseball rivalries that are filled with hatred and anger (like Yankees vs. Red Sox or, as we unfortunately found out earlier this year, Giants vs. Dodgers), Brewers and Cubs fans are very cordial.  They jokingly taunted one another, but respected each other at the same time.  Definitely not something New Yorkers are used to.

You can get a great view of a sweet ballpark for just $35.

One last anecdote to reiterate how friendly the game at Miller Park was.  Early in the game, a fan from the upper deck accidently dropped an entire margarita over the railing, spilling all over a man sitting on the aisle in the section adjacent to ours.  Had it been New York, I can imagine the guy spewing obscenities, flipping out and demanding compensation.  This man?  He calmly sat back, drenched in margarita and lime, and smiled.  Miller Park staff came over to ask if he was OK, and if they could get him anything.  Without getting up, he asked for a free beer (they happily obliged), didn't complain about it once and stayed for the entire game smelling like an open bar.  Impressive.

As a physical facility, Miller Park is impressive.  It's a massive structure, highlighted by its retractable roof (it was open on this gorgeous Friday evening) and glass walls.  It's a lot more industrial looking than some of the more iconic ballparks like AT&T Park in San Francisco, but the ballpark fits perfectly in an industrial, Midwestern town like Milwaukee.  The open concourses let you walk around the entire ballpark and have a good view of the field while doing it, and there are a sufficient number of (but not too many) quirks that make the park unique - Bernie Brewer's slide in left field, the Sausage Race and a kid's area in right field to name three.  As a Braves fan, I was happy to see that Miller Park devoted a ton of space to remembering the Milwaukee Braves, and the history of baseball in Milwaukee before the Brewers came to town from Seattle.

If I had to rank the fields I've visited this summer, I'd put Miller Park as my second-favorite, a little behind San Francisco.  It's interesting and modern like Citi Field, but has way more Milwaukee baseball and Brewers "stuff" that makes it feel like a part of the city, so for that reason I have it slightly ahead of the homes of the Mets and Yankees.  This was the first Midwestern ballpark I've had the chance to visit, and I think I picked a great place to start.  If this is what baseball in between the coasts is like, it might be time to look into catching a Twins, Cardinals or Royals game some time very soon.  Before that, though, I have a date with Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia to see Braves vs. Phillies one week from today, and I'm not expecting to be greeted with a smile.