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Miller Park is a baseball stadium located in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. It is home to the Milwaukee Brewers and was built as a replacement for Milwaukee County Stadium.
The park is located just Southwest of the intersection of Interstate 94 and Miller Park Way (U.S. Highway 41).
Miller Park was built with States dollar|$" target="_blank" >*310 million of public funds, which was controversial, particularly due to the fact that the team owner, Bud Selig (also the Commissioner of Baseball) was highly unpopular locally. Construction was subject to numerous delays. Groundbreaking took place on October 22, 1996, in a parking lot behind County Stadium. Construction had already been slowed, and the originally planned opening date of Opening Day 1999 had already been pushed back and was delayed even further after three construction workers were killed in a tragic accident. The massive Lampson Transi-lift crane (nicknamed "Big Blue"), brought in to build the roof, collapsed while lifting a 400 ton roof section on July 14, 1999. The stadium did not open until Opening Day 2001.
The stadium has a retractable roof, built in a unique convertible style, with the roof panels opening and closing simultaneously in a sweeping manner from the first base and third base sides towards center field. The huge roof explained a large part of the $400 million cost of the stadium.
The stadium design follows the trend of retro-designed ballparks with current amenities that began in 1990's. The design of Miller Park most closely resembles that of Ebbets Field, home of the Brooklyn Dodgers from 1938 to 1957.
The original grass playing surface was installed on March 10, 2001.
It was the site of the infamous tie at the 2002 MLB All-Star Game.
Problematic roof
The unconventional fan-shaped roof has proven to be more problematic than most contemporary retractable roofs. Because of its height and size, the fixed roof panel on the stadium's west side casts a shadow on the infield during most of the day. This led to unexpected problems with the growth of the natural grass surface on the first base side. At one point during the 2002 season, the Brewers publicly broached the possibility of having to replace the natural grass surface with an artificial surface, such as FieldTurf. To this point, however, a switch to an artificial surface has not been seriously considered. The roof has also been the butt of jokes in the local media for its tendency to leak during summer rain storms. The Brewers, in response to critics, have claimed that the roof was never intended to be water tight. Major elements of the pivot system behind home plate and the outfield roof track have had to be repaired or even replaced at the cost of millions of dollars since the stadium's opening in 2001. *
Recent additions
In time for the 2006 season there were three noticeable additions to the stadium. Two different sets of LED scoreboards were added. One replacing the formerly manually-operated "out of town" scoreboards located along the left and right field walls with a new set of LED scoreboards along the left-field wall. The new "out of town" scoreboards show continually updated information about other Major League games including the score, hits, errors, outs, and an image of the field displaying the runners on base. A second-tier scoreboard was also added along the bottom of the 300-level of the stadium stretching from foul pole to home plate to foul pole. The section of the second-tier scoreboard above home plate displays statistics for those unable to see the main scoreboard above the center-field wall. The final addition to Miller Park for the 2006 season was the addition of a field-level picnic-area in the corner of right-field. The picnic-area has a capacity of 75 and provides a place for fans to watch the game in a leisurely setting and be within feet of the right-fielder.
Atmosphere
Miller Park is affectionately called "The Keg" and "World's Biggest Bar" by Milwaukee fans for the large quantity of alcoholic beverages sold at the venue and the boisterous crowds, especially in the bleacher sections. Intoxicated college students often fill these cheap seats.
Since the Brewers entry into the National League, Miller Park has become a sort of second stadium for the Chicago Cubs, affectionately referred to sometimes as "Wrigley Field North." This is due to the smaller seating capacity of Wrigley Field, the short drive north on Interstate 94 to Miller Park from Chicago, and the large number of Cubs fans that live in Wisconsin. Cubs fans are said to far outnumber Brewers fans at those games. For example, during the early July, 2006, series the WGN-TV announcers remarked on the large number of Chicago fans in the capacity crowds attending the games. In 2006, the Brewers are attempting to counteract this problem with the "Take Back Miller Park" promotion. *
Attractions
- The Sausage Race occurs after every sixth inning.
External links
- Brief History of Miller Park
- Information on Miller Park, including what to do if you visit
- USGS aerial of old park and new construction
- Official Website: Miller Park
- Miller Park photos on Flickr
2001 establishments | Covered stadiums | Major League Baseball venues | Milwaukee Brewers | Milwaukee, Wisconsin | Retractable-roof stadiums | Sports venues in Milwaukee | MLB All-Star Game venues
"Miller Park"