American Family Field

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, U.S. Highway 41, and Miller Park Way (Wisconsin 341).

Miller Park was built with $310 million of public funds, which was controversial, due to the unpopular notion of using public funds for a privately owned sports team. Construction was subject to numerous delays. Groundbreaking took place on November 9, 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 an accident. The massive Lampson Transi-lift crane 3 (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 heats 30 degrees above the current outside temperature if the roof is closed on a cold weather day.

The stadium design follows the trend of retro-designed ballparks with current amenities that began in 1990s.

The original grass playing surface was installed on March 10, 2001. It consisted mostly of sod transplanted from the old County Stadium.

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. [1]

Following the completion of the Brewers last home game on September 24, 2006, work will begin to replace the train-like bogies which drive the opening and closing of the roof. The ten new, 24-feet-(7.3-meter)-long, 60-horsepower bogies will cost between $13 and $15 million, which is being paid for with money from the settlement between the stadium district and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries of America. Six of the bogies weigh 66 tons apiece, while the four others weigh 49 tons. The work will be completed by lifting sections of the roof approximately six inches with hydraulic lifts, while a 300-ton crane replaces the bogies individually. The process is expected to be completed by the start of the 2007 season. "We're saying the bogies will last for the life of the facility," said Mike Duckett, executive director of the Miller Park stadium district.[2]

On September 25, 2006, one day after the final Brewers home game of the season, the roof failed while opening and was stuck partially open. A shattered lower guide roller was the cause of the failure. The rollers are attached to the bottom of each of the 10 bogies, the train-like devices that help move the roof that are being replaced during the off season. [3]

Recent additions

Miller Park panorama from August 4th, 2005

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 marquee 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

Template:ImageStackRight A fun and boisterous crowd can be found in the bleacher sections. College students often fill these cheap seats to enjoy a game.

One of the unique features of Miller Park is the tailgate party scene in the parking lots. Brewers fans typically grill food and enjoy drinks while playing games and listening to music in the parking lots prior to a game. Many companies also sponsor huge tailgate parties for their employees and clients. Miller Park has been rated as having the best tailgating scene in Major League Baseball. Fans from all over the Midwest come to Miller Park to enjoy the unique atmosphere.

In 2005, Sports Illustrated conducted fan surveys and rated Miller Park as the best ballpark based on value per dollar spent. The Brewers new ownership currently has plans to add newer amenities to further enhance the ballpark experience. A new upscale lounge is currently being constructed and is expected to be completed by opening day of the 2007 season.

Despite not having a winning season since 1992, Brewers fans are loyal and continue to show up to Miller Park in relatively strong numbers to see their upstart team. ESPN Page 2 writer Bill Simmons described Brewers fans as being like "over-protective Little League parents" in a 2006 visit to Miller Park.[4]

Attractions

• The Klement's Sausage Race occurs each game after the bottom of the 6th inning. The current "sausage racers" are the Bratwurst, the Italian, the Chorizo, the Polish, and the Hot Dog. The Chorizo sausage (to salute the region's growing Latino population) was added on July 29, 2006 for one race, and became a full-time participant in 2007.
• Bernie Brewer, the team mascot, has a club house above the left field seats. When a home run is hit, he slides down a yellow plastic slide to a lower level of that club house. This is different from his old home at Milwaukee County Stadium, where Bernie would slide into a giant mug of beer in center field.

Events

• It was the site of the infamous tie at the 2002 MLB All-Star Game.

• The stadium was a major filming location for the motion picture Mr. 3000, which centered around a fictional Brewers' player.

• In April of 2007, snow storms in northern Ohio forced a three game series between the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim and the Cleveland Indians to find a different location. Major League Baseball took advantage of Miller Park's roof and moved the series to Milwaukee. All seats were sold for $10 apiece, and attendance was reported at 52,496 for the three games.[5] This was the first "home series" by "Cleveland" staged in Milwaukee since the fictional 1989 film Major League.

External links

• Video of Crane collapsing (at googlevideo.com)
• Miller Park Overview (at MilwaukeeBrewers.com)
• Brief History of Miller Park
• Quick Facts on Miller Park from the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
• Information on Miller Park, including what to do if you visit
• USGS aerial of old park and new construction
• Replacing the 10 bogies that carry the five movable sections of the stadium's 12,000-ton roof
• Miller Park photos on Flickr

43°1′42.06″N 87°58′17.25″W