So I'm not really sold on a team that has a mascot named Cravin Cream Puff.
Judging from their play last night, though, the Brewers are totally inspired by this character. He/she is one of many living menu items that can be seen on the premises at Miller Park, driving the home team to heights of achievement.
Miller Park is my 21st current stadium, 30th overall. I was one of 44,871 for Wednesday's 7-2 Cubs victory. Most notable box score item: The Cubs left one or two runners on base in each inning for a total of 15. They had 14 hits and drew eight walks.
But enough about the game. Here are scattershot observations about Miller Park, scattershot because I finally figured out how to get online and the bus leaves in an hour:
* The Brewers have a large area for tailgating, and it's very much used. I don't think I've seen this done to such an extent in baseball. Our group had a spread waiting, and it served as an icebreaker for us. We have 56 on the tour including driver and two guides.
* Remnants of the old park are walking distance from Miller Park, part of a Little League facility. I did not get there. Apparently they have the old home plate and a statue of Hank Aaron.
* Seen from the inside, the retractable roof makes Miller Park look immense, especially when you look at the third-base side. It's not a homey place like other new parks.
* They have an area set aside for a Wall of Fame for Milwaukee and Wisconsin baseball. It's off in a neglected corner, and you could miss it. It's nine display vases, three of which are about women's baseball (is that, like, huge here?). I prefer Citizens Bank Park, where the Philadelphia Hall of Fame is a big part of the pregame experience. Anyway, two display cases are dedicated to Wisconsin baseball. Turns out three of the saddest figures in baseball history were Wisconsin natives: Fred Merkle, who made the most disastrous baserunning error of all time and cost the New York Giants the 1908 pennant; Oscar "Happy" Felsch, one of the Black Sox (the one played by Charlie Sheen in Eight Men Out), and Addie Joss, a dominant pitcher in the first decade of the 20th century who died of tuburcular meningitis after nine seasons. He's in the real Hall of Fame. They have his picture here. I think he was about 31 when he died; in his picture (still living), he looks 58.
* I wandered about before the game as usual. Great food selection, way expensive gift shop. They have Autograph Alley in the gift shop, which is display cases filled with balls signed by baseball stars and ordinary fans alike. At least I think that's what it was.
* I kept looking at the guy in the Brewer costume all night dancing on his platform in left field. When Prince Fielder hit the only HR of the night in the ninth inning, I was so busy totaling my scoresheet that I forgot to watch him go down his slide. Damn!
* The hot dog won the sausage race. Apparently the hot dog is the dominant menu item in the series. Five forms of sausage took part. For diversity's sake, one wore a Mexican hat and was apparently a South of the Border sausage.
* The ball was under the No. 1 hat.
* The fat girl finished last in the I Can Make A Bigger Fool of Myself Than You contest, which, judging from my previous baseball swing, is the hot new ballpark activity.
* A woman six rows in front of me suffered a broken face when Fielder's foul line drive bounced off her head. She left bleeding. No update on her, but a Brewer official came by taking down info on a pad after she left, maybe getting prepared for a lawsuit. Shouldn't joke, it was scary. Should be noted that we were sitting a bit beyond first base -- a hard target for a LH batter like Fielder to hit. Usually the balls you get there are slices from RH hitters.
* Got to stand in the fake Brewers dugout with the fake Fielder and fake Ryan Braun. The fake Braun would have been as much a threat as the real Braun, who was size-4 with 3 strikeouts.
* The vendor cheated my seatmate of 50 cents. As if they don't bilk you enough with their prices.
* Remind me to tell you about my seatmate on the bus, but I haven't time now.
* I don't know how to do layout on this so it looks good. I trust you can tell which pictures go with which items.
*We are off to Minneapolis in 15 minutes. After this trip I will have seen 19 teams this season. I'm looking for ways to get the other 11. Only a minuscule number of people has the opportunity to do this -- just the entire populations of New York, Los Angeles, Chicago and San Francisco. So I'm going to unilaterally say I'm the only one who's ever seen all 30 teams in a season, take the buyout and find work as a display at Cooperstown.
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