After arriving at the hotel, the manager who was helping process all the check-ins explained that I could get a free ride to the ballpark if I went down three blocks to the Irish pub and bought a drink or food.
Unfortunately, it was only half an hour before game time at this point, so I decided to try the special Miller Park bus service instead. It came along the road that goes past the hotel, stopping at every street corner (on request) It was almost totally empty, and only cost $2.25 to get to the park, which took 15 minutes as its quite a way out of town to the West. The emptiness may have been because people had already gone on the earlier services. The ballpark is adjacent to what looks like a small, quiet suburban town, but otherwise in the middle of nowhere, much like Kauffman Stadium in Kansas City. The advantage of being out of town is the much greater availability of space for everything.
My first impression of Miller Park was positive. The stadium feels small, compact and bijou, intimate.
I was in the front row of the loge level on the second tier and felt like I was much more on top of the action that I was in Baltimore or Washington - the picture really doesn't do it justice. Both of my tickets here are for the front row of the "no alcohol" family section (217). Other stadia have such sections, but they're usually stuck out in the bleachers. Ironically, it's the team called the Brewers who have chosen to put the no-alcohol section in one of the best places to watch the game, in front of the media boxes.
I saw the Pirates play in Pittsburgh last year and thought they looked as though they were coming good, and thus far this season, they are doing well, led by Andrew McCutchen, although in the past few days, it's been Alvarez who's been having several games in a row with at least one home run. He hit one to put Pittsburgh in front early on in this game too only for the Brewers to respond with a solo effort run from Gomez without the help of a hit or a sacrifice: he walked, stole second, stole third and then came in to score on a wild pitch, leaving A.J.Burnett pitching a no-hitter but also having given up a run. A few real hits were to come later as Milwaukee took a 2-1 lead in the 7th, only to have the Pirates tie it in the 8th. Everything looked set for extra innings until Corey Hart led off the bottom of the ninth by blasting a walk-off home run over the fence to give the Brewers the win.
After the game it was dark (well, it was 10pm) at which point I realised I should have remembered where the bus pickup point was. However, I did find it eventually and caught the last bus back into town, which dropped me back at the hotel. It's so much cooler here than it was in Washington and even in Chicago - high 70s, lovely, with a breeze from time to time that's cooling rather than heating.
Unfortunately, it was only half an hour before game time at this point, so I decided to try the special Miller Park bus service instead. It came along the road that goes past the hotel, stopping at every street corner (on request) It was almost totally empty, and only cost $2.25 to get to the park, which took 15 minutes as its quite a way out of town to the West. The emptiness may have been because people had already gone on the earlier services. The ballpark is adjacent to what looks like a small, quiet suburban town, but otherwise in the middle of nowhere, much like Kauffman Stadium in Kansas City. The advantage of being out of town is the much greater availability of space for everything.
My first impression of Miller Park was positive. The stadium feels small, compact and bijou, intimate.
I was in the front row of the loge level on the second tier and felt like I was much more on top of the action that I was in Baltimore or Washington - the picture really doesn't do it justice. Both of my tickets here are for the front row of the "no alcohol" family section (217). Other stadia have such sections, but they're usually stuck out in the bleachers. Ironically, it's the team called the Brewers who have chosen to put the no-alcohol section in one of the best places to watch the game, in front of the media boxes.
I saw the Pirates play in Pittsburgh last year and thought they looked as though they were coming good, and thus far this season, they are doing well, led by Andrew McCutchen, although in the past few days, it's been Alvarez who's been having several games in a row with at least one home run. He hit one to put Pittsburgh in front early on in this game too only for the Brewers to respond with a solo effort run from Gomez without the help of a hit or a sacrifice: he walked, stole second, stole third and then came in to score on a wild pitch, leaving A.J.Burnett pitching a no-hitter but also having given up a run. A few real hits were to come later as Milwaukee took a 2-1 lead in the 7th, only to have the Pirates tie it in the 8th. Everything looked set for extra innings until Corey Hart led off the bottom of the ninth by blasting a walk-off home run over the fence to give the Brewers the win.
After the game it was dark (well, it was 10pm) at which point I realised I should have remembered where the bus pickup point was. However, I did find it eventually and caught the last bus back into town, which dropped me back at the hotel. It's so much cooler here than it was in Washington and even in Chicago - high 70s, lovely, with a breeze from time to time that's cooling rather than heating.
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