Accessibility Review: Section 434 at Miller Park

For the July 6, 2011 Dbacks @ Brewers game we sat in the wheelchair row in section 434.  It was much better than where we had sat for the ballpark trip.  It is in the highest section, but you at least can see the whole field as well as the scoreboard.



Mik, of course, approves of them as being good seating because they have cup holders.  However, they fill the section with folding chairs and there are no ushers around to take them out of the way.  Thus with the sold out wheelchair section situation there ended up being quite a few chairs in the way of the walkways to the rest of the section.

Mik's Food Scrapbook: Pulled Pork Parfait at Miller Park

Mik saw the Pulled Pork Parfait ad on the scoreboard before the Dbacks game at Miller Park and then sent Dad to go get one for him.  The parfait has pulled pork, mashed potatoes, and BBQ sauce.  Dad had his with Chives, but Mik did not.  Both really enjoyed it.  It was very filling.

Of course, we also had to have some more of the waffle fries in a helmet.

July 6, 2011: Arizona Diamondbacks 1 @ Milwaukee Brewers 3

We did not plan to end up going to Miller Park this summer, but we were hanging out in Chicago with nothing planned and realized the Dbacks were playing in Milwaukee.  We called the day before the game and lucked out and got pretty much the last handicap seats and they were even up in the area we wanted to try (434).  It was a Senior and Kid Day, so while the game was not even close to sold out the handicap sections were full.


After the major rain delay at Target Field, Mik was not entirely up to the idea of another baseball game this summer until I reminded him Miller Park had a roof.  He was all for a Dbacks game, then.   I was also up for adding another ballpark to my MLB at Bat check ins.  Too bad that feature to the app came a year after our All the Ballparks trip, but surprisingly I do have 5 different ballparks now.

The game was overall great, especially with a lead off homer by the Dbacks and the Dbacks ahead most of the game.  Sadly, though the Dbacks lost with the Brewers getting a 3 run homer in the bottom of the 7th.  Even sadder was my Beat the Streak game streak got ended at 8 because Dbacks Stephen Drew struck out all 4 times at bat.  That is just an extra stinky way to end a streak.

Game Wrap Up: July 1, 2011 Milwaukee Brewers 2 @ Minnesota Twins 6

After a 2 hour rain delay, the Twins game finally started around 9pm on July 1, 2011. It was an extra late night of baseball, but at least we can again say we have seen a complete game at every current MLB ballpark. Of course, next year we will have to catch up again with the new Marlins ballpark, but we are already working on planning that into our 2012 summer vacation.



It was a rather long wait for the game to start including a decent amount of time with no rain. However, it made sense to wait out the storm, as there was a major thunderstorm including hail. Much better to wait it all out and then have the whole game instead of the stop and start that sometimes happens. Of course, this is one reason why the MetroDome was better. Overall Target Field is a better ballpark, but Mik seriously wants to know why a team would go from a roofed stadium to absolutely no roof.

The game went pretty quick once it started. Ended up with some very rude Brewers fans that would not stay behind the blue line for standing and even spilled their beer on the girl next to us. Then he was touching us and yelling at the outfielder basically right in my ear. Dad got him to go away and customer relations later even offered us free hot dogs, but we did not feel like taking advantage of that when customer relations did there job and really made efforts to have everyone enjoy the game. I got nothing wrong with people cheering, but for one he did not have a ticket for the wheelchair section and it makes no sense to be yelling to get the attention of an outfielder during play, especially when it is the outfielder for the team you are rooting for.

Game 17: Milwaukee Brewers 5 @ Detroit Tigers 9

We got to the game a little before they opened the gates, although we hit the Team Shop before actually going into Comerica Park. Once inside we walked all the way around on the first level. They have some interesting displays by decade with Tigers memorabilia and history. We also found some fun places for photos including the Tigers Statue of Liberty (we have found several of these on the trip at various ballparks) and a Mickey statue dressed as a Tigers fan.

The game was a good one hitting wise, but not so good pitching wise, although the Tigers pitcher, Figaro, did get a win in his MLB debut. The Brewers took the lead with a run batted in in the top of the 2nd inning. The Tigers then came back in the bottom of the 2nd by scoring three runs. The Brewers got a lead off homer in the top of the 3rd, but the Tigers then increased their lead by getting a two run homer in the bottom of the inning. The Tigers tacked on two more runs in the fifth and another two in the sixth to give them a 9 to 2 lead. The Brewers tried to come back by scoring two in the 7th and one in the 8th, but it was no where near enough, as the Tigers shut them down in the 9th with a 3 up 3 down inning to give them a 9 to 5 victory. Of course, being Cubs fans we wanted the Brewers to lose, so it was a good game not only with all the hitting action, but also with the end result.

Game 15: Milwaukee Brewers 9 @ Cleveland Indians 8

We got to the park a little after they opened the one gate that lets you into a small part of the park opened at 4:30pm. At least that part included some good food, since Mik was really hungry. It also included the area called Heritage Park, which is a three level area that honors the Indians that are in the Baseball Hall of Fame and other significant players and moments in Indians history. We ended up in this area until they opened up the rest of the park at 6pm, but more on that in a whole separate post later, as that experience deserves its own post. It was something that could have made the ballpark the worst, but actually in the end at least Mik has declared Progressive Field the best park so far.

The game was definitely the best one we have seen so far. Perhaps almost the best game I have ever seen in person, however, the walk off home run by Zimmerman in the Nats Opening Day game at their new park last year still rates the top game experience for me. The Brewers took an early 3-0 lead with one run in each of the first three innings. The Indians then scored 3 runs in the bottom of the 4th to tie it up.

The Brewers again took the lead in he 7th by scoring 3 runs and increased their lead to 8 to 4 with a run in the top of the 8th. The Indians again made it only a 3 run deficit with a run in the bottom of the 8th, but the Brewers then tacked on another run in the 9th. So going into the bottom of the 9th the Indians were down 4 runs (8 to 4). With one out they scored on a double after getting a single and walk. Then the bases ended up loaded and Garko hit a 3 RBI double to tie up the game, but he tripped and ended up being tagged out for the second out of the inning. The game went into extra innings. The winning run came for the Brewers in the top of the 11th with a sac fly.

Even Mik got into the game, as he is a little bit of an Indians fan since he was an Indian in his first year of Challenger Little League. He did mostly play his PSP and he did want to leave at first when it went into extra innings, but he ended up putting his PSP away by the 11th and actually watched the game. He was even rooting for the Indians to at least tie it up in the bottom of the 11th even though he wanted to hit the road and that would happen sooner if the inning ended without the Indians scoring.

He is actually sort of getting into the trip. At least he is looking forward to the next game. Besides the Dbacks game, going to a game at an old park like Wrigley Field is the one thing that has him excited. Perhaps that is because we keep showing him things like where the home plate for now gone parks are and the dilapidated League Park we drove by in Cleveland. He wants to see what an old field that is actually kept up looks like.

Accessibility Review: Miller Park

Miller Park impresses with its accessibility in the parking lot, but the accessibility soon turns not as great. The handicap spots are located in one of the Premier Parking lots, but you only pay $8 like in the general parking lots compared to $15. Be sure to mention this when you are at the pay person, as they were too distracted to notice that we had the handicap placard up, but as soon as Dad asked where the handicapped parking was she said parking was only $8 instead of the $15 she had first asked for. The parking lots are largely used by tailgaters and thus there are port a potties in several locations including at least one that is wheelchair accessible.

Getting into the park is also quite easy, as you can go through any gate and pretty easily be next to a turnstile at the end of the row that has a way of letting you pass to the side of the turnstile. So many parks have you go through a specific entrance or the rows of turnstiles are long and require major walking around if you accidentally end up in the middle, such as we have done several times at the Dbacks in the past.

The first thing that I found not very accessible was the Team Shop. It seems most retail shops do not care to make their displays far enough apart for wheelchairs, but this one was by far one of the worst team shops to navigate through and it certainly did not help that it was also one of the most crowded with people. We mostly just left Mik in one spot while we searched for things like the stickers for the car because it would have taken forever to try to do it with Mik.

The seats we had in 442 were not too bad handicap seating wise. Sure there is the issue of the stupid mascot clubhouse, but that is an issue for everyone in the section. The bar in front of the handicap row is at a good low height to not block the sight line. However, the bar is really close to the seats and even me with short legs felt crowded up next to the bar. Also, annoying was we had 1, 2, and 3 and the only way into 1 and 2 was to come through spot 3, which was where Mik had to sit in his wheelchair. Such annoying planning to have to move the chair everytime we wanted to get in and out. Not quite as bad as the Metrodome, but still annoying.

The worst thing about Miller Park is the ushers. The one in our section was mostly absent, but he would come back every inning or so to kick people out of the section next to us that had been closed off because of a roof leak that caused there to be water in the section. It seems like that is the sort of time they should have been more present in the section.

The worst, though, was when we were riding the elevator. When we went up to our seats it was not too bad and the usher was not too bad, but still he did not exactly stop a group of 8 just going to suites get on and almost having another wheelchair person have to wait for the next elevator. Those fans were polite, though, and we all squeezed in to accommodate the other wheelchair.

The ride down was way different. There was a crowd of people in front of the elevator and only us and one other wheelchair person. The usher allowed the very able people crowd on and did not care at all when Dad approached him and pointed out there were two wheelchairs that needed the elevator. He allowed us to squish in and then three more fans decided to squish in as well. The door did not close at first and he did not even care to ask them to get out, as they had rushed in after he said the elevator was full. They just squished in some more. The other group with the wheelchair was forced to wait for the next elevator. I do not mind waiting for our turn, but these people were rude and could very easily have taken one of the many escalators or staircases down. I just could not believe how the ushers did not even give the wheelchairs priority, which every other ballpark does including often them pulling us out from behind several other groups to be the first to get on the elevator. Sure, you get rude fans everywhere, but usually even the fans make sure that they do not get on before those that actually need the elevators. Basically it seem many of the ushers were rather lazy.

Car Stickers Update: Milwaukee Brewers

The Brewers Team Shop was kind of disorganized. Okay, the stuff was on the shelves and where it all belonged, but it was not organized by like stuff very well. This was especially the case when it came to the stickers. Dad found several in one area including a rather tiny reflective one. We almost got a big player one that came with a separate logo one, but we finally located the regular Brewers logo one.

Kj’s Baseball Collection: Miller Park

At the Brewers’ I found a ballpark baseball for their Miller Park. The baseball does not have that interesting of a view of the field, especially since the Brewers logo is over the image. However, it does have a pretty cool and intricate Miller Park logo on one side. Another side also has the Brewers logo just on white.

Mik’s Mini Bat Collection: Dark Wood Brewers

At the Brewer’s Mik chose the dark wood natural bat. He has some natural wood bats, but none of them are dark wood like this one. The logo on it is the Brewers logo with a baseball behind the larger Brewers name.

Mik's Food Scrapbook: Miller Park

The first thing I got at the Brewers game was some cheese fries in a helmet. They were not too bad, but they had nacho cheese, which I just do not like. Any type of shredded actual cheese would have been way better. Mik seemed to enjoy them, though, as he kept stealing them including giving me a pouty pleading face to get the last fry. He mainly like the waffle fries and not the cheese. Later he had Dad get him his own without the cheese. They were way better that way.

Mik had his traditional food of a hot dog at the game. All I could get out of him was that the ketchup was spicy, but Dad thinks the spicy part was the hot dog. Dad described it as big and broiled. It could not have been too bad, though, as Mik ate it all quite quickly.

I got a Parmesan pretzel to try at the game and Mik decided to take a bite of it as well. He found it pretty blah. The pretzel itself was pretty good, but the Parmesan really did not add much flavor to it. It might have been really great if there was also some salt, as that seemed to be what was missing from it being an really enjoyable pretzel. He did give it credit for actually being a jumbo pretzel and I do not even think they call it that. It was definitely at least twice as big as the supposed jumbo pretzel at the San Francisco Giants' AT&T Park.

Game 11: Colorado Rockies 3 @ Milwaukee Brewers 2

We left for Milwaukee around 2:15pm and got to Miller Park around 4pm. Parking was easy and close as it as been at most places. The gates did not open until only 90 minutes before the game so we had a lot of time to kill. Even though we walked all the way around the park we still ended up waiting in line for the gates to open for over 30 minutes. At least we did get a chance to walk around the park, as they have an interesting Walk of Fame with home plate markers for the retired numbers and other key figures in Brewers history. With the amount of crowds they do get already lining up it seems odd they do not open up early for fans to see more of batting practice.

Once inside the park we hit the team shop and then found the elevator up to our seats. Our seats were kind of crappy, as this stupid Mascot Clubhouse juts out over the field perfectly blocking the scoreboard from sight. Sure, I can live with the scoreboard being blocked in cheap seats because you are right below it and such, but this added thing that could easily have been placed farther away and back is just unacceptable and annoying. At least the sight of the field only included the warning track in left field being blocked, which was not an issue in this game as nothing went there.

Mik got very excited when we got to our seats and realized the roof had been shut and it was another indoor baseball game. When we had driven up to the park the roof was still open, but rain was forecasted and it did sprinkle some while we were inside at the game. Most people think baseball should be played in outdoor stadiums and to some extent I agree, but Mik is totally the kind that thinks baseball is an indoor sport just as much as his beloved basketball since he has grown up going to the BOB/Chase Field. He would have loved the Twins game just for it being indoors if the handicap section had not turned out so horrible. It is kind of funny though that he loves indoor baseball and at the same time the Twins are counting down to outdoor baseball.

The game was not all that interesting today. Not much good pitching or good batting. Mik was rooting for the Brewers since the Rockies have been hot and helped the Dbacks end up in the bottom of their division. I was rooting for the Rockies since the Brewers are on the top of the Cubs division. The Brewers got an early lead with Counsell hitting a lead off triple in the next batter batting him in on a ground out. They also scored another run in the second with a home run by Gamel. With the help of three doubles in the top of the 7th the Rockies went ahead 3-2 and it remained scoreless for both teams after that.