Road Trip Tidbits/Tips: Post #1 - Miller Park

Yes, it's Spring Training. Yes, there's Baseball news. But for some reason, I just don't feel motivated enough to blog about what's been happening with the Jays so far this Spring. Well, other than Marcum and Romero's combined awesomeness.

So for today, and also on upcoming days when I feel like blogging but I don't have anything to blog about, I will blog about Ballparks/Cities I've visited...sometimes the route we took, rest stops, etc. It might not be that coherent, but I'm just hoping I get all important details in.

Here's my first one - dedicated to my current fave non-home ballpark. All photos taken by our group.

Miller Park
Visited July 10-12, 2009 - Brewers hosting LA Dodgers
Photo taken by Sis

We drove around to Milwaukee from Toronto, spending the night in Kalamazoo on the way. The Motel6 we stayed at was VERY cheap...but sketchy. Served its purpose, but next time we go we probably won't stay at that particular motel again. One thing we've learned from our various road trips is to be sure to stay at a hotel with restaurants around, especially if you don't have included breakfast at the hotel. There were no rest stops along the interstate which caused some worries, but there was a really nice Pilot in Indiana not too far before the exit to drive through Gary. Drove through Chicago's parking lot :P Took us an hour just to get through the city thanks to lovely lunch hour traffic....in the rain.

US Cellular Field Drive-By Photo

The hotel we stayed at in Milwaukee is located in West Milwaukee and was recommended online as being the best if you are going to watch the Brewers - Best Western Woods View Inn. The parking lot is a bit small, but parking is free. If you get there close enough to check-in, you should have no problem getting a spot. A big plus is that if you check out the day there's an afternoon game, they have no problem letting you stay parked there after you check out. The hotel has a free continental breakfast included. HUGE bonus. The elevator's a bit small, but our room was located on the 2nd floor so we just took the stairs. The staff is extremely courteous from the moment you walk in the doors.

I'm not sure if all rooms are the same, but our room had a mini kitchen area that included a fridge and a microwave along with plates and cutlery. The beds are double beds, so it can be kinda squishy if you're sharing.

Being in West Milwaukee, there isn't really THAT much around so we didn't really get to check anything out. We were within walking distance from a couple of bars, a Taco Bell/Long John Silver's and a Walgreens (perfect for photo printing opportunities and drink/snack shopping). I'm not sure if it's changed since we last went, but Wisconsin still allowed smoking in bars back then, so we weren't able to partake in any form of nighttime fun due to not being able to breathe from the heavy smoke. We DID order pizza our first night there from Pepe's Pizza (number was available in the hotel guide) and the pizza was REALLY good. Perfect if you're in a tight bind :)

But the biggest perk about the hotel was the location to the ballpark. It's literally a 10-minute walk maximum from Miller Park. Front Desk even provides maps on how to walk there. The walk is a tiny bit secluded but it is very safe to walk.

Our first game was on a Friday night. Now, the Brewers only have this promotion for kids 14 and up now. But last year it was available to everyone. Autograph Fridays. Select players would sign autographs - one at each section with about 6-7 players/coaches/alumni signing. We went because I wanted to meet Ryan Braun and he was one of the players scheduled to sign that day. Absolute mayhem, and the line was cut off before we even got to the section. It didn't stop me from having the chance to meet him, though that was mostly because of the usher in the section and Ryan's awesomeness. But I digress, somewhat :P

Ryan Braun signing autographs for fans at Autograph Friday

The staff are very friendly at Miller Park, and quite competent. But then again, I'm used to the Rogers Centre where 99% of the employees probably don't even know the team's name. To add to the staff, the fans were absolutely amazing. We met a few people that we started to talk to, and when they found out we were from Toronto, they started asking us questions about our team, along with "so when are you gonna trade Halladay to us?" But one of the best things about the fans was that they thanked us for visiting Miller Park and their city and they hoped we'd have a great time.

I can't really comment on ticket prices too much since we splurged on StubHub since tickets were quite sold out due to the visiting team being the Dodgers. Though for one game we did purchase tickets behind the visitor's dugout for $100US each through the Brewers online ticketing. The seats were DEFINITELY worth the money. Friday night we sat 2nd row between 3rd Base and LF. Our last day there we didn't splurge, but we sat in the bleachers behind the Dodgers bullpen.

Friday Night View (with zoom) - Prince Fielder at bat

Saturday Night View (partial zoom)

Sunday View - Dodgers Bullpen

The atmosphere was electric all 3 games, even when the Brewers were losing. Actually, for about a half hour during Batting Practice (or between BP and the game), the only music played is on the ballpark organ. There's Bernie going down the slide anytime a Brewer hit a home run. When Catalanotto went up to bat, his at-bat music was "Your Love" by The Outfield and the whole crowd sang along. I also got goosebumps when it was Trevor Time. Something about hearing Hell's Bells in person with a future Hall of Famer running to the mound was just so completely epic.

Bernie

It's Trevor Time

The Sausage Race is even better in person than on TV. The Friday night we were there, one of the physiotherapists or something for the Dodgers was Italian and Andre Ethier started cheering her on. Seriously, the race is absolute MAYHEM! I was happy I was able to see Chorizo win lol

Sausage Race! Go Chorizo!

7th Inning Stretch - The tradition at Miller Park is singing along with the polka song, "Roll Out The Barrel". Nothing quite like singing along about beer lol

Speaking of beer, the one downside was that since it's Miller Park...all the beer is Miller. Not a huge fan, but hey, can't get too picky when your home park serves Bud :P

The food is VERY good. Each day I made sure to have a Klement's Brat....and I had to put the Stadium Sauce on it. SO good. Another recommendation is the deep fried cheese curds. If you buy a pop (or soda if you're American :P), be sure to get it in the huge souvenir glass. Well worth the money.

In terms of merchandise, there are 2 stores located in the lower level. There was also a t-shirt printing booth that made jersey tees.

Our one "downfall" was that anytime we go on road trips for Baseball, it ALWAYS rains. Miller Park has been the only "Dome" we've been to on the road. Our Milwaukee trip was the only trip with zero rain, so we never got to see the roof closed lol

I THINK I've covered all of the bases. If not, you can always leave a comment with a question and I can try to answer it :)

ACCIDENTAL OMISSION! I can't believe I forgot to mention the tailgating!!!! We weren't able to participate, but it's an active culture at Miller Park. It was suggested to me by fans on the Brewers forum, but yeah...we weren't able to participate. Can't believe I forgot that *facepalm*

Beware - Potential Stereotypical Girly Post

So, I'm too lazy to plug my external hard drive into my computer...even though the USB port is right in front of me, as well as the cord. But then I'd have to turn it on and search for files.....whatever. The point is, here's a picture of Ryan Braun instead of Joe Inglett.

Why?

Well, Brauny's my favourite Brewer and he's beyond a bucket of awesome in my eyes. And that's not including the eye candy factor (my motto is: I'm a Baseball fan but I'm not blind).

There is a point, I promise.

2 days ago, the Rangers designated Jingles for assignment. Contrary to popular Blue Jay Baseball "fan" belief, that's not the same as being released. But I digress.

I was informed today with one hour left in my shift at my uber-exciting job that a team had claimed Jingles off waivers. Of course, my mind went to, "Oh boy, it's the Yankees or Red Sox." But then I was informed, "No, seriously, it's good news." So I figured the Jays got him back. W00t.

But obviously, I'm a moron and forgot about my 2nd favourite team (1st favourite in the NL), The Milwaukee F***ing Brewers! Doug Melvin, the beloved (or non-beloved..I have no damn idea) GM of the Brewers stated that Jingles has a good shot of making the team out of Spring Training due to his lefty battiness (or, to speak proper English, the fact that he's a left-handed batter and the Brewers have a predominantly right-handed lineup)

Does anybody other than myself realize the possible apocalyptic ramifications of both Joe Inglett and Ryan Braun being on the SAME team? Well, probably not because I'm most likely the only person thinking about it...unless there's a game designer coming up with the same idea based on this awful photo-shoot of Brauny where he looks like one of those dudes that kicks zombie ass at 4PM on XBOX 360 wearing Remetee T-shirts.

My two favourite Baseball players on the same team....it's been hours since the news and the words about how excited I am truthfully don't exist.

But to make sure I don't go absolutely crazy, I induce vomit by remembering that Gregg Zaun is now a Brewer.

Good luck, Joe. May you not see waivers again this offseason!

It's Been A Week....

and I haven't vented since. Why? Out of my many years of being a Jays fan, I've never not cared this much. It breaks my heart watching games on TV and seeing them blow it in the worst way possible. And to vent about it on a blog doesn't help.

Tonight's game just made it worse.

People don't even care enough to boo V-Dub anymore.

I also love the, "If a Jays pitcher gets at least 2 men on base then miraculously the defense provides a triple play to get him out of a mess, you could win a million dollars" contest. Give me a fucking break.

And Casey doesn't have high sock mojo anymore....

And I'm sick of Brandon Effin' League having a career.

Yet tons of people want to get their picture taken with the stupid asshole "umps" who automatically MUST be awesome since they're apparently buddies with Jamie Campbell. Whoopdee shit. That act got stale after the first inning they did it.

And again, that's why I hate Toronto fans.

But welcome back, T-Snide....

At least there's a slim chance that Bronson might become a Brewer soon...that might cheer me up.

I need to kill my liver because of these guys.

The Jays Weren't All The Yankees Shut Down

Even though the series was only 2 games, it still physically and emotionally drained me (possibly because I finally had work again. w00t.)

I'm still too drained to even post coherentness and possible insight about the games. But I'm not going to. Except, was it just me or was the second game the better out of the two (though not necessarily the outcome)? And it WASN'T the highly touted "Doc's first start as a continued Jay" game?

On a Brewers note, I know I'm a couple of days late, but seriously, Prince "Teddy Bear" Fielder going absolutely apeshit? Well, I'm just calling him a teddy bear. What do I know? :P

Anyhoo, as I've said...absolutely drained. I need to prepare myself for this weekend. Apparently there's some kind of Jays reunion happening...I think they won Back-2-Back World Series at one point in franchise history. (/end sarcasm) So I'm going to brave the BBQ tomorrow since work doesn't exist again lol then it's time to celebrate the "Remember when the Jays were contenders and the city gave a shit" weekend with a Season Ticket Holder signing followed by a Tom Henke Q&A for Fan Club members followed by a baseball game. Whoo hoo.

Yes. I'm bitter. I'll make myself happy. Sorry about the fangirl moment. But I have to.

Brauny belly. Preow.

Something Like A Phenomenon

Awesome. I kick ass...using lyrics from a LL Cool J song. So original. Makes me want to cry tears of joy.

I'm going to forget about everything else in this blog post, despite the 7 runs that the Jays brought in. This is all going to be dedicated to RickRom. It's not exactly going to be an awe inspiring post or anything....but I'm mostly just blogging for the sake of blogging.

I actually saw Ricky pitch in Triple-A when the Jays were still affiliated with Syracuse. One day, my sister, Mom and I decided to travel to Buffalo to see the Bisons host the Chiefs (even though we made regular trips to Syracuse). The Chiefs lost....and RickRom was nothing spectacular. I personally was not impressed or blown away.

Arnie wanted to have him start this season with the big club as an experiment. Boy, has this experiment worked. Am I bad for hopping on the ROY bandwagon? I'm not going to bother posting stats because I'm way too...not in the mood to :) But he's been a breath of fresh air this season.

That's one thing I can take about the sudden crash and burn of the Jays this season (not that I was expecting them to continue to kick ass like they did in the first couple of months). Despite having "no pitching", we get to see the youngsters have a go at it.

Now if only I had the money to buy a jersey....seriously debating between RickRom and Cecilicious. But now that the cresting has changed into fugly plastic lettering, I might just wait forever until I can afford an authentic jersey that doesn't look like complete ass.

I have no idea how to end this post.....at least in terms of RickRom.

A shout-out to Corey Hart, who had an appendectomy today in San Diego. Get well soon! At least the Brewers gave you a win today :P

And can I just say how absolutely ecstatic I am to NOT see Burnett pitching against us in the 2-game series vs. Yankees? Not in the mood to hear "AJ SUCKS" chants over hearing people booing V-Dub.

The end. I think. Maybe I can find something else to ramble about.

Hooray For No More 10pm Starts!

Well, except the doubleheader in Arlington on Sept. 1. But that's different. I just can't wait to get my sleeping pattern back to normal.

The Jays won (but almost didn't) on Rickey Henderson Day. Ah...even though he only spent half a season with us, it still reminds us of back when we were kicking ass. Downs almost blew the game, yet again, but reinjured himself in the process. JayFray came in, made things quite a bit nerve wracking, but ended the game with a NASTY pitch to Sweeney and got him striking out looking. So, holy shit, we had a 1-run win!

Cecilicious seemed a bit off, giving up 4 runs....but then he settled down quickly.

I didn't get to watch the whole game since I was also watching the Brewers @ Padres game (hooray for friend having MLB Extra Innings). It appeared as though for both games, we missed the action because we were watching the other game. Needless to say, the Jays game seemed to be a lot more enjoyable. Man, the Brewers have nosedived even faster than the Jays did.

The one problem with writing a blog post the day after the game? It tends to be a bit shorter, and a lot more irrelevant :P

Double Crappiness With A Side Of No Internet

If anything good happened last night, it was the fact that The Cod got to feel up Scott Richmond. Oh, sorry...I mean, tried to settle him down.

I don't think I can make a blog post long enough for everything that sucked about last night. I would have posted about it last night, but my internet farted out. I think it was sick of my venting on Twitter. Richmond, fresh from the DL, was struggling. Badly. Was he rushed back? Was he just a bit rusty? I don't know....and I'm not even going to attempt to speculate.

Got this information from Jordan Bastian's tweet: Jays 1-3 hitters went 8-13, 5R, 5RBI, 3 2B, 1 HR. Batters 4-9? 2-24. PATHETIC. Then again, what can you expect when your cleanup hitter is Kevin Millar? Love the guy's personality....but he can't hit!

3 errors. 3 frickin' errors by the #1 team in the AL for fielding percentage! Truthfully, if we didn't end up losing this game, I would be pissed off. Yet, I'm still pissed off. Go fig :P

I guess it's because evil and mean JP traded Scott Rolen away. It's been released that Rolen asked to be traded because of family reasons, and he wanted to be closer to Indiana. In the end, JP accommodated for him and we got some youth. Again, far from being a JP supporter, but the Rolen trade is not a reason for him to be fired. At least in my humble opinion. I won't rant about Jays fans...I promise. Especially since I'll probably offend and upset some of my good friends.

Is it bad that I now prefer to hear Rance Mulliniks' voice over Jamie Campbell? I'm actually not cringing when I hear Rance talk anymore. But when Archie starts to talk, I want to throw something at my TV.

Then to add to it, the Brewers had an awesome 7-run second inning last night vs. the Padres. THEY BLEW IT. And they're in fourth place. Braden Looper's quote: “It’s tough to say that I was a better hitter than a pitcher today. I don’t ever want to say that.” (Taken from Adam McCalvy's tweet)

Ugh. Depressed. Well, at least I get to watch both the Jays and the Brewers games tonight. Hooray for my friend having MLB Extra Innings.

It's already August. *sob*

Mariners Get RickRom'ed

RickRom had a decent start tonight. Not a quality start, but he kept the Jays in the game. That's pretty much all you can ask from him at this rate. Then again, the Jays bazillion hits, and the two-out rally in the 6th (Holy WTF, Batman), Lylo and The Cod HRs, Scootz tying his career high for hits in a game (4), Jingles not killing the rally in the 6th (hey, I <3 him, but he's been struggling at the plate away from Vegas this season)....all in all a good night.

Here's one thing I don't get. Here in Toronto, there are fans who easily have access to see the Jays and cheer them on. As my previous entries have stated, it's totally not the case. But in Seattle, the cheers were louder than here at home for the Jays (or so it seemed) by people who follow the team just like the fans in Toronto do, who know the struggles the Jays are going through, and who probably have the same beefs as the fans in Toronto do. I didn't hear any boos for Vernon. Which again, leads me to the question, "What's wrong with the so-called fans in Toronto?"

Unfortunately, that's too philosophical of a question to be asked at 2am.


THE LEGEND STILL EXISTS! He made his first appearance tonight in Seattle since the Jays were in Tampa on July 8th. 19 days. And he didn't give up a run. One of the best, recent outings by somebody in our bullpen :P He didn't aid and abet blowing a 7-run lead. But I digress.

So...The Cod gets pied. How did I find out? By finding this picture online. What did Sportsnet do the second The Legend and The Cod shake hands after the final out? Archie says, "Thank you for watching," then it goes straight to Connected...where they talk about the highlights of the game we just watched, and most likely rambled on about Doc possibly being traded before the deadline (I don't know...I turned the TV off once that happened. But it's a typical Sportsnet type-thing to happen....such as regurgitating information from Wikipedia, verbatim. Again, I digress). My whole point is, they didn't show the post-game interview with Barajas, or the pieing. But they DID record it since it's readily available on sportscrap.ca.

Here's to hoping Marc (too late to spell his last name) fares well against Washburn tomorrow night, provided Washburn doesn't head to the Brewers right away. Then again, the Brewers effin' lost to the NATIONALS for crying out loud. I shall end my vent there.

Goodnight. Or good morning. However you'd like to look at it.

See? Now THAT'S more like it!

I love going to a game where there's absolutely no imploding involved. It definitely makes it a lot easier to breathe. Cecilicious only gave up 1 ER, Rolen hit a 3-run dinger...Joe finally got another hit lol....Jays win it 5-1. I was secretly hoping for a repeat from 2 years ago on Dog Day when McGowan was so close to having a No-No (still hate you, Jeff Baker!). But I'll definitely take a win.

But one thing that I realized today....yes, the Jays were pitiful on Saturday in the game that I will refer to as Bullpen Gate and will never mention again...why would "fans" show up just to complain the whole time they're at the game, and boo V-Dub? I would think that money would be better spent towards something you'd WANT to see. Here's the classic moment. V-Dub grounds into a double play. People boo insanely. Lind scored from third!!!!! Anybody who knows the sport and actually cares would know that yes, double plays suck...but at least it brought a run in. Then there were the lovely, sarcastic cheers when Vernon hit a single in the 8th.

But the worst was when Vernon was walking his dog with his wife and children for Dog Day festivities. Fans started yelling down at him, swearing at him, telling him he's worthless, etc. Sometimes I truly feel embarrassed to be a Jays fan.

Jays fans are quick to insult Red Sox fans. But, I'm sorry....David Ortiz was struggling a LOT more than Vernon is right now, and as far as I know, making more money (feel free to correct me if I'm wrong). Did the Fenway Faithful ream him out every chance they got? Not as far as I could tell....the only thing I saw were standing ovations where the fans were cheering him on to support him in getting out of his slump.

It's depressing. I'm trying not to focus on it because it's truthfully not worth my time thinking about it. But it's still upsetting. I do know that there are people who will support this team as a whole through thick and thin, and I'm hoping that our positivity will overshadow the negativity of the Hockey hooliganism mentality.

And now it's time for a West Coast road trip.....hooray for late nights!

IN OTHER NEWS





I realized I haven't even mentioned the Brewers in any of my posts yet. My brain's just been too overloaded to mention them, I guess. But on Saturday while hosting the Braves, both teams wore Negro League uniforms as a tribute. I love the untuck/jumping thing that Brauny, Cameron and Hart do...but man, it looks even more amusing in the old-style uniforms. *sigh* I miss Miller Park

IN OTHER OTHER NEWS




My guilt has been expunged. On Wednesday night, I received Marco Scutaro's 2nd home run ball from Alexthebullpencatcher. SO excited since I <3 Scootz. (this is the third time I'm typing this out since Blogger's acting silly lol). I got home, found out it was the first time in his career that he had a multi-home run game. I started to feel guilty, and people thought I was a freak because of it. Long story short, friend of mine spoke to Sam Cosentino who spoke to Scootz who wanted the ball and was appreciative that I wanted to get it back to him. After today's game, I gave the ball to Sam, and shortly after, he came out with a fresh MLB ball signed on the sweet spot by Scootz. So now I'm guilt-free :) And I have a lovely ball.

Thank you, Sam and Scootz! <3