How to Make Miller Park even better

[MrTPlush]

The exclusive areas are money makers, though, and that's a good thing.

 

I don't think a "clean" look is necessary or even desirable. It's the quirks that make a ballpark unique. Also, these areas would be fairly inexpensive to change out when the desire for something new arises.

 

Alright fine we keep them, but put both in LF really high so I forget they exsist like the dew deck.

 

I don't think the exclusive areas are that big of money makers and you have to remember there would be a lot of added seating with this plan. They did ax the Toyota Territory so why not make two more dissapear? This is also something I would want. Not necessarily what Attanasio would want.

[Bombers]

Put a pool in the bleacher seats

Just bring the hot tub back

[Iron Chef Napalm]

Procrastination time!

 

I’ve only been to a few MLB parks (Toronto, Colorado, St. Louis, Kansas City, Arizona and Baltimore) and so I don’t have that much experience to draw on, but it’s the internet and so I have opinions.

 

Things I would like to see changed at MP. (random recall order)

 

1. Live local bands playing before the game over the PA. Colorado had this and it was fun.

2. Get rid of the gray. The grayish green they painted the roof is depressing and makes the place seem drab. A nice dark, glossy green like Camden Yards would pep the place up.

3. Ushers that make you wait until a break in the action to go back to your seats. They do this in Toronto and it was Canadian politeness at its finest. Not having to miss that critical pitch on a 3 and 2 count because some dolt decides that it’s the perfect time to walk back to their seat was fantastic.

4. Less seats per row. I may have faulty recall, but I believe that Kansas City only has rows that are only 10 seats long. Not having to do the way every inning while someone shuffles past from 20 seats down was a blessing.

5. Bring back the mug! KC has the fountains and it give the old cement circle some style. MP needs something distinctive. Make the mug better, stronger, faster. Maybe fill the thing with actual beer that you tap and sell. (like a clear double hulled shell on the outside and not a puddle that Bernie slides into and gets wet) Or have the level of liquid rise each time the Crew scores? Something that says Milwaukee. Just don’t copy the Marlins.

6. As many employees to direct parking out of the lots as they do to bring people in.

7. Dividers between the urinals. Too fisted sloppers have bad aim.

8.More areas to view the game while walking around or standing.

9. Safety nets around the entire lower seating bowl. The best seats in the house behind home plate have them and it doesn’t ruin the game. Watching grownups wrestle children for a cheap souvenir and seeing my father-in-law almost get his skull smashed by a foul has jaded me on this topic.

10. Better stupid games between innings. Most other places I've been are worse with their games, but this year at MP has been bad. Guess a number and win a prize from Associated Bank, guess the price of some groceries, and how about not having the attendance number always be the highest. LAME. Take a page out of the minors and have more silly physical on field contests with fans. It worked for those sausages.

11. SABR Mondays. On Monday home games, change all the stats to more interesting and accurate stats. Use the time between innings to educate the fans?

 

Things I’m glad they don’t have:

1. An in game host announcer. The Brewers tried it and it was awful. Colorado still does and they reminded me how awful it was.

2. Restrictive carry-in rules. MP is great from bringing in my own soda and food. We often bring pie. Can’t do that in most cities.

3. A downtown location.

[trwi7]

Air conditioning is all I want. I refuse to go to a game where there's even a chance of rain because if it does rain we're stuck in a freaking sauna. I hate saunas as it is. Why would I want to be in one during a baseball game?

[1992casey]

I wouldn't oppose air conditioning, but it's not something that I'm going to campaign for either. Keep in mind that for air conditioning to be functional, it would probably be necessary to commit to using it several hours before gametime. It's not going to help if you try to turn it on at the point where rain starts.

 

It's appropriate that netting was brought up, but because it can be a hot button issue, how about using this topic if you want to discuss it further:

 

How Would You Feel About Protective Netting to the Foul Lines?

[BrewersSuperCollector]

WIN

[MrTPlush]

WIN

 

There is lots of winning going on...by the opposing team.

[The stache]

Procrastination time!

 

I’ve only been to a few MLB parks (Toronto, Colorado, St. Louis, Kansas City, Arizona and Baltimore) and so I don’t have that much experience to draw on, but it’s the internet and so I have opinions.

 

Things I would like to see changed at MP. (random recall order)

 

1. Live local bands playing before the game over the PA. Colorado had this and it was fun. Good idea.

2. Get rid of the gray. The grayish green they painted the roof is depressing and makes the place seem drab. A nice dark, glossy green like Camden Yards would pep the place up. Good idea.

3. Ushers that make you wait until a break in the action to go back to your seats. They do this in Toronto and it was Canadian politeness at its finest. Not having to miss that critical pitch on a 3 and 2 count because some dolt decides that it’s the perfect time to walk back to their seat was fantastic. Never going to happen.

4. Less seats per row. I may have faulty recall, but I believe that Kansas City only has rows that are only 10 seats long. Not having to do the way every inning while someone shuffles past from 20 seats down was a blessing. Never going to happen.

5. Bring back the mug! KC has the fountains and it give the old cement circle some style. MP needs something distinctive. Make the mug better, stronger, faster. Maybe fill the thing with actual beer that you tap and sell. (like a clear double hulled shell on the outside and not a puddle that Bernie slides into and gets wet) Or have the level of liquid rise each time the Crew scores? Something that says Milwaukee. Just don’t copy the Marlins. Agreed 100%. They're "the Brewers".

6. As many employees to direct parking out of the lots as they do to bring people in. Might be worth looking into.

7. Dividers between the urinals. Too fisted sloppers have bad aim. Two-fisted sloppers have bad aim, too.

8.More areas to view the game while walking around or standing. Not going to happen.

9. Safety nets around the entire lower seating bowl. The best seats in the house behind home plate have them and it doesn’t ruin the game. Watching grownups wrestle children for a cheap souvenir and seeing my father-in-law almost get his skull smashed by a foul has jaded me on this topic. No.

10. Better stupid games between innings. Most other places I've been are worse with their games, but this year at MP has been bad. Guess a number and win a prize from Associated Bank, guess the price of some groceries, and how about not having the attendance number always be the highest. LAME. Take a page out of the minors and have more silly physical on field contests with fans. It worked for those sausages. No.

11. SABR Mondays. On Monday home games, change all the stats to more interesting and accurate stats. Use the time between innings to educate the fans? No. Information on Sabermetrics is readily available on the net. If people want to learn about it, they can look it up online. I don't think the majority of baseball fans care about Sabermetrics. Those that are stat geeks, like myself, will have already looked into it.

 

Things I’m glad they don’t have:

1. An in game host announcer. The Brewers tried it and it was awful. Colorado still does and they reminded me how awful it was.

2. Restrictive carry-in rules. MP is great from bringing in my own soda and food. We often bring pie. Can’t do that in most cities.

3. A downtown location.

[superfly]

I'm a Brewer through and through, but i'm sorry...Target Field is 5 times the stadium Miller Park will ever be (and any other building aside from Yankee Stadium).

 

I actually like being able to afford decent seats...sooooooo Miller Park > Target Field. Miller Park is one of the most affordable places to go. The fact they decided against an exclusive padded seat area behind home plate was secretly brilliant. Hard to like a stadium when it swallows your wallet whole.

 

Just have to know where to look i've gotten first row LF bleachers several times for about 15-20$ apiece. Going to one later in the summer in the first row on-field right off 1st base for $30 apiece.

[AKCheesehead]

Air con or drastically improved ventilation would definitely top the list for me. Roof closed MP is a cooker, just ask Shaun Marcum.

 

Others:

 

-I'd like to see better efforts put into both the quality and speed of the food vending services.

 

-The entry turnstyles seem to be designed with the intent of making men sing falsetto.

 

-I know it's an MLB security ruling, but who cares if a fan has a small pocket knife in the stadium?

 

-Immediately switch the jumbo tron to a view of the appropriate OF corner when a ball is hit that way. When it's close to the line in the corner, almost half the people in the stadium can't see the play.

[BuckyBrewer61]

1. Bring back the mug. How has this not been done? What is the reason they won't do it? Are they afraid to glorify beer at Miller Park for the team named after beer? Given where Bernie's landing is, it seems it would even be pretty easy to build one out there.

 

2. Something needs to be done about the shadows during day games. They are awful, makes games really difficult to watch both at the game and on TV, and I'm sure the players hate them.

[1992casey]

I agree that something has to be done about the concession lines. This never used to be a big problem. Something's changed in recent years, and it doesn't seem to have to do with crowd size. Effort needs to be put into isolating the cause.

 

I think we'll start seeing WAR on the scoreboard just like OPS started creeping in about a decade ago. There's probably a way to handle other sabermetric stats. Maybe little blurbs about them can be offered here and there. I'm really glad that BA/OBP/SLG are shown right next to each other. You can get a lot from looking at those stats that way.

 

Does Bernie's slide still spray water?

[MrTPlush]

No Bernie's slide only sprayed water when the Kalahari sponsored it. Which I think was only one year.

 

I think part of the problem with concession stand lines is the fact so many volunteer groups run them. These people aren't very experienced with running concessions and can be slow/inefficient. That being said I don't think the lines are that bad and honestly getting food before the game is way smarter than trying to between innings. Of course that isn't always an option.

[FVBrewerFan]

Move the walls back or raise them higher wherever possible. I don't think it's a coincidence that teams in pitcher friendly parks generally see the playoffs more often than teams from hitters parks.

[Bombers]

Air conditioning is all I want. I refuse to go to a game where there's even a chance of rain because if it does rain we're stuck in a freaking sauna. I hate saunas as it is. Why would I want to be in one during a baseball game?

I agree with this. Air Conditioning on those humid days with the roof closed would be great.

[Invader3K]

Move the walls back or raise them higher wherever possible. I don't think it's a coincidence that teams in pitcher friendly parks generally see the playoffs more often than teams from hitters parks.

 

Isn't Miller Park pretty neutral over all?

[FVBrewerFan]

Move the walls back or raise them higher wherever possible. I don't think it's a coincidence that teams in pitcher friendly parks generally see the playoffs more often than teams from hitters parks.

 

Isn't Miller Park pretty neutral over all?

 

Not at all. I looked up park factors, and for avg runs MP is 4th this year, 5th in 2013, 7th in 2012. Last year was an anomaly, where MP was in the middle. But just about every other year, it is clearly a hitters park.

[jerichoholicninja]

Move the walls back or raise them higher wherever possible. I don't think it's a coincidence that teams in pitcher friendly parks generally see the playoffs more often than teams from hitters parks.

 

Isn't Miller Park pretty neutral over all?

 

Not at all. I looked up park factors, and for avg runs MP is 4th this year, 5th in 2013, 7th in 2012. Last year was an anomaly, where MP was in the middle. But just about every other year, it is clearly a hitters park.

 

I've never felt Miller Park was a hitters park and I've been meaning to look the numbers up for a while. How much of a hitters park is it? It doesn't seem like more offense happens there than on the road.

[RightFieldCoder]

IIRC, MP allows for more HRs but suppresses triples and singles. So runs go up but the number of hits (another thing counted for "offense") go down.

 

On topic, I'd get rid of current security, get better parking attendants, have ushers block people from returning to their seats during the game, have between inning activities for everyone (too many are for just one person they picked before the game) like trivia, tell the pitchers to throw the ball and speed the game along, and above all win games.

[tmwiese55]

Yea it's considered more of a hitters but it's not drastic like Cincy or some others. Have to think some offensive numbers are a tad inflated due to us having one of the best offenses from what 07-12.

 

I've noticed that trend towards pitcher parks somehow winning more often and couldn't really think of a reason other than those teams then tend to really emphasize pitching, D, and guys that can just get hits rather than homers. And that stuff is probably a good thing. I think a big park would create a little less variance because some routine fly ball isn't going out of the park when it shouldn't.

[Warning Track Power]

Sure I am in the minority on this one and I know if would never happen but...

 

I hate the video boards in LF. I miss the old hand-operated scoreboard the stadium had when it first opened. Felt it was a good mix of new (retractable roof) with old (hand-operated scoreboards). Love it.

 

Love the idea of a transparent roof and panels. While I love the roof and that no matter what a game will be played, I hate Miller Park when the roof and panels are closed because it feels "inside." Baseball and football were meant to be played outside. I think the Indianapolis Colts have transparent roof panels and the Minnesota Vikings are looking into. Would definitely be something I would love to see the Brewers invest in.

[jerichoholicninja]

Sure I am in the minority on this one and I know if would never happen but...

 

I hate the video boards in LF. I miss the old hand-operated scoreboard the stadium had when it first opened. Felt it was a good mix of new (retractable roof) with old (hand-operated scoreboards). Love it.

 

I'm with you but mainly so that I can see the scores of all the games at once instead of having to try and catch it at the right time. I suppose smart phones have made out of town score boards basically pointless but I haven't advanced that far yet.

[logan82]

Move the walls back or raise them higher wherever possible. I don't think it's a coincidence that teams in pitcher friendly parks generally see the playoffs more often than teams from hitters parks.

 

Isn't Miller Park pretty neutral over all?

Runs scored are pretty average. It allows more HR but suppresses other hits.

[FVBrewerFan]

Sorry, that's just not true. I've given the stats above. I can go back even further and show the numbers. MP is a hitters park, period. 5th in runs over the last few years, 4th this year.

[Baldkin]

Sorry, that's just not true. I've given the stats above. I can go back even further and show the numbers. MP is a hitters park, period. 5th in runs over the last few years, 4th this year.

 

I hope you're not just going by runs, because the Brewers having an above average offense and bad pitching staff would, y'know, increase that.

 

By Park Factors on Fangraphs Miller Park has been ~104 over the last 3 seasons, so 4% above league average.

 

http://www.fangraphs.com/guts.aspx?type=pf&season=2014&teamid=0