20 year anniversary of the last game at County Stadium

[owbc]

9/28/2000

 

I remember this well, I was in 8th grade and my dad took me out of school to see the game. The game was unremarkable but the closing ceremony was incredibly well done. Glad to see it's on Youtube. It took a while but 20 years later it feels like the promise of Miller Park has been fulfilled, as the Brewers have been a contender more years than not since the late 2000s. Still waiting for that World Series though...

[Warning Track Power]

How can this be 20 years ago already? I miss the simplicity of that stadium and stadiums like it.

[JimH5]

That was an emotional night for me. Lots of childhood and young adult memories spent at County Stadium. It was a dump at the end, and not conducive to the modern economics of baseball, but I have lots of good memories of County Stadium.

 

The Seligs really went all out with that ceremony. I'm thankful to them for that.

[rickh150]

Molly running in and going straight to the batters box.... his favorite spot in the park, he said. Classic.

[djoctagone]

the game was remarkable in that jeff d'amico was in the running to qualify for the era title. unfortunately, he didn't pitch well enough to secure it.

 

i'm glad i got to be there.

[brewers4eric]

I can't believe it has been twenty years already. I spent that night listening to the ceremony from the seat of a tractor and am not afraid to admit that it brought me to tears when I heard all of the names being announced.

 

One of my coworkers was at the game. She had never attended a baseball game in person and was invited by a friend at the last minute. A week later she gave me the numbered program and a copy of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel that was given away at the game. I noticed a scribble of a signature on the program and asked where she had gotten it. Her reply was that she had walked onto the concourse and a group of people were huddled around someone. She had no idea who it was but she figured she would get an autograph if everyone else was. She showed me her pictures from the game and the unknown man in the concourse that was signing autographs was Bud Selig.

 

I've got the program in a shadowbox in my home office. It hangs next to a "First Pitch" print from the first game at Miller Park. I've got lots of great memories from both venues.

 

Go Brewers.

[mtrebs]

I remember that day well. While the game wasn’t memorable, the ceremony was amazing. I remember not wanting to leave the stadium that day knowing that was the last time. I still can hear Frank Sinatra’s “There Used To Be A Ballpark”, which was playing over the speakers as we walked out of the seating area, in my mind. While I love having Miller Park’s amenities, I’ll always hold memories of County Stadium in my heart.

 

One other vivid memory I have of County Stadium was my first ever Brewers game in 1986, when I was seven years old. We had tickets on the third base side of the Upper Grandstand. I remember being a little scared walking the catwalk over the crowd below to get to the seating area and as I got my first glimpse of the field I couldn’t believe how green and perfect the grass looked. It was one of the most beautiful sights I had ever seen.

[LouisEly]

I may regret buying a seat but don't regret this

[mtrebs]

I may regret buying a seat but don't regret this

 

Nice! I didn’t buy a seat (which I have regretted at times), but similar to you, I’m glad I bought this at the County Stadium auction/sale.

 

[attachment=0]597651C5-6BC7-4D1D-BAEA-36A9CC09D681.jpeg[/attachment]

[Madhawk23]

Agree with much that has already been said. County Stadium is my childhood, so the memories I have of that place are really special. I'll never forget that scene walking up through the tunnel and seeing the beautiful green grass of County Stadium. I was just in awe of that place as a kid. Miller Park is great, and is everything that County Stadium wasn't (which admittedly is a lot). But, County Stadium will always have my heart and will always be the place where I become a diehard Brewers fan.

[LouisEly]

My seat is for sale, but this isn't

[owbc]

I think my first game was when I was 8 in 1995, I was in the LF bleachers with my dad on a random weeknight with a small crowd and I vividly remember the fans heckling BJ Surhoff, which I thought was odd because he was on the home team. Then he made a diving catch which still didn't satisfy them. No idea if the Brewers won or lost. At that time I had been to some basketball games at the Bradley Center but there was something about baseball at County Stadium in particular which was uniquely enthralling. The place smelled like baseball and the lack of bells and whistles was part of the charm.

 

I also remember our misguided decision to go to an April game when with a stiff breeze blowing in from the lake, shivering under a blanket with maybe 3,000 other crazies, and then giving up after about 5 or 6 innings.

 

Last summer I was in Oakland and passed by the Coliseum when an A's game was going on, it reminded me so much of County Stadium from the outside...an ugly old stadium surrounded by a sea of parking lots. I really regretted not seeing a game while I was there.

[SomewhereInTime]

I went to a number of games at Count Stadium as a kid but two really stick out:

 

I won the honorary bat boy contest and got to go on the field before the game and get a picture and autograph in the dugout for a young rookie I'd never heard of, Geoff Jenkins. We sat front row next to the dugout and the Brewers won, Dave Nilsson hit two homeruns.

 

The other was a crazy 16 inning game out in the bleachers, I think maybe vs the Tigers. Wickman blew it in the 9th and there was no scoring until the 16th when the Tigers got a couple of runs. We left early before the bottom of the inning but my friend told me Jenkins hit what should've been a game tying homerun but it was called foul. Back in the days before the internet and before we even had cable TV so I never really got to see if it was really a foul ball.

 

I don't think I ever remember going to a game before the half built Miller Park was looming in the background.

[nectarsis]

What i will miss the most (besides all the games seen there), is being an usher. To this day, my favorite job ever. I just wish i would have stayed working there longer.

[Zad Fnark]

I was there precisely once, the 1980 season, I think.

 

My 5th grade teacher set up a class trip to a game.

 

Fun times.

[StearnsFTW]

Was at Nolan Ryan's 300th win and Robin's 3000th hit. As well as Easter 1987. Game 5 of the 1982 World Series.

 

Went to a ton of games from 1987 (finally had my license) to 1993.

 

It was a dump, but I loved it. Had my first unsupervised beer opening day 1989.

 

Good memories, and mostly decent-to-good teams for the games I was at starting in 1978 through 1993. Didn't go to many games from 1994-1999.

[AKCheesehead]

Some great memories at County Stadium. Was there for #2,999 for Yount. He gave one a ride out to center field later in the game, I wish that thing would've carried.

 

Our family seemed to have a knack for getting rain delays when we went. On one family outing we got to witness this during a rain delay:

[dlk9s]

I may regret buying a seat but don't regret this

 

My County Stadium seats have served as great shelves for boxes in my office.

 

(that said, I really like them and just need to clean up)

[Eye Black]

I may regret buying a seat but don't regret this

 

My County Stadium seats have served as great shelves for boxes in my office.

 

(that said, I really like them and just need to clean up)

I watched the USA play in the 2013 World Baseball Classic at a bar in Champagne, Illinois that had modified old stadium seats from County Stadium into actual chairs (I think it was like 8-12 total) that were being used at some of their dining tables. I thought that was sort of a cool use for the County Stadium seats.

[MrTPlush]

There is a pretty sweet video of a guy walking through the stadium before the last game, Bernies Chalet and all, on YouTube. Some of you old farts would probably enjoy it.

[yfinn6]

I remember that day well. While the game wasn’t memorable, the ceremony was amazing. I remember not wanting to leave the stadium that day knowing that was the last time. I still can hear Frank Sinatra’s “There Used To Be A Ballpark”, which was playing over the speakers as we walked out of the seating area, in my mind. While I love having Miller Park’s amenities, I’ll always hold memories of County Stadium in my heart.

 

One other vivid memory I have of County Stadium was my first ever Brewers game in 1986, when I was seven years old. We had tickets on the third base side of the Upper Grandstand. I remember being a little scared walking the catwalk over the crowd below to get to the seating area and as I got my first glimpse of the field I couldn’t believe how green and perfect the grass looked. It was one of the most beautiful sights I had ever seen.

 

The bolded is exactly my first memory of County Stadium. It must have been 1992 or so and I would have been 7. I believe I found the box score of the game at one point. It was against the Orioles and the Brewers won, and I thought it was 1-0 but all of these details are a bit hazy as far as the actual year of the game but I remember being quite young.

[StearnsFTW]

Saw Teddy Higuera outduel Mike Witt 1-0 in a game that seemed to last about 75 minutes. Gonna see if I can find the boxscore.

 

Edit: it was Dan Petry, not Mike Witt. 1:59.

 

Earnest Riles hit a dinger.

 

Some good names for the old crowd here.

[Jimbo]

9/28/2000

 

I remember this well, I was in 8th grade and my dad took me out of school to see the game. The game was unremarkable but the closing ceremony was incredibly well done. Glad to see it's on Youtube. It took a while but 20 years later it feels like the promise of Miller Park has been fulfilled, as the Brewers have been a contender more years than not since the late 2000s. Still waiting for that World Series though...

 

The main thing I remember most is that the senior level people at the company were given tickets while the rest of us peons worked. But yes, the game was forgettable but the ceremony epic. I may still have it on tape somewhere.

[owbc]

I went to a number of games at Count Stadium as a kid but two really stick out:

 

I won the honorary bat boy contest and got to go on the field before the game and get a picture and autograph in the dugout for a young rookie I'd never heard of, Geoff Jenkins. We sat front row next to the dugout and the Brewers won, Dave Nilsson hit two homeruns.

 

The other was a crazy 16 inning game out in the bleachers, I think maybe vs the Tigers. Wickman blew it in the 9th and there was no scoring until the 16th when the Tigers got a couple of runs. We left early before the bottom of the inning but my friend told me Jenkins hit what should've been a game tying homerun but it was called foul. Back in the days before the internet and before we even had cable TV so I never really got to see if it was really a foul ball.

 

I don't think I ever remember going to a game before the half built Miller Park was looming in the background.

 

My mom stuffed the ballot box until my brother and I both got in to both of the kids promotions that the Brewers ran back then. I got my picture with Dave Nilsson for the batboy promotion, my main memory is that he was extremely tall. I still have the picture of that one! Then a year or two later I got to do the Sunday one where you went on the field for the national anthem, I was in centerfield with Marquis Grissom, I remember him being really nice and asking me if I played baseball. I also remember the spectacular view of the grandstand from CF.

 

My younger brother got picked to do it on a weekend Cubs game in 1998, we almost didn't make it because it was a rare 50,000+ crowd and we had to park somewhere on the grass off Bluemound.

 

We went to a lot of games in that era since we lived about 15 min from the stadium. My dad would get home from work around 6 and if the weather was nice my brother and I would pester him to go to the game and we always made it for first pitch. I remember the Albert Belle/Fernando Vina fight game as well as the first interleague game where Burnitz won in 1-0 on a solo HR to dead center in the bottom of the 9th.