trip report: indians-angels in milwaukee

[crockpot]

cliffs notes at end.

i've been to under 50 ballgames in my life, but this was easily the craziest of them. by the time i left, i was glad ticket prices have risen like crazy in the past fifteen years.

this morning, i figured it would be a fun road trip to hit all the games in milwaukee, which is only two hours away for me and offered seats for every game, in the first 20 rows behind home plate, for $33 total. what's not to like? given that there were still such good seats available well after the announcement that the series had been moved, i figured a small crowd was in order.

pulling into milwaukee, I-94 was backed up all the way to the bypass. i took side streets in, but this only led me to a different line of cars that would have taken 30 minutes to resolve itself. i decided to park illegally on the street, reasoning that a $20 ticket would be well worth it. i actually didn't get a ticket, so that was a good beat.

the outside of miller park was a madhouse. beyond the huge backup of cars, there was a ridiculous line at each ticket window, and half of them weren't even open. i'm definitely glad i remembered to print my tickets at home and avoid will call.

inside, more craziness. i'll never get a chance to experience the concession lines at 10 cent beer night, but i imagine they moved at least as fast as tonight's. the emergency crew was in, and anyone under 70 was assigned to security, which left the concession stands manned by geriatrics who haven't tapped a keg or prepared fries in 30 years, and were demanding two forms of ID for every alcohol sale. i literally spent over half an inning in line and advanced exactly three places, at which point i said [censored] it and got a soda from a vendor, forgoing food for the night. people around me went to get food and didn't return for three innings. sheer lunacy.

around the third or fourth inning, people started filing into the outfield seats, which had initially been blocked off. apparently the demand for affordable baseball has hit that point.

the crowd was fairly annoying due to a bunch of unoriginal yells at the players, although it was definitely amusing when a five year old started chanting "HGH" at gary matthews. for lack of a better thing to do, the brewer fans initiated different speeds of the wave and a 'cubbies suck' chant, which was at least better than the angels fans doing the stupid arm flapping from angels in the outfield.

the brewers gave the indians the home field treatment, complete with their mascot going down the slide after indian home runs, fireworks, graphics, and playing "wild thing" when joe borowski came in, which was a nice touch.

all in all, the next time you hear anyone complain about ticket prices, tell them it could be a lot worse. overall, it was a worthwhile trip, if only because i saw a good game and had a good meal afterward. (shout out to the branded steer if you're ever in milwaukee)

cliffs notes: went to milwaukee, saw game, dealt with massive crowds, heard a five year old taunt sarge jr. good times.