American Family Field

THE TRIP STORY

More than a box score

Chasing 30 — Stop #4: American Family Field in Milwaukee! 🌭🍺

Milwaukee is officially in the books, and American Family Field gave us a completely different ballpark experience from the first three stops of Chasing 30.

One of the first things we noticed walking up was that the roof was open. By the time we got inside, picked up the mini bats, got our MLB Ballpark Passport stamped, grabbed the first-game certificates, and made it to our seats, the roof had already closed. We somehow missed the actual movement, but it was still pretty wild realizing the whole stadium had gone from open-air to enclosed while we were wandering around.

And that roof is a huge part of what makes this place unique. American Family Field opened in 2001 as Miller Park, and its massive fan-shaped retractable roof is one of the defining features of the stadium. Oscar especially loved the dome, along with the pizza and getting to watch the pitchers warm up.

This stop also marked a pretty big Chasing 30 milestone: our first official stamp in the MLB Ballpark Passport! We bought the passport specifically for this journey, and from here on out it’s going to travel with us to every stadium. Each ballpark gets its own official stamp with the date of the visit, and the book even has spaces for witness signatures. Of course, that meant Sarah immediately had to start making friends with complete strangers so we could get our witnesses. 😂 There’s something really cool about having a physical record of the journey that will fill up one stadium at a time. We already decided Busch Stadium will be the last stamp, even though it’s home, so someday that final stamp should officially close out all 30. Milwaukee gets a special place in the book because it’s where the passport part of this adventure actually began.

Sarah really liked the stadium too. She thought the Brewers fans were incredibly nice, loved the atmosphere, really enjoyed her chicken nachos, and thought the tailgating scene outside was awesome. She did make sure to point out that as beautiful as American Family Field is, she still loves the view from Busch Stadium more. 😂

The tailgating really was one of the biggest takeaways from Milwaukee. We knew Brewers fans were known for it, but seeing entire sections of the parking lot full of people grilling, hanging out, playing games, and making the pregame part of the experience made us realize we probably missed a big piece of the full Milwaukee game-day experience. If we ever come back, tailgating is absolutely going into the plan.

There was a giant glove play area that looked really cool, but for some reason the kids barely cared about it. They were much more interested in hanging around the bullpen and watching the pitchers warm up. Meanwhile, I did what I apparently always do and wandered off exploring by myself because nobody ever wants to go exploring with me. 😂
That actually paid off, because I stumbled across the Bud Selig Experience and caught the final showing of the night. It ended up being one of my favorite unexpected finds in the stadium. It walks through Milwaukee’s baseball history, Bud Selig’s role in bringing Major League Baseball back to the city, and the push that eventually led to the current ballpark.
I also found one of my favorite random stadium-history pieces so far: the ceremonial groundbreaking shovel, which was basically a baseball bat with a shovel head attached to it. Completely unnecessary. Completely awesome. Exactly the kind of weird little baseball thing I love finding when I’m roaming around a stadium.

The inside of American Family Field was interesting too. It feels much more vertical than Busch, and some of the concourses almost feel like walking through a food court or mall corridor. There are tons of food options packed into those areas, although at times it also means you feel pretty disconnected from the field while you’re walking around.

Speaking of food, I obviously had to get the Milwaukee brat and try the famous Secret Stadium Sauce.
The brat itself was really good.

The sauce? Milwaukee, we may have to disagree on this one. 😂

It was thin, kind of barbecue-ish, and in my opinion it covered up the grilled brat flavor instead of making it better. I’m glad I tried it because you have to try the local thing, but next time I’m ordering that brat without the sauce.

Sarah and Stephanie both got the chicken nachos were a much bigger hit, the kids liked their pizza, and naturally we got ice cream in a souvenir helmet even though it was cold outside.

And then there was the bobber.

That thing was STRONG. 😂 Let’s just say once the bobber was secured, I was very happy Sarah was handling the driving later. Milwaukee did not mess around with that one.

Souvenir mission was a success too: mini bat, our first official MLB Ballpark Passport stamp, Brewers soda cups for the kids, souvenir ice cream helmet, the Brewers giveaway tumbler, the first-game certificates, and the bonus bobber cup.
The first-game certificates were kind of funny compared with Wrigley. At Wrigley there was more of a process to it. In Milwaukee, they basically just handed us blank certificates and said here you go. 😂 Still counts!

Then came the parking lot.

We parked in the Money Lot, and after the game traffic basically stopped. We sat there for about 45 minutes before we even bothered starting the Armada because there was nowhere to go.
While we were waiting, we noticed a family a few rows over had a dead battery after leaving their lights on. We couldn’t move our vehicle through the traffic to help them, so Sarah and Oscar carried our jumper cables across the lot. Another driver was able to pull up, they hooked everything up, and they got the car started.

So even though we couldn’t get ourselves out of the parking lot, at least our jumper cables could. 😂
And apparently we have now discovered another Chasing 30 tradition.
At all three road stadiums so far, the opposing team has hit a home run while I was away from our seats walking around.
At this point, if the Cardinals need to keep the ball in the park, somebody may need to physically stop me from exploring.
The final score wasn’t what we wanted — Brewers 3, Cardinals 2 — but this trip was about way more than the score.

Everybody came away with something different. Oscar loved the dome, pizza, and watching the pitchers warm up. Sarah loved the friendly fans, atmosphere, food, and tailgating. The kids had the glove area and their souvenirs. I got to wander around, find some baseball history, discover the Bud Selig Experience, and once again apparently cause an opposing-team home run by leaving my seat.

American Family Field was fun, different, incredibly welcoming, and absolutely worth the stop.
Four down. Twenty-six to go.

And now it’s Sunday morning in Milwaukee, which means this trip officially ends here and Chasing 30 Stop #5 begins: Chicago White Sox. ⚾️

Game highlights

The Cardinals jumped out to a 2–0 lead on Thomas Saggese's RBI single in the 2nd and Alec Burleson's solo homer in the 3rd. Milwaukee answered with Jackson Chourio's RBI single in the bottom of the 3rd before Brice Turang crushed a two-run homer in the 5th to put the Brewers ahead 3–2. The Brewers bullpen then held St. Louis hitless over the final six innings, with Aaron Ashby closing it out for the save. Field Level Media