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General
Information
Address:
201 South 46th Street.
P.O. Box 3099
Milwaukee, WI 53201
Tenants: Milwaukee
Braves (NL, 1953-65); Milwaukee Brewers (AL, 1970-97; NL, 1998-99)
Opened: April 6, 1953
Last game: September 28, 2000
Demolished: February 21, 2001
Surface: Bluegrass
Architect: n/a
Builder: Hunzinger Construction et al.
Owner: Milwaukee County.
Cost: $5 million (1953).
History
Milwaukee County Stadium was a terrible blight upon the Milwaukee
landscape - its dull gray exterior, cramped concourses and obstructed-view
seats made it old park without an old park’s character. It was, of
course, a government-owned multipurpose facility - see Network Associates
Stadium in Oakland, Exhibition Stadium in Toronto, and Cleveland's
Municipal County Stadium for other examples of these atrocious ballparks.
This monstrosity had its first
event on April 6, 1953: an exhibition game between the Milwaukee Braves
and Boston Red Sox. It also played host to 2 or 3 NFL Green Bay
Packer games a year, until 1994.
The fans initially made this a special place in spite of the
facility. They set the National League record for attendance in
1954, the park's second year, and the parking lot was always filled with
tailgate parties and fans barbecuing. But crowds decreased with
time, and in 1966 the Braves moved to Atlanta.
Milwaukee got a franchise again four years later, in 1970.
The stadium's original seating capacity was 28,111
permanent seats and 7,900 portable seats. Since that time, additional
improvements were made to the scoreboards, bleachers, press box, and
outfield throughout the years. In 1975, additional seating was added
bringing the total capacity to 53,192.
Others who have played in County Stadium include the
Chicago White Sox, the Green Bay Packers, The Rolling Stones, Pink Floyd
and Bob Hope.
Analysis
This is a tough park to pin down. Although it never really helped
hitters before, in recent years run production and singles have been
boosted. Extra base hits are still hard to come by, but it no longer
is a pitcher's park - it plays more neutral now.
Defense:
The infield dirt tends to be hard and dry, and quick, because of
the cold climate. That means that a lot of ground balls became
double play candidates, so an excellent pivot man is a useful tool
here. Generally, the park didn't tend to boost errors -
although it had the highest infield-error index in 2000, it had
the lowest such index in 1999.
| |
1998-2000 |
2000 |
| Error Index: |
107 |
142 |
| Infield-error Index: |
108 |
161 |
Who
benefits: The
dimensions are fairly standard, and symmetrical, so no one
particular type of hitter benefits. The park warms up in the
summer, and so the ball carries better - hitters who do well in
those summer months can take advantage of that fact.
Who
gets hurt:
Power hitters and home run guys, especially
moderate ones, because of the relatively deep alleys. Hitters who
don't put the ball in play much don't benefit from the quick, hard
infield.
Location
Milwaukee, Wisconsin: Left field
(E), Menomonee River and South 44th Street, later US-41 Stadium Freeway;
third base (N), Story Parkway and Interstate 94; first base (W), General
Mitchell Boulevard; right field (S), West National Avenue and the National
Soldiers Home.
Park
Factors
| |
Run |
HR |
Avg |
L-Avg |
R-Avg |
L-HR |
R-HR |
H |
2B |
3B |
| 1992 |
79 |
74 |
93 |
90 |
94 |
54 |
85 |
87 |
79 |
74 |
| 1993 |
97 |
74 |
103 |
100 |
105 |
113 |
56 |
103 |
96 |
114 |
| 1994 |
113 |
99 |
103 |
108 |
99 |
76 |
119 |
106 |
104 |
94 |
| 1995 |
122 |
83 |
111 |
119 |
106 |
97 |
76 |
116 |
116 |
110 |
| 1996 |
103 |
91 |
101 |
96 |
104 |
96 |
109 |
100 |
96 |
106 |
| 1997 |
101 |
90 |
102 |
96 |
107 |
81 |
98 |
104 |
112 |
119 |
| 1998 |
107 |
87 |
104 |
106 |
103 |
86 |
88 |
106 |
102 |
71 |
| 1999 |
97 |
98 |
100 |
96 |
102 |
103 |
95 |
99 |
86 |
66 |
| 2000 |
93 |
72 |
94 |
93 |
95 |
64 |
78 |
96 |
92 |
92 |
| |
1998-2000 |
2000 |
| Walks: |
98 |
100 |
| Strikeouts: |
87 |
88 |
Dimensions
- History
Left field: 320 ft (1953), 315
(1975).
Power alleys: 355 ft (1953), 362
(1962).
Deep alleys: 397 ft (1953), 392
(1955).
Center field: 404 ft (1953), 410
(1954), 402 (1955).
Right field: 320 ft (1953), 315.37
(1954).
Backstop: 60 ft.
Capacity
1953:
36,011
1954:
43,394;
1975:
53,192
Fences
- History
Left field: 4 ft (1953), 8 (1955),
8.33 (1959), 10 (1985).
Center field: 4 ft (1953), 8
(1955), 8.33 (1959), 10 (1985).
Right field: 4 ft (1953), 10
(1955).
Seating
Chart
Fun
Facts
- First ballpark to break 2 million in
attendance, which it did from 1953 to 1957. (The franchise moved
from Boston's Braves Field in 1952, and attendance was a major league
high 1,826,397).
- Stadium sits on site of former Story
Quarry.
- Surveyor’s mark on right-field foul
pole: "315.37."
- From 1953 to 1973 (before the park was
expanded) hospital patients at the National Soldiers Home V.A.
Hospital sat outside their rooms on Mockingbird Hill overlooking right
field and watched the games for free.
- "Braves Reservation," a
picnic area down the left-field line, was inaugurated in 1961.
- Cecil Fielder is the only player ever
to hit a homer completely out of the park during a game.
- The Chicago White Sox played here for
nine games in 1968 and 11 games in 1969.
- One can find bratwurst being cooked
all around the parking lots at baseball’s biggest site for tailgate
parties.
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