Milwaukee Brewers renaming stadium a mistake regardless of money
Few things go together as well as beer and baseball. The Milwaukee Brewers had captured both, until their decision to rename their stadium beginning in 2021.
The Milwaukee Brewers had the most perfectly named ballpark for their team. Playing in a city whose greatest achievements are beer and Heather Graham, it made sense for the third major league team from the city to be called the Brewers. Likewise, it made sense for the Brewers to play in Miller Park, the Brewers playing in their own beer garden.
That perfect marriage is set to come to an end. Miller Park will be no more, at least in regards to name, following the 2020 season. Instead, the park will be renamed for American Family Insurance, who outbid MillerCoors for the naming rights to the stadium.
It is a sad day for baseball in Milwaukee. Taking nothing away from from American Family, but seriously? Beer and baseball belong together. The Brewers are the perfect combination of the two, from their name, their city, having players create their own brew, and the grounds. Money be damned – this should be Miller Park.
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Let us also take a moment to think of the mascot. Bernie Brewer was perfect, with his handlebar moustache and penchant for sliding into a mug of beer whenever the Brewers hit a home run. Sadly, those party days are over, with Bernie getting a “real job,” and sliding into a pile of paperwork and claim forms whenever a player goes yard, his overalls replaced with a suit and tie.
And the players? Say so long to those trips to the brewery, and those days of fun. Instead, those junkets will involve heading to the office, and the endless rows of gray fabric cubicles. Maybe, if one calls at the right time, Ryan Braun or Josh Hader will be in that cube, answering the telephone.
In the end, it is 15 years. Miller Park will be a memory, the signage taken down until at least 2036. And perhaps, in time, Miller Park will appear once again, rising out of the mounds of paperwork like a phoenix, ready to bask once again in the golden rays of beer, baseball, and sunlight.
Grandal betting on himself. dark. Next
The Milwaukee Brewers and Miller Park were a perfect combination. Sadly, those naming rights have changed, and Bernie Brewer needs a real job now. The beer had to stop flowing sometime.