Routine Field

All photos of Routine Field available on Flickr.

It took me until the 2nd to last week of the season to finally make it to a new ballpark practically in my own city - Routine Field in Franklin, Wisconsin, home of the new independent Milwaukee Milkmen.  Franklin is a suburb of about 35,000 people to the southwest of Milwaukee and the stadium is located within The Rock Sports Complex - more on that in a bit.  The Milkmen are hoping to copy the blueprint of the new Chicago Dogs and St. Paul Saints parks in the same league - build a small ballpark on the outskirts of a major metropolitan area that already has a major league team, and hope the baseball fandom is rabid enough to draw a couple thousand fans a night.  With the Brewers annually appearing in the top 10 for league attendance over the last decade plus, it was a safe bet by the Milkmen ownership.

What was not a safe bet was just about everything else on this project.  This site, this town, and this ballpark have had a long and tumultuous relationship that dates back to The Rock's inception as a year-round sports complex built over a former garbage landfill, starting with a complex of 6 baseball fields used by various community leagues.  Mike Zimmerman and his group certainly had good enough intentions, just as they did with their other ventures in Jamestown, New York and Kokomo, Indiana - build up a sports complex to serve as the financial and social anchor of a community.  His group "ROC Ventures" does stand for "Return on Community," after all.  However, it has not looked promising so far for any of these endeavors.  The Jamestown Jammers have switched leagues twice and ceased operations for the 2019 season, and the Jackrabbits are about 5 years in and the verdict is still out, but the town is not exactly bustling right now.  As for the Milkmen, it took years of negotiations with the city to set up various financing structures and TIF districts and involved ROC eventually buying the landfill as a sign of good faith.  Even after all of that, the ballpark still opened over a month late, and no signs of progress have been made on the rest of the supposed "mixed use development" on the site, other than ROC's own headquarters.  It's debatable what a ballpark that draws 100,000 fans a year will bring to a mixed-use complex essentially in the middle of nowhere with poor access, but hopefully with the nearby Oak Creek Towne Center serving as a model, it will be a boon for the town.

Putting the politics of the project aside, just logistically building a stadium over a landfill provided many physical challenges.  To account for what is essentially an organic site full of unknown materials, the stadium's structural system had to compensate for constant shifting and settling of the ground below.  The entire stadium is essentially a slab floating on grade beams to allow it to move as one piece, with a network of vent piping to allow the composting materials below to off-gas methane.  Because of the costs put into just preparing the site, the stadium itself is quite simple and also environmentally friendly.  The entire field is of the 100% turf variety to mediate water and reduce maintenance.  There is a "Leinenkugel's Hop Yard" party area in left field made entirely of shipping containers.  The physical structure of the stadium is also understated, consisting just of a couple of masonry concession buildings with a couple of suites and the press box above.  The choice of materials and colors take what would otherwise be a boring and simple ballpark and make it quite visually interesting.  Again much like the St. Paul and Chicago ballparks, the use of black painted steel contrasted with faux-wood siding and soffits, beautifully formed concrete walls, and a colorful array of seats make the design appear intentionally minimalist.  I think that knowing the history of the site and the ballpark, it made me appreciate what I was seeing, but for anybody just coming into the park blind, it might seem rather unimpressive.  As an architect I also tend to lean towards the minimalist side of design, so I appreciated how the stadium stands out over the typical brick structures we see in most parks.  There was certainly a ton of between-inning entertainment, but I wish there was just a little bit more to the ballpark.  It's really just a small seating bowl, two concessions stands, and a shipping container team store in the corner.  The money in this ballpark is certainly tied up in the infrastructure and land costs, the design details, and the branding, with no fluff and not one extra space or inch that does not serve a purpose.

Between the simplicity of the ballpark, the last-place team on the field, and trying to get my daughter to fall asleep, it was a difficult game to focus on.  The one guy I recognized on the Milkmen and the one player who was any decent was the cleanup hitter, Adam Brett Walker.  He is from Milwaukee and got as high as AAA for 4 different organizations during the 2016-17 seasons, but never broke through to the bigs.  He was hitting about .250 with 21 homers at the time of this game and knocked in the team's only run in the 7th.  The visiting RedHawks had a guy who had a cup of coffee with the Orioles last year, but other than that I didn't really recognize anyone else in the game.  If a guy isn't good enough to play for an O's farm club, that should clue you in to the quality of talent in this league.  The Milkmen starter Joey Wagner was serviceable, allowing 2 runs over 5.  Catcher Wilfredo Gimenez was the star of the game, going 2-3 out of the 9-spot for Fargo including a homerun in the 6th.

The UW-Milwaukee Panther baseball team will also playing in this ballpark starting next spring and I will certainly be returning for one of those games.  Just about anything is a recruiting improvement over playing in what is basically just a county park right now, so I am excited for my alma mater to make a name for themselves as a Midwest collegiate baseball powerhouse.

park rankings and statistics: 

aesthetics - 6 (modern but very simple)

views from park - 3 (The ROC mountain aka big trash pile)

view to field - 8 (not much netting but far from field)

surrounding area - 2

food variety - 3 (major points deducted for not serving milk!  how is that possible?!)

nachos - 5

beer - 8 (good variety but only 1 stand)

vendor price - 8

ticket price - 10 (ours were free)

atmosphere - 6

walk to park - 2

parking price/proximity - 3 (really hard to access)

concourses - 5

team shop - 4 (shipping container in outfield)

best food - cheesesteak

most unique stadium feature - cabana seating areas at the top of every section

best jumbotron feature - goofy photos of opposing players while batting

best between-inning feature - assortment of trashy moms dance on dugout for money

field dimensions - 336/400/330 

starters - Bret Helton (FM) v. Joey Wagner (MKE)

opponent - Fargo-Moorhead RedHawks

time of game - 3:01

attendance - 1550

score - 4-1 L

Brewers score that day - off

STANDINGS AND UPCOMING SERIES AS OF 8/26/19:

Brewers 67-63, -4.5, -2.0 WC; 3 v. Cardinals, 3 @ Cubs, 2 v. Astros, 4 v. Cubs

Twins 79-51, +3.5; 3 @ White Sox, 4 @ Tigers, 3 @ Red Sox, 3 v. Indians

2019 GAMES ATTENDED:

Erik - 8

Peter - 21

First Year of Single Trade Deadline Has Passed

In part of Commissioner Manfred's ongoing crusade to fix things that aren't broken, this season saw a round of small changes implemented across MLB.  One of the more significant ones was removing the August 31st waiver trade deadline, which coincides with the time when rosters expand and is the last day a player can be in an organization to be eligible for a playoff roster.  For nearly 100 years, baseball has always had (2) trade deadlines - one for non-waiver trades, and one for waiver trades.  A non-waiver trade means that basically any player can be traded anywhere for any other player or amount of money with no strings attached, whether that was through a waiver claim or just an arranged trade.  That rule began on June 15, 1923 in response to Babe Ruth being sold to the Yankees and was changed to July 31st in 1986.  Up until this season, trades could still be made between August 1st and August 31st, but that player had to clear waivers first.  Basically if a player was placed on waivers, and nobody claimed him, that team then had the right to trade him to any team.  

One of the more recent famous examples of a waiver trade was the Justin Verlander trade to the Astros in 2017.  At age 34 at the time, many in the industry felt that Verlander was on the decline.  He was having an average season with a diminishing fastball for a Tigers team that was starting to rebuild, and had been plagued by injuries the prior few years.  Detroit placed him on waivers on August 31st, he was not claimed, and Houston decided to take a chance on him and arranged a trade for 3 prospects.  He not only found his fastball again but went 5-0 in the month of September and was an integral part of the Astros' World Series championship that year.  He has since parlayed that into a contract extension and is still the ace of the rotation.  This is exactly the kind of trade that MLB is trying to avoid by changing to one trade deadline and Justin Verlander is one of the major reasons, if not the sole reason, that this change has occurred.  Major League Baseball does not want teams essentially dumping salary in the last month of the season for the benefit of a team that has to pay little to nothing for only one month of a player.

With that being said, I'm not necessarily opposed to the one deadline, it certainly makes things cleaner and less confusing.  But the deadline needs to be much later, perhaps August 15 or 31.  There was some exciting flurry late in this year's deadline, and the Astros were at the center of it again with a trade for Zack Greinke.  But for a lot of teams, it was way too early to tell if they should be buyers or sellers.  You saw a lot of teams making moves around the edges, much like the Brewers.  They made trades that would also benefit them for future seasons without shelling out major prospects, just dipping a toe in the water to provide a minor upgrade but not hamper their 2020 season in case they fade this year.  For the most part these are the trades that were made.  There are certainly other reasons for this - two top heavy leagues and moving to 10 playoff teams are a factor - but one of the benefits to the two deadlines previously is it gave teams that extra month to figure out if they should go all in and trade for a few role players.  Something you're seeing now as a response to that is teams just straight up releasing players instead of placing on waivers to clear salary.  Hopefully this gets cleared up next year and will make the 2020 summer a bit more exciting.

STANDINGS AND UPCOMING SERIES AS OF 8/15/19:

Brewers 63-58, -1.5, -1.5 WC; 3 @ Nationals, 3 @ Cardinals, 3 v. Diamondbacks

Twins 72-48, +0.5; 4 @ Rangers, 3 v. White Sox, 3 v. Tigers

2019 GAMES ATTENDED:

Erik - 7

Peter - 19

Return to Mequon

All photos of Kapco Park available on Flickr.

With Megan and Molly out of town and on the eve of another year of Milwaukee's Germanfest, I scoured the local ball schedules and decided to attend my first Chinooks game in almost 3 years.  If I'm clamoring for Northwoods League action, I still greatly prefer driving a little extra to attend a Madison or Kenosha game, and despite being further away, I still largely identify those as my "home teams."  But there's something to be said about the convenience of getting up to Mequon.  It's only about 15 miles straight up I-43 from my house, and it's not a stretch to say it's easy to get there on most nights than it is even to Miller Park.  I had time to work a little late and take a quick run and shower at home and still make it just after a 6:35 first pitch.

In terms of the field and the grandstand, the nuts and bolts of the park are still largely the same.  They still have the field that entirely turf except for the pitcher's mound, and it is still primarily 3 sections of metal bleachers and walkways with a few rows of fixed seats.  The main seating area is still very sterile and one of the reasons Kapco Park is not one my favorites in the league.  It looks like they ordered a bleachers kit-of-parts online and just assembled all of the pieces together.  Coupled with the all-turf field, it just makes the ballpark feel like it was put together very quickly and cheaply (whether or not that is actually true).  I am completely for using the field turf rather than wasting thousands of gallons of water, but it is always going to be odd to see it and make you feel like you're losing some of that authentic ballpark feeling.  Additionally, most of the grandstand feels higher above the field than most parks, which is an odd feeling.  On the bright side, my favorite thing about this park did also come true on this night - no matter how hot it is in Milwaukee, at this park which is a stone's throw from Lake Michigan, it is always 10-20 degrees cooler.  I still have the Chinooks hoodie I bought in a panic in their inaugural season because it was so unexpectedly cold on a July night, and I brought it with me on this night just in case.



There have been incremental improvements to the park since I have been there last, mainly around the edges and behind the grandstand.  Most notably, the team store that used to be in a trailer has its own formal store under a section of bleachers.  Two social areas have also been added in left field.  One is called The Fishing Hole and appeared to be a section open to all adult fans.  It's comprised of a concession stand and mostly picnic and bar seating with some nice strings of Home Depot yard lights to give it some warmth.  The other new area was beyond the left field wall called the Backyard Patio, and this looked more of a special ticketed group area.  The Chinooks have caught up with the times at their ballpark in terms of mix-and-mingle spaces and they look to be well-used additions.  The main food concessions appeared to be mostly the same from what I remember, most noticeably the giant cod sandwich, but the beer has stepped up its game a little bit.  Broken Bat Brewery, a small local Milwaukee brewery, is making the most of its baseball theme and now has a contract to sell beer at Kapco, in addition to Wrigley Field.  Their beer is just average in my opinion, but they did have a special beer just for the ballpark made with 100% - you guessed it - Chinook hops that was pretty cool.  They also offer Great Lakes beer now which is one of my favorite breweries.

The game was a real barnburner.  I missed the first half-inning of the game, and by the time I got to my seat it was already 2-0 Green Bay.  The Chinooks then exploded for 10 runs over the next 3 innings, quite handily I might add.  It had the feeling of a game that might be a 20-2 final.  Lakeshore scratched out single tallies in the 5th, 6th, and 7th as well to make it 13-3, and on most nights when I'm with my wife or child, I may have left at this point.  But the Booyah made a game of it in the final two innings, making a big comeback but still losing 13-9.  Griffin Doersching hit two of the longest homeruns I've ever seen in the Northwoods League and was about 5 feet away from the hat trick.  MLB seems to be moving away from the 250lb DH type bodies which might be the only reason he's still playing at Northern Kentucky.  Grant Hartwig picked up the win for the home team, giving up 3 over 5.

It was nice to see the improvements at Kapco Park, and always nice to see their mascot Gill.

updated park rankings and statistics

(see original post from 6/25/12):
aesthetics - 5
views from park - 7 (can just barely see Lake Michigan)
view to field - reduces to 4 (not sure why I ever had it higher)
surrounding area - 3 (Concordia University)
food variety - 7
nachos - 4
beer - 8 (good variety and price)
vendor price - 7
ticket price - 7
atmosphere - 5
walk to park - 4
parking - 6 (1/2 mile walk for free)
concourses - 4
team shop - improves to 6

best food - fish fry / sandwich
most unique stadium feature - playing surface is entirely artificial except mound
best jumbotron feature - only showed player facts
best between-inning feature - Gill

field dimensions - 317/404/318
starters - Melvin Frazier (GB) v. Grant Hartwig (LAK)
opponent - Green Bay Booyah
time of game - 3:15
attendance - 939
score - 13-9 W
Brewers score that day - off

STANDINGS AND UPCOMING SERIES AS OF 8/2/19:

Brewers 57-53, -2.0, -1.0 WC; 3 @ Cubs, 3 @ Pirates, 3 v. Rangers, 2 v. Twins

Twins 66-42, +3.0; 3 v. Royals, 3 v. Braves, 4 v. Indians, 2 @ Brewers

2019 GAMES ATTENDED:

Erik - 6

Peter - 18