Tour Molly 2025: Newman Outdoor Field

All photos of Fargo, Moorhead, and Newman Outdoor Field available on Flickr.

The 2025 installment of Tour Molly took us to the 4th different state of our travels in 5 years: North Dakota.  In doing so, we logged Molly's 23rd ballpark visited and the 35th state I've seen a ballgame in.  More specifically, we were in Fargo, and it was about a 2 1/2 hour drive northwest from Cold Spring.  It's a very odd feeling driving that direction on I-94, almost like you're driving off the face of the earth into the great unknown.  Maybe it's because it's the furthest west I've ever driven on this particular interstate, or maybe it's because the Great Plains is so vast and desolate, or both.  But even a state that has fewer people than Milwaukee County has breweries, and we started our weekend at one of North Dakota's best - Drekker Brewing Company.  The brewery has become so big and popular that they opened an adjacent food & entertainment wonderland called "Brewhalla" a couple years ago, and that's where I took Molly for lunch.  This eclectic venue has a food hall, bar serving of course Drekker beer, and a market on the first floor; seating, pinball, some event spaces, and another bar on the 2nd floor; and a hotel on the 3rd and 4th floors, with a dramatic atrium piercing the industrial building all the way down from the roof to create a rectangular donut-shaped building.  This was probably my favorite non-baseball place we went the entire weekend and we spent a good hour exploring here.  Molly got to try pinball for the first time, and I got to pick up some beer to bring home, so it was a win-win.  I feel like every state and major city has that one brewery where your loved ones make you bring beer home if you're visiting out of town, and Drekker is definitely that place in Fargo, as evidenced by the haul my sister-in-law requested.  After Brewhalla, Molly burned off some energy at the local trampoline park and in the hotel pool before we ended the day at Space Aliens for dinner, which is a small chain restaurant featuring a retro space theme, arcade, and for some reason barbecue.  Molly and I have now been to 2 of its 3 locations, so we have no choice but to go to Bismarck on a future daddy-daughter trip to complete the tour.

Just as my trips with Erik have slowly become formulaic over time, so too have my trips with Molly.  There are a few tried-and-true activities and must-do's on our trips, and we hit a couple of those on Friday in the brewery and the pool.  Another must is a hotel with continental breakfast.  I'm pretty sure our vacations could just consist of driving 3 minutes to the local Cold Spring hotel to swim and eat breakfast in bed all day, and that would more than satiate my daughter (not surprisingly at all, Erik has the same travel priorities as a 7-year old).  Molly was mesmerized by this pancake conveyor belt contraption at our hotel that looked like it was from the 1950s and they were clearly cobbling together with eBay parts.  Those pancakes and a good morning swim would be the foundation of an extremely busy day we had planned before the 6pm ballgame.  We hit the West Acres Mall, Red River Zoo, Swing Barrel Brewing in Moorhead, and the Fargo Air Museum all in the span of about 6 hours.  Molly was visibly tired by midday, but she was a trooper and we had a blast at every stop, with the exception of the Air Museum which was kind of a dud.  To anybody considering a trip to Fargo, unless you were in the military or are an aviation buff, don't waste the money.  We were having so much fun that I totally forgot about the Roger Maris Museum in town, but I wouldn't have changed a thing that we did.  It was nice to have a bunch of activities that didn't take more than an hour and were able to hold a child's attention.  The zoo in particular was great because it was so small with so many winding paths that it really kept Molly engaged and not complaining about walking like kids that age usually do.  

Our last stop before the ballgame was purposely the Air Museum because it was just down the street from the ballpark, and by the time we got there around 4:45, there were already lines around the block for people trying to snag one of the giveaway jerseys to the first 1,000 fans.  I've never been one to refuse anything "free," but by the looks of the lines I was more concerned about just getting a ticket than the jersey.  We paid $3 to park across the street from the right field gate and hustled all the way to the main entrance to thankfully snag two GA seats for $11 apiece.  I then made poor Molly walk all the way back to the much shorter right field line, but she kept herself occupied with her newly acquired binoculars from the zoo.  We did end up getting the giveaway jerseys, and Molly donned her men's XL just long enough for a funny picture before shedding it.  The kids area was conveniently right inside the RF gate, and doubly convenient right next to the visiting bullpen, so we killed time here for a bit before grabbing some food and settling into the bleachers.

Newman Outdoor Field has hosted the Fargo-Moorhead RedHawks of the independent American Association for their entire 30-year existence, and also hosts the North Dakota State Bison D-1 ball team.  The exterior of this stadium shares a look that several other minor/indy parks of this era seem to share as well (Joliet, Schaumburg, Durham, and Akron to name a few), in that it has a massive front entrance with a grand stair to ascend to the main level.  The imposing masonry walls and entrance are definitely what stick out about this park, and is a style for this size of ballpark that you don't often see anymore in newer parks.  The late '90s/early '00s were all about the retro craze with elegant brick and stone work, designed to look timeless before a game was even played there, whereas two-deck parks today tend to be much more open and inward focused.  Fargo's generation of ballpark - neither old nor new - should age pretty well, and it was a treat to be at a place that had an appealing and memorable exterior.  I think the fact that this park also serves NDSU and is literally on their campus also helps explain and justify the aesthetic choice.  The brick and stone colors seem to match nearby buildings, as collegiate architecture often does, and the grand sets of stairs scream old campus building.  The brick archways that were meant to look like infilled windows were a very nice touch and helped ground the tall walls and give them some human scale. I also loved the fountains and mature trees surrounding the building that really softened the hard edges.  What I didn't like about the exterior design was more from a practicality side, in that you have to walk up the stairs to buy a ticket, and then descend to wait in line, then re-ascend the stairs to gain entry.  Seems like they could have a ticket window at ground level to help alleviate that awkward issue and still allow you to have your grand entry stair.  The gate we entered in right field was at grade, and the stairs were on the inside, so that was kind of a cool way to enter the stadium.  It creates kind of a build-up to the panorama of the field once you get to the top - Beloit is a recent example that comes to mind that utilizes this technique.  Once you're on concourse level, it's not unlike any other modern concourse with an open view to the field.  It was a bit cramped, but that could have just been from the near sellout.  This park does not have outfield access, which was not uncommon for parks this old at this level, but is always a big letdown.  My favorite part of the interior was the press/club level, done in a simple metal panel.  Nothing fancy about this material - you might even say it's cheap - but when contrasted with the massive masonry exterior, I liked how it softened the view inside.  Doing the inside in brick as well would have been way too intimidating and unnecessary.  Our seats were in a lone section of GA bleachers in right field, but otherwise your run-of-the-mill 20 rows of seats from roughly dugout to dugout.  The football Fargodome and a practice facility can be seen beyond the outfield wall, which is packed to the gills with advertising as it should be.  What Newman Outdoor Field lacks in originality on the inside, it more than makes up for on the outside, and the two aspects work well in concert together, especially when coupled with the on-campus site.  Overall this was a very pleasant stadium, and one of the better ones in the AA.  I've now been to 9 of the 12 parks in this league and have my sights set on a trip to Winnipeg sometime in the next few years.

Molly got her second wind after scarfing down a bag of cotton candy and getting her picture taken with Hawkeye, but the energy was short-lived, and we only made it through 6 innings.  Fargo-Moorhead was winning 3-2 when we left, and the box score tells me that they held on for a 5-2 victory.  The visiting DockHounds started off with a bang by the first two batters parking the first two pitches of the game beyond the left field wall for no-doubt homers.  Kolby Kiser would settle down and those would be the only runs he allowed the rest of the way, and he actually earned the win.  Dillon Thomas and Alex Olund homered for the home team over the very short fences down the lines.  No names jumped out at me on either team as an "oh yeah I remember him, he's still playing ball?"  Although the starting pitcher for Lake Country is named Brett Conine, and he's only a year older than Griffin Conine, so I wouldn't be surprised if he's part of the MLB Conine family.

I think you can guess the two things we did at the hotel before we left to head back home Sunday morning.  It was another phenomenal trip, and I'm so glad that Molly is still as excited as I am to go on these adventures with me, and that she even indulges me with a little baseball.  Sioux Falls has still been my favorite city we've visited so far, but we always have a blast no matter where we are.  I'm already scouring the schedules to see what the next town ball game is we can go to together, and I'm already looking forward to Tour Molly 2026.

park rankings and statistics:

aesthetics - 8
views from park - 5 (Fargodome)
view to field - 8
surrounding area - 5 (NDSU)
food variety - 4
nachos - 7 (bonus points for nacho helmet)
beer - 10 (they sell Drekker, Hamms, and 2/$6 Pabst Light...if that doesn't get you a 10 I don't know what does)
vendor price - 9 (don't see $3 dogs that much anymore)
ticket price - 9
atmosphere - 7
walk to park - 5 (pretty walk around the building)
parking price/proximity - 9 ($3 across the street, easy in/out)
concourses - 6 (a bit cramped, points deducted for no outfield access)
team shop - 7

kids area - 8 (bullpen adjacent...would be a 10 if there was a beer stand nearby)

best food - tacos
most unique stadium feature - main entry/exterior
best jumbotron feature - ads for Fargo Blues Festival

best between-inning feature - giant inflatable bowling

field dimensions - 318/408/314

starters - Brett Conine (LC) v. Kolby Kiser (FM)
opponent - Lake Country DockHounds
time of game - 2:22
attendance - 3875
score - 5-2 W

Brewers score that day - 8-5 L

STANDINGS AND UPCOMING SERIES AS OF 6/16/25:

Brewers 39-34, -5.5; 3 @ Cubs, 3 @ Twins, 3 v. Pirates, 3 v. Rockies

Twins 36-35, -9.0; 3 @ Reds, 3 v. Brewers, 4 v. Mariners, 3 @ Tigers
Athletics 29-44, -13.0; 4 v. Astros, 3 v. Guardians, 3 @ Tigers, 3 @ Yankees

2025 GAMES ATTENDED:

Erik - 6
Peter - 15

Tour Molly 2024: Sioux Falls Stadium

All photos of Sioux Falls and Sioux Falls Stadium available on Flickr.

This past weekend was Year 4 of "Tour Molly" in lovely Sioux Falls, South Dakota, which at about 200,000 people is the largest city in the state and also the largest city of our daddy-daughter trips thus far.  It was my first time ever visiting or even driving through South Dakota and became the 34th state I've seen a ballgame in.  It was a mere 3-hour drive from our house in Cold Spring, which was nothing compared to the 6+ hour trek to Lansing, Michigan last year.  Our trips from Milwaukee were certainly starting to test the limits of how long I could keep a small child in a car and still make it worth it, and we likely would have been exploring obscure Illinois or Indiana towns for the foreseeable future if we were still living there, so from a strictly ballpark travel perspective, the timing of our move to Minnesota couldn't have been better.  We now have an untapped swath of travel options to our west and north that I likely would have never been able to reach before, so I'm excited for what the future holds for Molly and I.  But for this year, it was Sioux Falls, and I must say my first impression of South Dakota got off to a rocky start when the freeway speed limit immediately changed to 80 mph upon entering the state.  But that would quickly change when we arrived at beautiful Falls Park around noon.  We had lunch and played games at Severance Brewing across the street and then walked around the falls for awhile, and I was completely awestruck by it.  There's just something about the sight and sound of rushing water that draws you in and instantly calms you, and it really helped ground me and clear my mind for the start of the weekend.  I also learned from visiting Falls Park that some rivers can naturally flow north, which I never knew!  There was a lot more around the park that we would explore on Saturday, but for now it was off to the hotel to do the one thing Molly always cares about most - swimming in the hotel pool.  I was originally going to take her out to dinner Friday night and do the ballgame on Saturday, but I flipped those because of the weather forecast, so we were off to the park by about 5:45 for a 7:05 first pitch.

There is conflicting information on when this park actually opened for business.  Wikipedia and several various ballpark websites give the date of 1941, but the team's own website says 1964.  In either case, the main point here is it's an old stadium that has not been renovated in over 20 years, and it shows.  Approaching from the parking lot, there is not even really a "facade" to the stadium, and you basically just see the exposed concrete structure/seating bowl and inner workings of the concourse.  Based on this unapologetic brutalist expression, I'm more inclined to believe that the current form of the stadium is a 1960s era construction.  Nothing at this ballpark is hidden from view behind drywall or cladding or ceilings of any kind and it is just out for the world to see - which might have been cool whenever it was built and I certainly find the simplicity interesting as an architect, but that also means you're seeing all of the park's flaws too.  All of the concrete that is stained or chipping, the rusting exposed rebar, and the peeling paint are on full display.  It would be completely expected for a 60-80 year old park to have these issues, and there are certainly many instances of ballparks that have exposed structure, but here at "The Birdcage" as it is affectionately referred to, there is also nothing to distract you from it either.  There's very little in the way of signage, plaques, or interesting aesthetic features, or a glob of concession stands, or even a pop of color to draw your eye aside from the canary-yellow beer ads.  It's a very gray and drab park with lots of tall open space that seemed mostly empty.  It felt more of the scale of a football stadium given its height and openness.  When you have the type of ballpark where the main circulation is under the seating bowl, you really need to put some thought into the visual aspect of the concourse, and the Canaries just clearly did not.  You can get away with a lot more when the concourse is on top of a seating bowl and most people are just looking towards the field as they walk.  The ballpark was also only at about 50% capacity and there were only 2 or 3 concession stands open, which only further contributed to the empty and cold feeling.  I just did not feel welcomed at any point during our visit.  There was only one concession stand open when the gates opened and it did not have any food yet - they literally make the food somewhere else in the stadium and two kids run it over to the concession stand on mobile carts.  There was no staff near the children's area which made me very uncomfortable.  I was sold a $23 obstructed view ticket without any warning, and I could not find one usher to complain to about it.  I know South Dakota is big on personal freedom and no rules, but I would have appreciated a little effort in any aspect of our time there.  However, even at the worst parks, you can always find something enjoyable, so I will say that there were ample alcohol stands with a decent variety, including a nice little right field pavilion and a frozen daiquiri stand that seemed very popular, and I also appreciated the lack of protective netting in a day and age that it's getting out of hand at a lot of parks.  Unfortunately, as I mentioned, we just happened to be sold seats that were behind one of the few giant posts holding the small amount of netting there was, so Molly and I moved a few sections over and settled in for an evening of independent league baseball.

The Sioux Falls Canaries play in the West Division of the American Association and took on the Fargo-Moorhead RedHawks on this night.  Molly was completely gassed so we only made it 5 innings, but we did manage to be in our seats that entire time, and got to see a well-pitched game for the half that we saw.  In indy ball, you never really know if you're seeing good pitching or just bad hitting, or vice versa, but the score was 1-0 Sioux Falls when we left.  Both starters ended up going 7 innings.  As a game is prone to do when you leave early, the score would not remain that way, and the Red Hawks ended up exploding for 7 unanswered runs to win the game 7-1.  Ismael Alcantara was by far the most impressive position player on the field.  He went 2-3 with 2 walks, an RBI, and 4 stolen bases for Fargo, raising his average to .357 in the process and giving him a total of 28 steals on the season.  Looks like he was a Dodgers international signing back in 2017 and was demoted to A-ball last year before being released, so this is his first foray into independent baseball.  Usually in these games you'll see a name and have an "oh yeah I remember him" moment, but the only name I recognized was Jordan Barth for the Canaries, and the only reason I knew him was because he played for the Cold Spring Springers for a number of years.  He was 0-4 on the day but played a good game defensively at shortstop.  Before retiring to the hotel for the evening, we made our customary visit to the team store, at which I had to explain to Molly she could only buy one thing.  She chose a foam canary hand, which she proudly wore for most of the weekend.

For as disappointing as Sioux Falls Stadium was, I was equally surprised and impressed with Sioux Falls as a city.  We started our day on Saturday back at the Falls Park area, where we visited the Stockyards AG Experience, which was a sort of agricultural history museum of the area, and then had lunch at Overlook Cafe, which was a former hydroelectric plant that was converted into a grab-and-go cafe.  We also went up to the top of an observation tower in the Sioux Falls visitor center, also within Falls Park, and enjoyed the beautiful view of the falls from up top for a while.  The bulk of our afternoon was spent at Washington Pavilion, a hodgepodge sort of building featuring a planetarium, science/kids museum, several theaters, and an art gallery.  There is more than enough at this place to keep a family occupied for an entire day, but we were primarily in the science/kids portion of the building.  There was one floor dedicated to space exploration and also had a water play room, one floor dedicated to dinosaurs and agriculture and South Dakota in general, and the top floor was mostly about the human body.  It was very interactive and it was fun even for me; I would highly recommend for anybody with kids visiting Sioux Falls.  From there, daddy needed a beer after 4+ hours of learnin' stuff, so I found a brewery that had lots of outdoor games to keep Molly occupied, and she was completely enthralled watching people play pickleball and cheering them on with her foam hand.  The place was called Remedy Brewing and it was one of my favorite parts of the trip.  We concluded our long day with dinner at Mackenzie River Pizza Pub.

Again, I was so amazed by Sioux Falls, and it's definitely high up there in terms of my "best ballpark cities."  Right or wrong, the Dakotas never really acknowledged the COVID outbreak, and as a result, the Sioux Falls downtown has a pre-2020 vibrancy that is uncommon in cities these days.  It was hard to find a storefront that was empty, or a bar or store that wasn't full, and I was not expecting the city to be as crowded, energetic, historical, or cultural as it was.  Molly and I had the best time, and I would love to go back someday.  Every year, Molly can do a little bit more and conversate a little more meaningfully, and I am trying to cherish these trips for as long as she'll let me, before she starts middle school and inevitably wants nothing to do with me.

park rankings and statistics: 
aesthetics - 2
views from park – 2
view to field - 5 (good down the lines with no netting, many are obstructed by poles behind the netting)
surrounding area – 6 (convention center, stadiums, airport, Terrace Park - 5 min from downtown)
food variety - 2
nachos - 9 (nacho bar)
beer - 7 ($9 for 16oz, decent variety)
vendor price - 8
ticket price - 1 ($35 behind home plate for indy ball!)
atmosphere - 3
walk to park – 3
parking price/proximity - 10 (adjacent lot for free)
concourses - 2
team shop - 6
kids area - 7 (a good variety but not supervised)

best food – adult frozen cocktail stand
most unique stadium feature – turf infield and grass outfield
best jumbotron feature – Harry Canary runs through promos for upcoming homestand
best between-inning feature – kids Ketchup & Mustard Race

field dimensions – 313/410/312

starters – Davis Feldman (FM) v. Ty Culbreth (SXF)
opponent – Fargo-Moorhead RedHawks
time of game – 3:02
attendance – 2712
score – 7-1 L
Brewers score that day – 6-5 L

STANDINGS AND UPCOMING SERIES AS OF 6/17/24:

Brewers 42-29, +6.5; 3 @ Angels, 4 @ Padres, 3 v. Rangers

Twins 40-33, -5.5; 3 v. Rays, 3 @ Athletics, 3 @ Diamondbacks

Orioles 47-24, -1.5; 3 @ Yankees, 3 @ Astros, 3 v. Guardians

2024 GAMES ATTENDED:

Erik - 3

Peter - 14

American Association All-Star Break

All photos of AA HR Derby available on Flickr.

This past week was the 11th installment of the American Association All-Star Game, and I attended the Home Run Derby portion at Franklin Field, home of the Milwaukee Milkmen.  A lot of baseball purists tend to shun the derby as frivolous entertainment and a publicity stunt, but I've long held the view that it is the most exciting part of any baseball league's all-star break.  A lot of fans tend to agree with me as the numbers bear out that these events draw way better, both in terms of attendance and television ratings, than the actual All-Star Game.  Many years in fact I will only watch the HR Derby and won't even watch the ASG.  I've attended all sorts of homerun derbies, from the 2014 MLB version at Target Field, to the Northwoods League Derby at Kenosha Harbor in 2016, and even an impromptu exhibition derby featuring Jose Canseco in Madison, and these were all some of my most vivid baseball memories outside of the Tour.  So I of course jumped at the opportunity to see a derby in my own city.  It was not a promising forecast for the evening when I approached the gate to find people buying walk-up tickets with ease, but I pressed on and met a group of my friends inside.

We had tickets in the first 3 row of a section in right field.  It was evident pretty soon after we sat down that about 90% of the fans would be sitting in the outfield, which was a super weird juxtaposition particularly in a smaller independent league ballpark.  The format was very similar to the MLB version of the derby, in which participants faced off against each other based off of seeding, rather than just taking the highest totals of the group.  It was also the same timed format as MLB - each batter got 2 minutes and could take one timeout per round.  When you remove the "bonus time" and all of the TV timeouts, it makes a big difference, because the entire 3 rounds with 8 batters took barely over an hour.  The hometown participant was Cam Balego of the Milkmen, but given where we were sitting, the only batter we really cared about were the two lefties - Conor Panas of the Lincoln Saltdogs, and Chris Herrmann of the Kansas City Monarchs.  The majority of their homeruns launched well over our heads and landed on the concourse and tents behind us, as there are only 3 rows of actual seats in right field.  But by the later rounds when the batters started getting more tired, our prospects of snagging a homerun grew - and I caught one!  On the fly!  I should probably remember which of those two men hit me the homerun, but sadly I don't.  I almost caught a second homerun as well - I leapt and it hit my glove, and fell down into the row behind me (which means that at least somebody in our party got the ball).  It was much more difficult to track the baseballs than I thought it would be.  For almost the entirety of the first round, the sun was setting directly into our faces, and also there were many times when multiple balls were in the air at the same time, as the pitcher does not wait for a ball to land before throwing the next pitch due to the timed format.  I'm sure most dads would probably give a ball they caught to a kid in the stands or to their own kid at home, but screw that - it is proudly sitting in a baseball display case at my house.

Zach Nehrir of the Cleburne Railroaders ended up taking home the hardware.  He put on quite an impressive display and his round totals actually grew as the event went on.  Most of the batters struggled to get into the double digits in the first round, but after that, I think the remaining participants knew not to worry about any strategy and just swung as hard as they could, as many times as possible.  Zach defeated the aforementioned Panas in the final round, so it was exciting that we got to see at least one lefty make it through to the end.

I had a blast at this event and I'm glad I went, especially with the impending move to Minnesota.  But I have to say that I was pretty disappointed with the fan turnout and the lack of energy in the ballpark.  The Milkmen consistently put out a great product - they won a championship in 2020 and also produced a back-to-back MVP in Adam Walker - but the few times I've been there, the general lack of atmosphere was a common theme.  I hope that the lack of attendance at this major event is not reflective of the fan support and appetite for baseball in suburban Milwaukee, because indy baseball is just the best, and Milwaukeeans should be very blessed to have multiple professional ball options in a market of our size.

HOMERUN DERBY PARTICIPANTS: 
East Division
Cam Balego, Milwaukee
Josh Altmann, Chicago
Zach Nehrir, Cleburne
Hill Alexander, Cleburne

West Division
Connor Panas, Lincoln
Chris Herrmann, Kansas City
Nick Anderson, Lincoln
Vince Fernandez, Sioux City

winner - Zach Nehrir
score – 16-14 final round, 43 total
stadium - Franklin Field

STANDINGS AND UPCOMING SERIES AS OF 7/23/23:

Brewers 55-44, +1.5; 3 v. Reds, 3 @ Braves, 3 @ Nationals, 4 v. Pirates

Twins 52-48, +2.0; 3 v. Mariners, 3 @ Royals, 3 @ Cardinals, 3 v. Diamondbacks

2023 GAMES ATTENDED:

Erik - 1

Peter - 13

Wisconsin Brewing Company Park

All photos of Wisconsin Brewing Company Park available on Flickr.

Yesterday, I took the family to see the newest member of the thriving southeastern Wisconsin baseball scene - the Lake Country DockHounds of the independent American Association.  They play in the brand new Wisconsin Brewing Company Park in the Pabst Farms area of Oconomowoc, Wisconsin, which is in the heart of the "Lake Country" region of Waukesha County, hence the team moniker.  It was only about a 25-minute drive from where we live on the west side of Milwaukee, which is actually not that much further than driving down to see their inter-metro rival, the Milwaukee Milkmen.  We got to the park right around first pitch, which was conveniently located within eyesight of I-94, but not so conveniently cost an obscene $5 to park there.

I wrote a little bit about the origins of this team last May when the team was announced if you care to read a bit about the background of the ballpark, but the finished product seats about 3,600 people and from what I could tell driving by occasionally on the freeway, it was certainly a race to get it finished.  My office is actually in Madison, and I can recall driving out there the last week of April and the park looked nowhere near done with about three weeks to go before the home opener.  None of the seats were in, cladding and glazing were not done, the turf was not in yet - it looked unfinished to the degree that I told Megan I was unsure if it was worth going out there this year because the park would probably open unfinished.  However, miraculously the park did open with a full certificate of occupancy on Opening Day, and by all accounts was a success.  The turf rolled out quickly as it is 100% field turf, the seats got screwed in quickly in an array of colors sort of akin to Franklin Field, and the primarily EIFS façade proved to be a great design choice with a time crunch (although aesthetically, debatable at best).  We bought seats in the left field corner GA grass berm area figuring that we would be spending most of the game walking around with the kids, which proved to be true, but it was still a great view for the few innings we did spend there.  The berm area featured a nearby concession stand that was sort of hidden and never busy like the main stand, as well as close proximity to the restrooms, both of which were very smart to put in the vicinity of a seating area that is usually mostly families.

It's natural to compare Wisconsin Brewing Company Park and Franklin Field, so I won't try to hide from that fact.  They both opened within 3 years of each other for two expansion teams in the same league and the same metropolitan area, and are also roughly the same size.  They also both feature 100% field turf and a scattering of colorful seats as I mentioned earlier, and are both built on long undereveloped, challenging sites.  However, once you get into the nuts and bolts of the design, that is where the similarities end.  WBC Park was designed by Jendusa out of nearby Hartland, WI who advertise themselves primarily as a structural engineering firm, and that fact really tells you a lot about the end product.  As you approach the main gate, the first thing you notice is the elegant steel truss archway that holds up the signage at the ballpark's highest point.  You then enter under the exposed floor above, comprised of galvanized, unpainted roof deck spread over an array of beautiful castellated beams.  It is definitely a type of entry that a structural engineer would be proud to show off - simple yet elegant in the detailing and without a need for embellishment.  And even as an architect I can humbly say that it was my favorite part of the park.  After you cast your gaze downward from studying the structure above (when I say "you" I probably just mean me...no other nerd is doing that), the very first thing you see in front of you is not the field, or a food stand, or any sort of structure, but rather a long bar with an old map of Oconomowoc etched onto some translucent resin panels, which is beautiful but actually completely blocks any view to the field.  It's also very much like an engineer to just get right to the point and not dance around the obvious - the first thing most adults do when they get into a ballpark is grab a beer, and at this park it's within 10 feet of your face immediately when you walk in.  In hindsight, I can't say I was surprised that a park sponsored by a brewery would do this, but I did think it would be somewhat attached to the brewery that is actually on site.  Wisconsin Brewing Company features a pilot brewery on site as a part of the ballpark, and I was disappointed that it was not really engaged with the stadium in any way.  I couldn't even find a way in and there from inside the park, nor is there any signage for it on the outside, so it definitely seemed like a missed opportunity.  And that's really a good way to sum up a lot of the park - missed opportunities.  It's a park in a wide open field that didn't take advantage of a wrap-around concourse.  They have a cool little area in right field called Stamas Dentistry Beach that is in no way an actual beach.  They have these cool pontoon boats you can reserve and sit in as an ode to Lake Country that should be front and center and are tucked in the corner.  They have an ample kids area that has absolutely nothing appropriate for any kids under 10.  And the unnecessarily narrow concourse has zero views to the field; instead you see the lovely backside and underside of the grandstand and the bathrooms.  The park definitely has one of the coolest and most original entries I've seen in a park that size, and some individual unique elements, but cohesively as a park it lacks execution and pales in comparison to Franklin Field.  Franklin Field is a great example of how simple doesn't necessarily mean bad or boring if it's done well, and Wisconsin Brewing Company Park is just the opposite - lots of nice individual gestures, but it does not come together well.  I'm not trying to sound snobby or condescending, but the park seems to have a lack of attention to detail that you would only get with the services of an architecture-specific firm.  I'd be interested to go back with just Megan or my folks sometime as I think we'd have a great time at that front bar, but if any of the five people who read this blog have small kids of their own, I would suggest spending your money on the Milkmen.

The game itself saw the visiting Cleburne (TX) Railroaders eke out the DockHounds 5-4 in a feisty battle between the two cellar-dwelling teams of the East Division.  It sure seems like every win that the Railroaders get should almost count double for being two states away from their nearest opponent, whereas the DockHounds have the luxury of playing in a division with 5 teams within a 75-mile radius.  We left in the 7th inning when the game was nodded at 2, and has been the trend lately for me, most of the action happened after we left.  Edwin Arroyo smashed his 3rd homer of the year to give Cleburne a 5-2 lead in the 8th and they held on to win behind Nick Gardewine's 4th save of the season.  I was curious how this ballpark would play being within a stone's throw of the interstate, but it seemed to be a bit of a bandbox as there were 4 total bombs in the game and the ball carried well in the gaps.  Both starters gave up 2 over 6 and were nothing spectacular.  Usually at an indy ball game, I will recognize a "has-been" or two still scrounging around with hopes of being noticed by a big league team, and while I didn't recognize any players, there was one name I couldn't help but notice - Clemens.  Kacy even wears his dad's #22 for the Railroaders and is actually having a nice year, hitting .378 with 20 RBI in 74 at-bats.  He hit 5th in the lineup and manned 1st base on this day, and went 1-3 with an RBI and 2 walks.

Megan and I had an extensive debate on the way home from the game whether or not we liked this park better or Franklin Field.  As I eluded to earlier, certainly from the perspective of bringing our two small children, the Milkmen win hands down.  While it doesn't have a true kids area, it has more ample space for children to run around with a bigger lawn area, and it has the 360° concourse with a view of the field which makes it easier to walk a stroller around.  And there were certainly parts we enjoyed out in Lake Country as well which I've already talked about.  But in the end, we both arrived at the conclusion that we're kind of spoiled in the first place to even be able to have such a debate over which of our Milwaukee area baseball teams PLURAL is a better experience.  With the addition of the DockHounds, there are now 7 ball teams above collegiate level within an hour drive of Milwaukee, and that is something that I try to never take for granted.

park rankings and statistics: 

aesthetics - 5 (the entry salvages this category)

views from park - 4 (I-94)

view to field - 9 (seats all close to field and good views down the lines)

surrounding area - 6 (they don't call it "Lake Country" for nothing)

food variety - 3

nachos - 5

beer - 7 (points deducted for basically only one beer stand)

vendor price - 7

ticket price - 8 ($8 GA)

atmosphere - 6

walk to park - 1

parking price/proximity - 3 (no team of this caliber should ever charge for parking)

concourses - 2 (camped, under grandstand, zero view to field)

team shop - 7

kids area - 3 (not an appropriate age level that a kids area should be)

best food - burger (standard ballpark fare)

most unique stadium feature - entry/bar in entry

best jumbotron feature - "Homerun with RE/MAX" animation

best between-inning feature - kids mini-e-bike race

field dimensions - 325/400/325

starters - Garrett Alexander (CLE) v. Evan Kruczynski (LC)

opponent - Cleburne Railroaders

time of game - 3:09

attendance - 1720

score - 5-4 L

Brewers score that day - 8-6 L

STANDINGS AND UPCOMING SERIES AS OF 7/11/22:

Brewers 48-39, +2.0; 2 @ Twins, 4 @ Giants

Twins 48-40, +4.0; 2 v. Brewers, 4 v. White Sox

2022 GAMES ATTENDED:

Erik - 1

Peter - 13