Rattlers at Miller Park Videos

The crack production staff has put together a couple of videos from the visit to Miller Park on May 7.

This first one is a series of player reactions.


The second is a music video with some highlights of the day.


Enjoy.

Stories from Miller Park

I'm sure that there are more out there, but here are three that I have time to put up before today's game:


KCRG of Cedar Rapids had this Kernels-centric piece:

Jeff Johnson had the same from the Cedar Rapids Gazette.

Below the lineup card on a bulletin board in the Cedar Rapids Kernels’ auxiliary clubhouse at Miller Park, Manager Bill Mosiello wrote a message to his team.

“This is the kind of ballpark you should want to play in EVERYDAY!!” Mosiello wrote. “Now, think about how hard you are going to push yourself to obtain that GOAL!!”

Cory Jennerjohn had this column in the Post-Crescent.

Remember when your grandpa would hoist you up on his lap and start telling you stories from his past?

Matt Erickson may not have an AARP card yet, but that didn't stop the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers hitting coach from letting the youngsters know about the team he used to play for as they toured the $400 million playpen that awaits the fortunate few.

"We went through the home clubhouse and I had a couple guys ask me, 'Where's your locker,' " said Erickson, who played four games for the Brewers. "So I got to show them that. Casey McGehee's in it right now. I'd like to let Casey know that he's in my locker."

Cory also filed this report.

"That was the best performance by Damon all season long," Timber Rattlers manager Jeff Isom said. "He got behind some hitters, but he made some pitches when he had to."

More later when I have time to look for them and post them...Say, next Tuesday.

Photo Contest for tonight!

Fang announced this at his Facebook page last night. It might be of interest to you you you are planning on coming out to the game at Miller Park tonight.

Submit...your best photo of you at tomorrow night's game at MILLER PARK! Top photos will be posted and voted on for your chance to win a Fang & Bernie Bobblehead and a pair of tickets to a Timber Rattlers game of your choice! Photos due by Sunday May 9th.

EMAIL ENTIRES TO: FANG@TIMBERRATTLERS.COM

Sounds pretty easy.

Ready for Miller Park

Today is the day!

Wisconsin Timber Rattlers look forward to game at Miller Park in Milwaukee

"It's going to be great, a great experience, great for all of us," said Rattlers right-hander Damon Krestalude, tonight's starter. "This is what we're striving for. We're playing here, but we're striving to get to Miller Park."

The club is scheduled to arrive in Milwaukee around noon. Included in a busy itinerary is a full major-league style lunch spread and a stadium tour before the team gets in its typical pregame work.

"It's about the dream," Isom said. "It's kind of like the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. This is what we're working for. This gives them a little bit of a taste of what's to come. You go through the process of the minor league, and at times it gets long and tiresome. But it just shows them, 'Here's what you're playing for.'

$10 tickets remain. See you at the game.

One-stop ticket information

Two bits of news on tickets have rolled into the inbox.

#1.

Tickets for the Miller Park game against the Kernels on May 7 will go on sale this Wednesday.

Tickets to the game will be priced at $10 for all seat locations and will be available on a first-come, first-serve basis. Tickets may be purchased by visiting the Miller Park Box Office, online at brewers.com or by calling the Brewers Ticket Office at 414-902-4000 or 1-800-933-7890.

Pick-n-Save and Copp's are sponsoring the game this year.

#2.
The Fang-tastic ticket package is back for 2010.

Get one Terrace Reserved ticket to one of six select Brewers games at Miller Park (4/26, 5/29, 6/23, 7/5, 8/27, 9/6) and one Reserved Bleacher ticket to one of six select Wisconsin Timber Rattlers games at Time Warner Cable Field (4/22, 5/9, 6/10, 7/15, 8/15, 9/1)...

There is also a Brewer-Rattlers cap included with the package. Total cost: $16. Whooo-hooo!

Back to Miller Park

Rattlers! Kernels! Miller Park! May 7!

The Wisconsin Timber Rattlers are heading back to the home of their parent club. The Class 'A' affiliate of the Milwaukee Brewers will host the Cedar Rapids Kernels in a Midwest League game at Miller Park on Friday, May 7 at 7:05pm.

Tickets will be available at the Brewers Ticket office. They will announce the day that the tickets go on sale for the game.

PC Take

The Prodigal Beat writer's game story may be found here.

"This is what I'm going to work for. This is my dream," said Wisconsin center fielder Cutter Dykstra, whose belly-flop dive and snare to retire the first batter of the game drew an approving ovation from the 17,880 fans in attendance.

"This is what I'm going to bust it for every day, give everything I've got. I look at it as a goal. Everyone wants to get here, and you've got to work hard to get here."

Hey, Brock Kjeldgaard. How about that homer? What were you thinking?

"When I hit it and was rounding the bases, I thought I was going to trip," he said with a smile following a three-RBI night. "The only word to describe it is exciting. … Hopefully, it's not the last one (I'll hit) in a big league park. That's the goal, obviously, to make it to the big leagues and stay out here for a long time."

Here is the Post-Crescent Photo Gallery. Two that I like.


It's a good thing I didn't get to meet Robin Yount. All I would have been able to get out would have been, "OhmigodOhmigodOhmigod."

Somebody has to have video of Fang going down the slide after the game. Anybody?

The day after

Good morning.

That

was

a

lot

of

fun.

I need to get a little sleep, so I'll either be posting more in 20 minutes....or three hours...or two hours before game time.

Thank you to the Brewers for being great hosts. Thank you to everyone who showed up for the game. Thank you to Robin Yount for throwing out the first pitch. If you ever want to come up to Appleton for a game, let us know. I'll show off my Robin Yount 3,000 hit collectible Coca-Cola can.

Just wrapped up the tour...

The Miller Park Tour that is...

Also, the phone line works and there will be a broadcast tonight.

Right now, I have to head down and do a few interviews and some standups for Timber Rattler Field Pass. Also, tonight's pre-game show guest is manager Jeff Isom.

Game time is 7:05pm with a 6:45pm pre-game show. Tune in on AM 1280 or on the internet.

A few notes:

I did not have time to get the audio highlights or interviews cut from yesterday's marathon broadcast (On at 6:15pm; off at 11:00pm). That may be a Sunday or Monday post-game project.

As a personal note to the Millers, I had the interview of Erik pulled and e-mailed, but it bounced from your the address you gave me.

I think that I'll just be posting links to all of the player interviews as part of that Sunday/Monday project.

Gotta go. Enjoy that game.

How nice is it going to be tomorrow?

This nice.

After Opening Day, perhaps the best reminder that summer is coming in Wisconsin is the first time each year that Miller Park opens to host a game in the warm air. That annual occasion is scheduled to occur tomorrow as the "Border Battle," featuring the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers against the Peoria Chiefs, takes place at 7 p.m.

That's nice. See you there.

Remember that Miller Park game?

Ben Hill did. And here is a story about minor league teams playing the stadiums of their parent clubs....(Are there enough plurals in that sentence?).

It starts out with the Chiefs and their Wrigley Field game last year.

The first-ever "Road to Wrigley" contest pitted the Cubs-affiliated Peoria Chiefs against the Kane County Cougars (A's), and a Midwest League-record crowd of 32,103 witnessed the event. While much has been written about what the game meant to the players, it was also a transformative experience for the Chiefs' front-office staff. The club's employees were given the chance to bring their Class A antics to a Major League environment -- in effect, showing Chicago how they play in Peoria.

Is it a Midwest League record? I'll have to check the Midwest League Record book at the office. Or, I can ask Nathan Baliva, radio broadcaster for the Chiefs. So, Nate, is it a Midwest League record?

The Cubs' dedication to the concept was exemplified by the fact that they gave the Chiefs' front office and game day staff free reign at the ballpark. As a result, Wrigley Field -- that most hallowed of baseball cathedrals - temporarily took on a circus-like atmosphere.

"We sent down our promo crew, our interns, our video camera operators, our mascot, pretty much everybody," said Baliva. "I did my pregame show right there on the field, and during the game we had dizzy bat races, Frisbees and water balloons. Birdzerk and the Zooperstars were there too. We just pretended like we were in Peoria on a Tuesday night."

Not what I asked. Wait. Not my interview. Back to the story.

Ben also talked with the boss about that game on April 24.

"The decision [to play in Miller Park] was a no-brainer," remarked Timber Rattlers president Rob Zerjav. "It's a great way to get exposure for our new relationship. We're located just 100 miles away [from Milwaukee], and we really want people to say 'Hey, that's our Class A affiliate now, let's go up there and check out a game.'"

"The Brewers will be handling all of [the in-game entertainment]," said Zerjav. "They're ahead of the curve, with the racing sausages and all that kind of stuff. They're handling every facet of the game operations."

Nor do the Timber Rattlers stand to gain much financially.

"Basically, the Brewers are buying the game from us," said Zerjav. "They're taking the risk, and reaping the reward. We're being compensated for the revenue we lose; we looked at the numbers from the last five years and calculated our average on a Friday in April."

Also in the article, Lowell Spinners General Manager Tim Bawmann. Tim was the GM for the Quad City River Bandits and is a UW-Platteville Alum. He is interviewed because of the Boston Red Sox and their Futures at Fenway program.

"Futures at Fenway" is a non-traditional doubleheader in that it features two Red Sox affiliates. This year it will feature the Eastern League's Portland Sea Dogs in one game and the Pawtucket Red Sox in the other. Thus far, Red Sox affiliates have gone 6-0 at Fenway -- including three victories by the New York-Penn League's Lowell Spinners.

"In our case, it actually ends up costing a bit to play at Fenway," wrote Spinners general manager Tim Bawmann in an email. "We don't receive the same amount of ticket revenue and concession revenue that we would if we actually played in Lowell, but the exposure we receive is tenfold ahead of a normal home game. The game is also televised live on NESN prior to a Red Sox night game. The television exposure alone is magnificent."

And, of course, there are aspects of the experience that can't be reduced to dollars and cents.

"Over the past three years, I've traveled with the team on the bus to Fenway," wrote Bawmann. "Can you imagine? A short-season [Class] A ballclub pulling into the famed Fenway gates, the same gates such notable players as Babe Ruth and Hank Aaron have passed through. Can you say 'priceless?'"

I'm a UWP grad. Of course I can say 'priceless'. I got three credits for saying it in a sophomore level communications class my senior year.

Miller Park tickets are available here.

Answering a question (UPDATED)

There was a question from Josh in the comments about tickets for the Miller Park game. Here it is:

For those of us that have that Friday's game as included in a ticket package (either a mini plan or half season plan or what have you), if we can't make that game in Milwaukee is our best option just to exchange it for a different game?

As for those that have that ticket in a package, but still plan to attend it in Milwaukee, how should they go about exchanging tickets?

Well, that's technically two questions.

Taking #1 first: Please contact the Timber Rattlers at (920) 733-4152 and ask for either Aaron or Darren in the ticket department and they will be able to exchange your tickets before the ticket books go out in the mail.

Taking #2 second: For fans who have the Miller Park game in a ticket package already, you will receive that ticket in your ticket books when they go out.....

and I forgot to ask if the seats would be assigned or if you need to contact the Brewers to reserve your seat....


So, I guess, I'll just be updating this later then...


UPDATE:

If you have a ticket package that includes the Miller Park Game on April 24, your package will include an assigned seat at Miller Park. You do not need to exchange them for anything.



I hope that clears up everything.