Last week, I was assigned to travel to Milwaukee, Wisconsin for work (ABF Freight). As per my other trips nationwide, I checked out my hotel location and paired it with a search for baseball experiences in the area. I was thrilled to see that American Family Field, home of the Milwaukee Brewers, was just a short distance from my hotel in West Allis, WI. So, I bundled up and headed the short 7 or 8 miles east on Monday to check out the home of the Brewers.

In my travels, I rarely come across structures like American Family Field. Most of the baseball fields, parks, and stadiums I visit are open stadiums with nothing by the clouds, stars, and sun to see when you look up. Dallas Cowboy Stadium (AT&T I think its called) in Arlington, TX is the only other massive dome stadium I have visited over the years. That thing looked like a spaceship and I remember having to take a photo of it from the Walmart parking lot across the street, just to get the entire stadium in one photo. As I walked up to the stadium, it got real for me how massive American Family Field was. Pretty cool experience.

I’m not a huge fan of the Brewers, so I muff this up I apologize. From my memory of watching the Brewers on TV, they went from County Stadium to Miller Park to now American Family Field. The Brewers were preceded in Milwaukee by the Braves, who then moved to Atlanta. I learned much more from the many statues and plaques as I walked up to the stadium. There were statues of Brewers and Braves legends like Henry Aaron, Robin Yount, and Bob Uecker. There were commemorative plaques and tributes to the folks who helped bring the Brewers’ stadium to life and helped run the team, like former MLB Commissioner and Brewers owner “Bud” Selig. Because the stadium was closed and I was left out in the cold (ha ha, just kidding), I got a chance to read a lot of the tributes and get a stronger sense of the history of the Brewers and Milwaukee professional baseball.

It took me a good bit to get around the stadium but I savored every step. I kept thinking to myself, there must be a baseball field in there somewhere. I walked around the back end, or so I was guessing, and peered in through a window to see if I could see anything inside. I got lucky and ended up around center field concession area and was able to snap this photo of the field. See, I knew there was something cool inside!!!

Around this area, I noticed a number of plates embedded into the concrete sidewalks in front of the stadium. I looked closer and read the names of Brewers and Braves greats of the past. Here are a few that caught my eye. I actually think I have a few of these baseball cards…

I forgot to mention the weather was sunny, clear skies, and barely 20 degrees with the wind chill factor added in. I was walking briskly around the stadium but stopped frequently to remove my gloves to take photos. I just could not get over how big the stadium was and how impressive the architecture was. I was blown away, and not by the 30 plus mile an hour wind in my face. It was a modern, beautiful stadium that was just peppered with great baseball history tributes and memorials.

I learned a ton about Milwaukee baseball and had an amazing trip around American Family Field. The plaques, the plates, the memorials, the tributes to current and former Milwaukee Braves and Brewers was so awesome to read and be a part of. Did I mention the stadium was massive and impressive and had a 10/10 wow factor. The winter chill was in the air but I still “braved” it to walk around the stadium and stop frequently to gaze and learn. What an incredible Milwaukee baseball experience at American Family Field.