Miller Park has a retractable roof to shield fans in cases of rain or inclement weather. But have Milwaukee’s baseball fans become soft with Miller Park’s cozy bosom? Sometimes it appears as if the roof overlords at the stadium overreact to weather possibilities. Yeah, the game was delayed about seven minutes or whatever for the roof to close the other day when it began raining during a game against Philadelphia. Things may have gotten slightly wet and the grounds crew was required to do some actual maintenance work on the field as a result of the slippery, wet stuff. But did they come back and then close the roof AND panels Monday because they didn’t want to deal with even the chance of rain against the Cubs? It was in the 60s in Milwaukee Monday night. Oh no.
It just comes off sometimes as ‘hey we’re not going to bother with adjustments’ and they just shut the whole thing down. In April and September, and even during other months, sure, there are times when it’s kind of cool out or there is a good chance for rain. But unless the threat is real rather than imaginary, I would love to see Miller Park operate on the default setting of keeping the roof open and trying to function like a normal ballpark; i.e., no closed panels and no roof over the field. It can be a little stifling to expect the roof to be open, only to find it closed for no apparent reason. Wisconsin fans are hearty enough to wear an extra shirt or whatever, or bring a jacket along. I don’t like the idea of the roof closing just because everyone wants to wear a T-shirt to the game or because Miller Park officials think baseball fans in Wisconsin believe they’re going to the mall when they come to the ballpark.
Maybe officials didn’t like the fact that the rain delay at Miller Park Sunday apparently made some news nationally. But no one should be embarrassed about a sudden rain shower. There have been times when the roof is closed during the game and then as fans are leaving they’ll open it up so the stadium gets some air (and possibly rain for the grass). What kind of sense does that make? Just keep the roof open unless there are thunder storms in the area or if it’s actually COLD out. Otherwise, things get a little ridiculous. If you’re going to close the roof, at least keep the panels open most of the time to provide some semblance of the outdoors. The roof is a convenience but shouldn’t be clutched like a security blanket. Unless there’s a good reason, don’t shield us from the scary, scary outdoors. It’s really not that cold most of the time during baseball season. It’s August; soon we’ll be praying for the 60-degree days which we now feel the need to isolate from our baseball experience. If the rain comes around, there’s the roof, right where you left it, ready to come to the rescue.
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