County Stadium Closes Its Gates

L.A. Times Archives

Sept. 29, 2000 12 AM PT

From Associated Press

MILWAUKEE — Warren Spahn and Del Crandall helped the Brewers close down Milwaukee County Stadium, a ballpark the pair helped open in 1953.

Spahn, the winningest left-hander in baseball history with 363 victories, threw the ceremonial first pitch to Crandall, his batterymate on opening day with the Milwaukee Braves 48 years ago.

“It’s like the curtain’s falling,” said Spahn, 79, who tossed a two-bouncer from about 30 feet away Thursday. “The party’s over.”

Spahn and Crandall, who managed the Brewers from 1972-75, were among more than 40 former Brewers, Braves and Green Bay Packers taking part in the festivities. The Brewers move next year to Miller Park, under construction beyond County Stadium’s outfield fence.

Hank Aaron was the first person introduced in a postgame celebration and he was decked out in his old Milwaukee Braves uniform.

Willie Davis, a defensive end with the great Green Bay teams of the 1960s, was next and he entered the field with a football tucked under his left arm, rumbling through the grass like in the old days.

Paul Molitor, dressed in the old pinstriped Brewers uniform and the ball-and-glove cap, went straight from left field to home plate, where he pretended to bat one more time.

They all drew loud ovations from the record regular-season crowd of 57,354 that watched the Brewers lose to Cincinnati 8-1.

The fans toted cameras and camcorders, shared memories, shed tears and downed bratwursts and brews on a cloudless day that only grew cold in the ninth, when they stood and shouted and snapped photos as if it were Game 7 of the World Series.

Some came to say good-bye to the old place; others to say good riddance.

“I think I speak for all the guys who played here in the last five years when I say I’m glad to see it go,” outfielder Jeromy Burnitz said.

My sentiments exactly, Hall of Famer Robin Yount said.

“I’m more excited about seeing the new Miller Park than I’m disappointed about losing County Stadium,” he said.

The stadium, the nation’s first publicly financed ballpark, was built in the early 1950s for $4.8 million--about what Burnitz made this season alone. And it was constructed at a time when no major league team had moved since 1901.

One look at the place lured the Braves from Boston and sparked pro sports’ great westward migration.

Demolition begins next week at the old ballpark.

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Park Place

Major league stadiums where games were played in 2000, with the year each opened:

AMERICAN LEAGUE

1912--Fenway Park (Red Sox)

1923--Yankee Stadium

1966--Anaheim Stadium/Edison Field

1968--Network Associates Coliseum (A’s)

1973--Kauffman Stadium (Royals)

1982--Metrodome (Twins)