On a tour of Miller Park Friday, members of the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers, the Brewers' Class A minor league affiliate, got a chance to see everything.
They walked through the Brewers' spacious clubhouse, saw the weight room and training room, they checked out the batting cages ... all the creature comforts that are afforded to players able to advance from the cramped clubhouses and endless bus trips of minor league baseball into "the Show."
"You can take a tour of our stadium - which is a nice park - and it will take you all of five minutes," Timber Rattlers manager Jeff Isom said. "We come here and took 45 minutes and saw maybe a tenth of what is going on."
But of all the amenities the Rattlers enjoyed, nothing - not even the post-game spread of delicious ribs - could compare to Miller Park's featured attraction ... the massive, convertible roof towering over the stadium.
Weather in Milwaukee was downright awful on Friday, with cool temperatures and a steady rain throughout the day. On any other day in the Midwest League, the players would have been sitting in their spartan locker room, playing cards and wondering whether or not a game would be played.
Not Friday. On Friday, the Timber Rattlers got a taste of big league baseball.
"It's pretty cool," said right-handed pitcher Eric Arnett, the Brewers' first-round draft choice a year ago. "To come to the park and know that you're going to play today ... it's awesome."
Arnett is one of the Brewers' most highly-touted prospects; a power pitcher out of Indiana University, one whom the Brewers hope will advance quickly through the organization and start helping the big league team in the next few seasons.
He didn't pitch in Friday's game and hasn't gotten off to a good start this season, but admits that dressing and preparing for a game at Miller Park was a pretty big motivator - a general consensus in the clubhouse.
"They're kind of throwing in our face, what we're all working for and what we want to accomplish," said infielder Cutter Dykstra, making his second Miller Park experience with the Timber Rattlers. "It kind of gives us extra motivation to do what we have to do to get here."
Isom, who spent three years playing Class A ball in the Pirates and Padres organizations, agreed, but also knows that in the long run, only a few of his players will get to the majors.
"They get to see how they will get treated once they get here," Isom said. " In the big picture, this is ultimately where they want to come and play and they get a chance to say 'wow, this is what it's all about.'
"There will be a handful of players that do make it and someday will play at Miller Park and there are a few who won't. It's part of the business. For those guys, it's going to be a night they remember for the rest of their lives."
Dykstra and Isom were both on their second trip to Miller Park, but nobody has better memories than hitting coach Matt Erickson. The Appleton native spent two seasons in the Brewers organization and was called to the big leagues midway through the 2004 season.
His debut came on July 9, when he went hitless in a pinch-hit at-bat during a 3-0 loss to Cincinnati. He would get his first and only major league start on July 17. His only big league hit came that day, a single off future Hall of Famer Greg Maddux in a 5-0 loss to the Cubs at Wrigley Field.
During the team's tour of the Brewers' locker room, players asked Erickson which locker was his. He pointed to his old dressing area.
"Casey McGehee's in it right now," Erickson said. "I'd like to let Casey know that he's in my locker."
On the field, the game wasn't as memorable as the experience; the Rattlers dropped a 6-1 decision to Cedar Rapids, despite a solid outing from starting pitchers Damon Krestalude. But with the Saturday weather forecast calling for a chance of snow in Appleton, it was understandable that the team joked about playing two Friday.
