The Milwaukee Marlins: A visitor’s guide to the new home of Miami’s baseball team

For a weekend, at least, the Miami Marlins have been displaced.

Welcome to Milwaukee.

On Wednesday, the Marlins and Major League Baseball decided it was best to move the weekend series between Miami and the Milwaukee Brewers from Marlins Park to Miller Park.

The team and MLB decided due to all the disruption Hurricane Irma caused in South Florida — and the Marlins’ neighborhood in Little Havana — the games should be moved to Wisconsin.

“Marlins Park stood ready to host the games, but we all agreed that burdening public service resources was not the proper course of action,” Marlins president David Samson said.

The Marlins will be the home team in the game played on Brewers turf and will bat in the bottom of the inning as they would as if they were home.

Miller Park, like Marlins Park, has a retractable dome. It also smells really good. The grilling of sausages throughout the ballpark will do that to a place.

And while Marlins Park has a home run sculpture in center field after the home team hits a home run, the Brewers have a gigantic slide their mascot Bernie Brewer rides down after the home team hits one out of the yard.

Whether Mr. Brewer will take a dive if-and-when Giancarlo Stanton or Marcell Ozuna rock one remains to be seen.

Perhaps Billy the Marlins is flying up to take on the slide. We shall see.

So, in the spirit of the Milwaukee Marlins, here are some attractions and things to do around their temporary home.

By the way, the Marlins intend to be back in Miami to play host to the Mets next Monday.

VISITING MILWAUKEE

So, what’s there to do in Milwaukee, Wisconsin?

Even if you didn’t ask, we’re glad you did.

▪ Go see Fonzie: Did you know Richie, Potsie, Ralph and the Happy Days gang are from Milwaukee? Well, if you’re of a certain age you do.

They didn’t actually film the popular 70s show here so you can’t grab a burger and a malted at Arnold’s. But you can check out the Fonz in all his bronzed glory at 117 East Wells Street.

As a bonus, Laverne & Shirley was a spin off of Happy Days and was also set in the city.

▪ Ride a Harley: America’s most popular motorcycles are built right here in Milwaukee and you can check out how Harley-Davidson makes those bikes. Tours, gift shops, everything a Harley lover would want is right here.

▪ Check out the breweries: One of the biggest tourist attractions is taking the tour of the Miller Brewing Company not too far from the ballpark which is now home to the Marlins. But there is a lot more to beer in Milwaukee than just the High Life. Fun Beer Tours offers tours (really?) of many of the different breweries which help make Milwaukee famous.

Oh, and former Miller Lite spokesman Bob Uecker calls Brewers games on the radio.

Get a transistor radio somewhere so you can listen to his terrific call while at the ballpark. No offense to Dave Van Horne and Glenn Geffner is intended.

▪ Get something good to eat: Anyone who goes to Milwaukee needs to check out the Comet Cafe at 1947 North Farwell Avenue. It’s the best.

There’s usually a wait but their beer-cheese fries are worth it. So, too, is their famous bacon-wrapped meatloaf. And the Colonel Comet Chicken. And the pork chop sammie. Oh, don’t forget the turkey dinner.

They also have salads. Seriously.

Or just grab a brat at the ballpark. They’re everywhere. Just follow your nose.

This story was originally published September 15, 2017 at 8:27 AM with the headline "The Milwaukee Marlins: A visitor’s guide to the new home of Miami’s baseball team."