The Sporting News: Miller Park voted "Best Ballpark" in online poll of baseball fans
MILWAUKEE (WITI) -- The Sporting News announced that Miller Park has been voted the Best Ballpark in their online poll of baseball fans. The home of the Brewers, which was seeded number 12 at the outset, eventually defeated second seed Fenway Park to take the title after a series of match-ups in a tournament-style contest.
The tournament was held online at SportingNews.com and was based on the rankings of the home fields of all 30 Major League teams by M.E. Anderson, founder of the Twitter account @MLBCathedrals. Based upon those rankings, two 15-team brackets representing the American and National Leagues were created. Readers voted round-by-round until each bracket was left with one team.
Miller Park faced a tough battle in the first round, squaring off against Coors Field, home of the Colorado Rockies. The Brewers’ hometown field defeated Coors Field and then went on to best San Diego's Petco Park in the second round. Miller Park downed division rivals Pittsburgh’s PNC Park to move into the finals of the National League bracket against the World Series-champion Giants AT&T Park.
After successfully winning the National League bracket, Miller Park was pitted against Major League Baseball’s oldest stadium, the highly-acclaimed Fenway Park, in the finals. After several days of voting, Miller Park was declared the victor Monday, December 8th.
“We are thrilled that Miller Park has been voted as the Best Ballpark in the Major Leagues in the Sporting News Ballpark Bracket,” said Brewers Chief Operating Officer Rick Schlesinger. “The fans' opinions are our ultimate report card, so prevailing in this fan vote means a great deal to our organization.”
This is not the first time that Miller Park has been deemed the Best Ballpark in the Major Leagues through a tournament-style bracket. In 2012, Miller Park won ESPN’s Battle of the Ballparks Bracket in a similar fan vote contest.
Earlier this year, Miller Park also earned honors in ESPN The Magazine’s annual “Ultimate Standings: Fan Satisfaction Rankings. Fans voted the stadium experience at Miller Park the 10th-best overall out of 122 professional sports franchises (MLB, NFL, NBA and the NHL) included in the survey.