Miller PARK, Not Miller Stadium! Sorry…

My sincerest apologies to baseball fans. It has been brought to my attention that I erroneously referred to the Major League Baseball field in Milwaukee as Miller Stadium and not as Miller Park. I assure you, it was not intentional and was, in fact, like driving to your old house when you move to a new one. It's just what you're used to doing.

You see, I grew up in Crowley. Most of you know exactly where the Acadia Parish town of about 13,000 people is located. For those of you who don't, it's about 20 miles west of Lafayette and about 50 miles east of Lake Charles.

In Crowley, one of our landmarks is Miller Stadium. Miller Stadium was built in 1948 and was home to the Crowley Millers who played in South Louisiana’s Semi-Pro Teche League, the professional Gulf Coast League, and Evangeline Leagues from 1948 to 1957. In their heyday, the Millers and the Evangeline League (which included teams from Lafayette and Lake Charles, as well) were quite a big deal. As a matter of fact, according to the official Crowley website, the Crowley Millers set attendance records for the league from 1952 to 1954 by drawing more than 100,000 fans to the stands.

Miller Stadium fell into disrepair for many years after the Evangeline League disbanded in 1957. Efforts to refurbish the piece of history finally came together in 1998, and Miller Stadium is a fantastic place to play ball. It has served as the site for several regional and state tournaments, including two LHSAA AAA Tournaments. Local high school, recreational and semi-pro teams use Miller Stadium as their homes.

Fittingly, Miller Stadium is now listed as an historic place by the State of Louisiana. (And Miller Stadium even has a Facebook Page.)

I know Miller Park is a REALLY big deal. I understand that Miller Stadium is not Major League Baseball.

But when you grow up in a small town, you've been around all that history for all your life, and your momma tells you to "take a right at Miller Stadium to get to the swimming pool," there's a part of your brain that is always going to remember that those two words go together.