Miller Park Has a Rousing Premiere

Richie Sexson felt like he had just won a championship after his tie-breaking home run made the Milwaukee Brewers a winner in their Miller Park debut.

“It’s something I’ll carry with me forever. It’s going to be one of the high points of my career,” said Sexson, whose solo shot in the eighth inning gave Milwaukee a 5-4 victory over the Cincinnati Reds on Friday night.

“You’d love to do it in Game 7 of the World Series, obviously,” Sexson said. “But this has got to be the next best thing, opening up a great ballpark like this with a game-winning home run.”

Sexson’s home run off Dennys Reyes (0-2) traveled 435 feet and sent Bernie Brewer twisting down his swank toboggan-like yellow slide that replaced his outdated one that was torn down with the rest of County Stadium.

“We’re going to see that a bunch,” Brewer center fielder Jeffrey Hammonds said. “We’re going to keep Bernie busy.”

The retractable fan-shaped roof and the outfield panels were closed, making a late-arriving rain a nonfactor in the Brewers’ first opening night game in their 31-year history.

President Bush threw out the first pitch--appropriately, it was just a bit outside with Milwaukee broadcaster Bob Uecker as master of pregame ceremonies.

“That’s another highlight in my life right there, getting to meet the president of the United States,” Sexson said.

Sexson’s first homer of the season made a winner of reliever David Weathers as Milwaukee avoided matching its worst start in franchise history. The 1984 club started out 0-5.

“It was an inside slider. It hung,” Reyes said.

Construction of Miller Park, the only fan-shaped retractable roof ballpark in North America, began on Oct. 28, 1996, and the stadium’s opening was delayed a year because of the July 14, 1999, crane accident that killed three ironworkers.

Michael Tucker hit the first home run at the stadium. His two-run shot off Jeff D’Amico, who lost to the Reds in the last game at County Stadium, gave Cincinnati a 2-0 lead in the fourth. Brewer fan Tim Shields of Shorewood, Wis., threw the keepsake right back.

“It was an opposition home run,” Shields said. “By its very nature, it doesn’t have the same value as a Brewers home run.”

Memorabilia dealers would disagree, but the sellout crowd of 42,024 didn’t.

In the bottom half of the fourth inning, Jose Hernandez’s three-run double off Rob Bell drew a larger ovation, giving the Brewers a 3-2 lead.

Jeromy Burnitz’s solo home run off Scott Sullivan, his third in five games, made it 4-2 in the sixth but the Reds tied it in the seventh on Dmitri Young’s solo homer and Aaron Boone’s run-scoring single off Mike DeJean.