June 27, 2026
Franklin Field (Capacity: 3,666)
Franklin, WI
Franklin Milkmen vs Cleburne Railroaders
Final Score: 1 – 6
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It’s not uncommon to find a Minor or Indy League baseball team on the outskirts of an MLB city, but it is rare to have two start around the same time. That’s what we have here in Milwaukee, where the Lake Country DockHounds (35 minutes to the west in Oconomowoc) and the Milwaukee Milkmen (20 minutes to the southwest in Franklin) compete for the baseball entertainment fill within the indy American Association. During our Wisconsin summer vacation, I first saw the DockHounds, who began play in 2022. There’s no official review since their ballpark is under seating capacity thresholds on The List (I did rank each category though and their Total Ranking was: 60.5). Two nights later, I went to see the Milkmen, a team that began play in 2019. They’ve made the postseason most years and are looking for their first League Title as I don’t count the 2020 championship they won that was heavily impacted by Covid. The Milkmen certainly go all-in on their gimmick inspired by being in the Dairy State. From describing themselves as being “Utterly Different” and having their mascot Bo Vine wear the number 2%, they certainly embody the minor-league spirit, almost to an annoying degree.
Prestige Ranking: 3 out of 5
Location
Franklin is part of Milwaukee’s South Suburbs and this city of 36,000 is a lot of neighborhoods and a few shopping centers. You won’t find a centralized main street here despite Franklin’s designation as a “city”. The stadium is at the center of a much larger mixed-use development that took place over this former landfill. Known as Ballpark Commons, there are several additional youth fields to go along with nearby hotels for tournaments. A lot of other stuff fills the area like: a Performance Center, apartments, a Drive-In theatre, Skiing/Tubing and fancy Golf Bays. It’s impressive that they got all this to come together. I will say though during baseball season, there’s nothing on the campus that would drive me to come well early before the game, especially given the lack of visible food/drink options. Only Summer Weekends get a nod, where the Umbrella Bar features some food trucks and live music. Beyond Franklin, the attractions of Milwaukee are under 30 minutes away and we spent three days exploring the underrated city. We were occupied that whole time and the best highlights included: RiverWalk, the Harley Davidson Museum and a Brewery Tour.
Location Ranking: 6 out of 10
Accessibility / Parking
Interstate access to Milwaukee is plentiful, but Franklin is somewhat outside of that as the city lies between I-41 and I-43. Route 36 cuts right through the area and it’s just off this road where the Ballpark Commons can be found. Even though it’s not brand new, Google Maps is unfinished when it comes to roads in the complex. Navigating it is not obvious at all. We entered and after seeing a Franklin Field sign (by home plate), looked for parking in that nearby small lot. There was no spot to be had, but there were all signs saying “No Ballpark Parking”. Driving onward, it was not clear where the right parking was and we almost settled for a distant side lot and long walk. After deciding to keep driving around the complex (we’re getting far from the entrance at this point), we finally see attendants pointing us to a large parking lot behind the ballpark. It was an ah-ha! moment as there is where the vast majority enter the stadium. That needs to be more clear when you enter. Getting out after the game is easy and the only traffic trouble I see is weekdays before the start, when people leaving Milwaukee may slow down the trek to Franklin.
Accessibility / Parking Ranking: 6.5 out of 8
Exterior
Since the outfield is the entrance, there is no ballpark structure to view. Instead, a small building contains the box office, an overhang and entry gate. It’s a charcoal color and looks appealing with vertical ripples and a large “Franklin Field” sign up top. After a naming rights botch, the owners struck a deal with the local tourism board, so this is not a temporary name or sign. Behind home plate, the concourse does offer a peek at the structure and it is mainly white buildings.
Exterior Ranking: 5.5 out of 10
Concourse
There is soooo much room that it almost feels empty or elements are missing. There is certainly one missing piece and that is a Kids Play area. Seemingly every ballpark has one and mysteriously, there was nothing here despite plenty of places to put it. Very frustrating as I had two little ones with me that rely on those during our ballpark visits. Back to the concourse, entrance is on to wide, open-air walkways. Straight-ahead leads to the stadium and to the left goes around the outfield. This path leads into the hinterlands with a distanced restroom building, before coming back into the stadium confines, which are landscaped attractively. Behind home plate, the concourse is tight with interrupting support beams, but that is no matter given the space around and the open areas even behind that structure. This is where you’ll find kids (and a few adults) with gloves, waiting for a stray foul ball. I liked the clean look of the black overhead roof and the cream colored buildings.
Concourse Ranking: 3.5 out of 5
Food
There is only one primary food stand and it is behind home plate with lines that can get quite long. It has standard ballpark items except for Pizza and Pretzels, which can be find all the way on the other side of the stadium behind the outfield. Wisconsin items like a Brat and Cheese Curds can be found at that infield stand and a separate Taco Truck offered some needed variety. This is the Milkmen after all, so it was good to see you could get a Milkshake or if you’re feeling bold, some straight up milk to drink. As for other liquids, this was the first time I’ve seen THC drinks. I had to look up and see what those mean. They are cannabis-infused seltzers and these were from Climbing Kites. Traditional beers were a little tougher to find local, but they were there including offerings from Lakefront and Douesterbeck’s.
Food Ranking: 5.5 out of 8
Interior
The infield seating bowl makes the turn around home plate by having multiple angles as opposed to being more rounded. Each row height is adequate even if it isn’t steep and the seats themselves are quite wide and comfortable. The color is a departure from the darker color scheme seen throughout as these chairs are a mix of gray and gold. It fits the ballpark and is a great contrast to the black and white theme. One issue is the protective netting as it is really thick and the first time in a while that I’ve noticed it at a stadium, meaning there is some distraction. Interestingly, the netting stops at the dugouts, so if you are concerned about screaming foul balls, avoid the final two sections at each end of the seating bowl. Behind the main seats are “bays” that can be rented out and include comfy couches. More traditional group/higher-end seating is in the building perched above the concourse. This is an indoor club flanked by outside seating. The whole ballpark fits pretty well as there are multiple grassy areas (“Pastures”) to lay out, along with outfield bleachers, ‘sky boxes’ and third-base picnic tables. Exterior view isn’t much to look at and the left-side has a huge net from the nearby golf bays.
Interior Ranking: 9 out of 14
Scoreboard
I’m reminded of Nintendo’s R.B.I. Baseball game when I see the font on the scoreboard. And I like it! Crisp, simple and different, with consistency as you can find the fonts in other places throughout the park. For some it may be boring using just black and white without much snazzy stuff. The board is in left-field and does have full video capabilities, it just is used for between-inning activities. There’s also a dot-matrix scoreboard on top of the first base side roof so that fans don’t have search all over for the pertinent details.
Scoreboard Ranking: 3 out of 4
Displays
The character for this team and ballpark are visible, but displays are not. In their 8th season, I couldn’t find anything in the department of banners, statues, pennants, plaques or wall of fames. Nothing on Franklin either.
Displays Ranking: 0 out of 6
Cost
Parking is free. The tickets are on the slightly more expensive side around the infield as they cost between $19 and $23. Both the Milkmen and DockHounds are more expensive then other teams in the region. At least Milwaukee has some cheaper options as the lawn is $11 and bleachers are $15. Concessions include a $6 Hot Dog, $8 Cheeseburger and $7 – $9 beer. They do add on $.75 for dips, which is tacky.
Cost Ranking: 7 out of 8
Fan Support
On this Saturday Night, it was not a big crowd at all with less than 1,000 on hand. There’s a lot of competition being the suburb of a large city…plus there are other baseball teams in the area and that includes the Brewers. The Milkmen rank 9th in the 12-team league this year for attendance, same as last season.
Fan Support Ranking: 2.5 out of 8
Atmosphere
Self-described as “Udderly Different”, I can attest that is certainly the case. You have “Bo Vine”, the mascot wearing the number “2%” and plenty of milk/dairy reference throughout. But what really stands out is Van the Milkman who is the on-field host. He is not just a between-innings feature, he also is doing Public Address Announcer type stuff while he’s roaming the field (in the video below). Not only does he throw out a hundred “Mooo”s during the game, Van probably oversteps the bounds. Case in point, he’ll go “Hmmm” on the PA after a Ball Four call. Or when a players is injured, he’ll let everyone what they might be tending to (he has the same vantage point as everyone else) while throwing in a medical facility sponsor. Then you have music that is very frequent between pitches, to the point where they start a song and then resume it after the ball hits the mitt. Just not my style for watching baseball. I think the topper (downer?) for me was seeing Take Me Out To The Ballgame skipped so that they could throw out poker chips for a free drink at Double D’s Sports Pub and Eatery. Kids in the stadium were going wild for these chips with a prize they can’t have. Oh yeah, they had to squeeze the slogan in too: “Where Size Matters!”. As for the crowd noise, it was typical Minor/Indy League Baseball with clapping and nothing much more when there was a hit or a run.
Atmosphere Ranking: 5.5 out of 14
Other Stuff
When perusing the Milkmen website, I couldn’t help but laugh at their sell job of standard tickets in the seating bowl: “The next best thing are Scout & Dugout seats! These seats give you the same sight-lines and angles that the managers and scouts have but without the stress of the game.”…..If you’re not familiar with NIMBY’s (Not-In-My-BackYard!), well here’s a great example…..Franklin Field is also home to the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee’s DI program. It’s a great place to share, but not an ideal set-up as the stadium is 30 minutes from campus…..Mitchell International Airport isn’t far away and flight paths go right over the ballpark.
Game
Two nights earlier, I watched the Milkmen play a lazy, error filled game against the Lake Country DockHounds. That foreshadowed this one as they put in another lackluster effort, losing 6-1 to Cleburne. Cole Foster drove in a few runs and Dakota Chalmers pitched a complete game, giving up 8 hits. This was a weird game as there were 3 injuries including two to Milwaukee pitchers.
Stadium and Arena Visits 
