The bitter weather made Cleveland played in Milwaukee their games…

Tuesday night, the man who usually portrays the Italian sausage sat in the stands in a white Cleveland Indians jersey and tattered cap. John Lowther, 24, grew up in Youngstown, Ohio. He asked for the night off so he could cheer on his favorite American League team with his girlfriend, Erika Thompson. Another worker replaced him.
All this because frigid conditions and the aftermath of a snowstorm at Jacobs Field necessitated a change of venue for the Indians’ three-game series with the Los Angeles Angels. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, it was Major League Baseball’s first neutral-site shift due to weather since Montreal and Florida played two games at U.S. Cellular Field in Chicago on Sept. 13 and 14, 2004, because of Hurricane Ivan.
Almost a foot of snow remained at Jacobs Field on Monday, when the Indians failed for the third consecutive day to play a single inning against Seattle. Friday’s home opener against the Mariners had to be postponed because of snow with the game one out from becoming official.
“I’ve seen enough snow already for a year, maybe for a lifetime,” said Indians reliever Roberto Hernández, the former Met.
The weather here wasn’t springlike either. But the closed roof kept conditions dry and playable, and the Indians won their first official game in five days, beating the Angels, 7-6. The outside temperature was 42 degrees at game time, with snow — what else? — in the forecast.
“It felt good to just play,” Indians center fielder Grady Sizemore said.
Some Indians fans felt playing a home game in Milwaukee was appropriate. Miller Park is adjacent to the former site of County Stadium, the Indians’ “home” field for several scenes in the movie “Major League.” The Indians lost all three games they previously played at Miller Park as visitors, an interleague series last year.
How well this series would draw was a point of conjecture. Brewers officials, with one day’s notice, expected about 10,000 Tuesday night.
The lure of something unusual, and inexpensive tickets — all seats were $10, or $6 less than the Brewers usually charge for their best bleacher seats — proved a far bigger attraction that anyone could have guessed. A crowd of 19,031 filled the lower two decks and spilled over into the bleachers. Lines were exceptionally long at the concessions stands. Cleveland Manager Eric Wedge called the turnout “nothing short of outstanding.”
The crowd appeared mixed with Wisconsinites, Indians fans and the curious. Most greeted the Indians warmly when they took the field. During the game, they booed the Angels’ Gary Matthews Jr., whose name has surfaced in connection with a nationwide drug distribution ring, and Shea Hillenbrand, who began a home run trot on a ball that hit the left-field wall in the fourth and only reached first base.
Fans lined up at the gates more than two hours before the first pitch. Among the first was Al Fekety, a 45-year-old health care worker from Staten Island who used frequent flyer miles to make a spur-of-the-moment trip.
Joe and Robert Madison, brothers who are Indians fans, drove seven hours from Cleveland. Both work for U.P.S., and Robert, 26, is recovering from a back injury. “We just figured we’d come check it out,” said Joe, 24. “Long drive for a home game.”
Mark Uffner, a 48-year-old laborer from Chicago, sat on a bench outside the stadium in an Indians cap, his ticket already in his pocket. “Fifth row behind the plate, an $85 seat for 10 bucks, and a chance to see C. C.,” said Uffner, meaning Indians starter C. C. Sabathia.
In the parking lot, Brewers fan Mike Meinzer and four friends watched the wind-whipped flames from a small charcoal grill. Meinzer, a chef at the Capital Grille in Milwaukee, was in charge of the burgers and brats. The chance to see the Angels’ Vladimir Guerrero proved an irresistible attraction to these Brewers fans despite the weather.
“We’re experts at coming here in the freezing cold,” Meinzer said. “Every opening day, it’s either raining or 20 degrees.”
Then there was Lowther, a social worker who is such a diehard Indians fan he made Thompson watch “Major League” on their second date.
“I’m a big Brewers fan, too,” he said.
For this night, he did not have to be.