Tailgating is central to the Brewers fan experience. Here's how it got started.

Gail Anderson has a simple message for anyone even thinking about erecting an entertainment district outside American Family Field.

"Don't take our parking lots away," Anderson said Thursday, as the regular season was winding down with a day game against the St. Louis Cardinals.

On an overcast afternoon, Anderson stood beneath a canopy, grill sizzling, friends drinking, all of it taking place by three pickup trucks parked in three perfect spots not 100 yards from the ballpark entry.

For Anderson and others, tailgating at Brewers' games isn't just a way to burn a few hours before the first pitch − it's part of the very fabric of being a Milwaukee baseball fan.

The Brewers organization and fans lean into "tailgating culture."

It is a big deal as the team and government officials try to cobble together a $600 million public financing package to update American Family Field and keep the franchise locked into a lease that runs through 2050.

Milwaukee Mayor Cavalier Johnson has been pressing the Brewers for commercial development of some of the parking lots or the land around the stadium to generate tax revenue and help defray city costs for the upgrades.

Rick Schlesinger, Brewers president-business operations, said "it's certainly worth pursuing, exploring and analyzing" commercial development "and we've done that."

"But there are sensibilities we have with the game experience," he said. "And our fans are part of a tailgating culture, which means part of the experience of coming to the ballpark is tailgating. Can commercial development and tailgating co-exist? Absolutely. But there are a number of hurdles that make real estate development around the ballpark on a short-term basis impractical."

Parking lots a critical part of the Brewers experience

For the Brewers, the parking lots are important and not just for revenue from more than 12,000 spaces. The paved real estate provides plenty of room for the many fans who have turned tailgating into a rite of spring and summer.

There are lots of famous tailgating spots in American sports, from the neighborhoods around Green Bay's Lambeau Field to college campuses across the country.

But in baseball, Brewers fans stand out for their embrace of tailgating, which embodies three things a lot of Wisconsinites enjoy: sports, free-flowing alcohol, and a little frugality.

"I think we need to keep our tailgating culture. That's what we're known for," said Anderson, who lives in West Allis and attends more than a dozen games a season. "People travel here far and wide to tailgate. They come from Minnesota, Indiana, Illinois. I mean, this is what we do. We sit out here all summer long and we bond with people and meet new friends and we all work together."

Anderson recalled one game around a month ago where her sister forgot to bring lighter fluid and charcoal for the grill. The guy next to them gave her some of his own supply.

"We spent the whole day hanging out," Anderson said.

Tailgating started at County Stadium

Tailgating hasn't always been part of Milwaukee's baseball culture. During the Braves era from 1953 to 1965 fans didn't linger in the County Stadium parking lots. Instead, they drove up and quickly made their way into the ballpark. In fact, for the first few seasons, fans could actually carry-in beer.

"People were happy to have a place to leave their car," said Bob Buege, a Milwaukee baseball historian who has authored books on the Braves and the old ballpark Borchert Field. "That was the attraction − the game."

Baseball tailgating became a big deal in the 1970's, when the major leagues returned to Milwaukee with the Brewers. The practice has grown ever since.

"It gave the fans something they could count on," Buege said, recalling those early days of the Brewers. "They knew their brats would turn out all right. They didn't have to worry about the team winning because they didn't win much."

A 1974 article by Jay Scriba of The Milwaukee Journal reads like an anthropological study as he delved into the phenomenon, writing that he and his wife felt "like gate crashers at some vast party."

"Strolling past open trunks and lowered tailgates − one spread with a white tablecloth − we spy such goodies as baked beans, hot sauerkraut, potato salad, tuna sandwiches, cold fried chicken, green grapes and tomato soup in a vacuum bottle."

Brewers announcer Merle Harmon declared: "I've never seen anything like it anywhere I worked."

By 1978, the Milwaukee Journal wrote that Milwaukee County park officials were considering "a formal policy on the growing tailgating phenomenon." They were dealing with "more debris, more demand for restroom facilities and more frequent complaints of damaged property."

Carefully planned pre-game extravaganzas

Go to a game now, and you see how well-prepared fans are to experience pre-game meals in the parking lots, with everything from a grills attached to the trailer hitches of a pickups to fully-stocked bars on portable tables. Beer and brats are staples. So are dips and salsa.

Nick Doub, who comes from Indianapolis and lives in St. Francis, grew up watching baseball in Cincinnati, where he said a lot of fans arrive 30 minutes before the first pitch.

"You park. You walk in the stadium. You buy beverages and food there," said Doub, who wore a Cardinals jersey. "There's not a tailgate culture."

Tim Itzen and Jason Strong were part of a sales team that came down from Stevens Point to enjoy a day at the ballpark. Their boss made steak and lobster on the grill. They sipped beers and talked shop.

"It's the camraderie," said Itzen.

Strong has been to other ballparks, including Fenway Park in Boston and Target Field in Minneapolis, where fans go to bars and restaurants before the games.

"Tailgating is synonymous with Wisconsin sports, whether the Packers, the Brewers or the Badgers," Strong said. "It brings people closer together."

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: How tailgate parties became a key part of the Brewers fan experience