MILWAUKEE (AP) – The Milwaukee Brewers finally have a roof over their heads.

	President Bush's bullet-proof vest prevented him from throwing a strike on this ceremonial pre-game pitch.

The Brew Crew ushered in a new era Friday night when they opened palatial Miller Park – and closed its retractable roof – with a game against the Cincinnati Reds, who also helped them close County Stadium last year.

Commissioner Bud Selig, whose family controls the Brewers, threw out the ceremonial first pitch, a strike – but only because the high strike is being called this year.

President Bush, who used to own a piece of the Texas Rangers, followed with a one-hopper to Brewers manager Davey Lopes. He was encumbered by a bulletproof vest beneath his shimmering blue Brewers jacket.

As children from each of Wisconsin's 72 counties held a giant flag that covered most of the outfield, a bald eagle named "Challenger" swooped down from Bernie's Dugout on the top tier of seats in left field to the pitcher's mound as the national anthem concluded.

It was an especially poignant night for Selig, who returned baseball to Milwaukee in 1970 when he led a group that purchased the Seattle Pilots out of bankruptcy court and then secured the sport's future in Wisconsin by successfully lobbying for a new ballpark before becoming fulltime commissioner.

"I have thought for a long time how I would react on the day that Miller Park finally opened," Selig said. "After all these years and all the struggles, it's hard for me to articulate for one of the few times in my life how I feel today. I'm proud and I'm happy."

And so were so many others.

"I'm pretty excited," said Dan Meis, who designed Miller Park. "One of the big challenges was how to do a retractable roof that connects with a retro ballpark. I think it's come together nicely."

The stadium features state-of-the-art video and scoreboards in center field and hand-turned scoreboards in the outfield corners.

From the outside, the nearly $400 million ballpark looks like Ebbets Field; from the inside, like nothing ever built before.

But the crowning feature is the distinctive seven-paneled roof that can open or close in 10 minutes, allowing for grass instead of artificial turf and for the temperature to be raised up to 30 degrees.

Two of the five exterior outfield wall panels also open or close, depending on weather conditions, creating an outdoor atmosphere.

	For a variety of reasons, teams can't afford to have empty stadiums at any time this season.

"It doesn't look cookie cutter, it doesn't feel like a dome," Brewers shortstop Mark Loretta said.

Bush's visit marked the first time a president had attended a professional sporting event in Wisconsin, and fans had to pass through metal detectors on the way to their seats.

The ballpark opened a year late because of a crane accident that killed three ironworkers on July 14, 1999.

"I'll always remember that day," Selig said. "It will never be forgotten, absolutely never."

Rain was in the forecast for the first night opener in the Brewers' 31-year history. Despite the roof, some fans might have been better off bringing umbrellas.

Roofers were still patching leaks Friday that had produced puddles on the right field concourse and drenched some seats in the right-field corner.

"Any new construction has a few bugs that need to be worked out," said Meis, who works for NBBJ Sports & Entertainment in Los Angeles. "There's always something that needs to be done at the last minute."

The Brewers tested things out with two exhibition games last week before opening the season in Los Angeles.

"It was important to get home and see the yard, take the curiosity out of the equation, get the butterflies out of our systems," center fielder Jeffrey Hammonds said.

The Brewers actually returned home to a better ballpark. The grass, brown a week ago, is lush and green. The relievers switched to a roomier bullpen in left-center.

On Thursday, bronze statues of Hank Aaron and Robin Yount – gifts from Selig and his wife, Sue – were dedicated outside the ballpark's main entrance.

From there, fans can see what's left of County Stadium: only a pile of rubble and a deep hole that looks like an archaeological dig.

"It kind of looks ghostly to me," Aaron said. "Some of my greatest moments happened in that ballpark."

Yount agreed.

"Certainly there's some sadness there," he said. "We had a lot of great times in that old ballpark. The memories of what happened in County Stadium will be there forever.

"But coming to a place like this to watch baseball on a regular basis is going to be pretty tough to beat."