Busch Stadium III

Is it almost Thanksgiving already? In the words of the late, great Harry Caray,  “HOLY COW!!”

What seems like an eon ago (July) the wife and I took an unexpected trip. On short notice we hopped on an airplane and headed for St. Louis, Missouri home of the St. Lois Cardinals, Busch Stadium III and all things Stan Musial. This marked a milestone in my ballpark chasing adventures. Busch Stadium finalized the NL Central division stadiums for me and is the first complete division in my long journey that started almost 10 years ago.

We were lucky enough to see two games over the long weekend. One with friends (Bryan/Brandon) and one with family (Tim/Bo/Molly). The trip started off a little rocky, as we landed in St. Louis airport, but apparently our bags were still in Columbus. Frustrating as that may have been, the show had to go on. With a little time before stadium tours were to begin we hit up Joe Buck’s. I’m sure the name sounds familiar…that’s because it is. Joe Buck is Fox Sports MLB/NFL play-by-play announcer. He got his start in St. Louis as he and his dad have combine for 60+ years of Cardinal play-by-play. The restaurant was fantastic and the food did not disappoint. BBQ is the main attraction, but we tried a little of everything and you can’t go wrong eating here. I probably will never forget that lunch. Yes, the food was good…but that lunch holds historical significance too.

“3-2 count…deep left center field…looking up…3000! With an exclamation point!”
Everyone in the bar stopped eating, watched, cheered and clapped as we witness Derek Jeter hit a 3 run home run off David Price for his 3000th career hit. A sign of a good weekend to come.

Shortly after, we finished our drinks and headed to the ballpark. The ticket window for the stadium tour was on the opposite side of the stadium. We got there after a short hike and got two tickets for the last tour of the day. As we were walking away another couple walked up  to the window and I heard the clerk tell them “sorry, we’re sold out”.  Wow, that was close… got the last two tickets. I always encourage people visiting a park for the first time to take the stadium tour if offered. It gives you a behind the scenes look at that particular franchise and their ballpark, St. Louis didn’t disappoint. Not only do they have a top-level facility, but the history of 10 World Series titles (now 11) doesn’t hurt either (2nd most in MLB). They do a brilliant job displaying this history throughout the park. Before Busch II was demolished the Cardinals actually had their own museum. It was torn down to help make room during the construction of Busch III. There are currently plans to construct another museum, but it wasn’t complete yet.

For Saturday’s game Chris Carpenter was on the bump, the Cardinals ace this season since Wainwright was out with Tommy John Surgery.  They lost Adam Wainwright before the season started, Pujols was in a contract year and the possibility of him leaving was being heard whispered throughout baseball. I am always excited to see a good pitcher in person. Although that night Carpenter didn’t have his ‘stuff’. The Cardinals trail most of the game. Our tickets were in the upper deck but that didn’t stop us from moving down to better seats. We met up with Brandon and Bryan at the speed pitch in the 7th inning. After a few embarrassing tosses (on my part) we found  a few empty seats right behind home plate. Minutes after settling in our ‘upgraded’ seats Albert Pujols tied the game (bottom of 8th) with an absolute bomb HR to left center field (more of line drive really). The place went nuts. At this point in the season the Cardinals couldn’t sniff the wild card if it were right under their nose, but the fans didn’t care.  The Diamondbacks failed to score a run in the 9th. The game had extra innings written all over it until rookie Tony Cruz hit a walk off just over the infield to drive in thewinning base runner. Cardinals win 7-6.

There were no plans to attend Sundays game versus the Dbacks but when you scalp $6 tickets, who am I to argue? Jaime Garcia was pitching that day. He  allowed two runs on seven hits over six innings to win his third straight start, and David Freese’s two-run homer in the third inning was the difference as St. Louis defeated Arizona, 4-2, to earn a split of the four-game series. The game was a scorcher, I’d say mid to high 90’s. Did we sit in our seats no…do we ever? We sat about 10 rows up from third base. Amazing seats, but being in the sun it was amazingly hot. Courtney’s uncle bought everyone waters. We couldn’t figure out if it was better to drink them or pour ’em over our heads.

While in St. Louis we also visited the Arch, Budweiser Factory and  the Courthouse, all totally worth your time. The view from atop the Arc is one of a kind.

Bush Stadium III was built in 2006 and is a top-notch facility run by a top-notch franchise. The stadium is reflective of its ownership, fans and history. The stadium is surround by bronze statues remembering players from its past. One statue in particular stands alone and how could it be any other way…Stan ‘The Man’ Musial. Bush Stadium also has one of the most beautiful skylines in all of baseball with the St. Louis Arch, Courthouse and city painting the background. I feel like a say this each time I visit a new stadium, but this venue is in my top 10 for many reasons.

Update: I starting writing this post sometime in September. The Cardinals were 9 games out in the hunt for the NL wild card. Now they’re playing in the NLCS. The last day of the regular season was some of most exciting baseball I’ve seen in some time. The Rays destroyed any playoff hopes for Boston and the Cardinals caught Atlanta in fantastic fashion.

Update again: roughly 3 months have gone by since I originally sat down to gather my thoughts on this summers trip to St. Louis. I think one word can sum up the recent events that have taken place since then…… WOW!  From the first day of the season the Cardinals have had major injuries and contract negotiations looming against them. September rolls around and they are nowhere to be seen. Now they are World Series Champs. Amazing, just amazing. I tip my cap. A playoff run for the ages, that is for sure.