Redbird Roost

There will never be another ballpark like the old Busch Stadium! What began as a multipurpose stadium in an urban renewal district during the 1960s became one of the most fan-friendly baseball parks in the league and one of the most exciting places to watch a baseball game in America. Busch Stadium was a jewel!

I was captivated by it the first time I walked thru its concourse to view the field on a September evening in 1969. The natural grass and the dirt infield were bigger than life itself. The out-of-town scoreboard had a huge Anheiser-Busch eagle that spread its wings in flight. The Gateway Arch soared above the upper deck in left field and a Redbird, pershed atop a baseball clock in right, tipped its cap for the crowd and flew around the scoreboard to celebrate each Cardinal home run.

Critics called it a cookie-cutter stadium as if it were Three Rivers, or the Vet in Pennsylvania. It was far from it.

96 arches circled the top deck of the ballpark providing a contrast of light and shade on the field throughout the baseball season. It was a monumental sundial, tracking the approaching twilight each day, and illuminated for miles at night.

The changes to the original design of the ballpark began in 1970 with the installation of artifical turf. It was to get worse before it got better. The dirt infield was replaced with with turf in 1977 and the Redbird in right field was removed after the '82 World Series in favor of a video scoreboard. The walls were painted blue and the stadium deteriorated to a point where the football team abandoned both the site and the city to relocate to Phoenix. Now, a rebirth was about to begin!

With new ownership taking over in 1995, the ballpark renaissance began with a return to natural turf, relocation of the bullpens to the outfield, new seats along the foul lines, and installation of an enormous hand-operated scoreboard in the upper deck in centerfield.

July 21, 2005

The final season at the Old Busch had some special moments. As a MLB Season Ticket subscriber, I'm able to watch just about every Cardinal game each season and this season was a special one. The final countdown, the big crowds every night, another 100 win season, and the last regular season game with its parade of former Cardinal greats will always stay in my mind. We visited Busch II for the last time in July. It was my son's first visit to the only ballpark I had ever known as a kid growing up in St. Louis and we had box seats down the right field line for a Thursday afternoon game against the Brewers. Man, it was hot that day, but my son was determined to get his Card's cap autographed as the pitchers stretched before the game in right field. Ray King obliged; the Cards fell 12-7.

On Saturday, it was nearly 100 degrees again but we stayed cool in the shade behind home plate in Section 248. Not a bad location for having SRO in a game against the Cubs! The bad news: Matt Morris gave up eight hits and three home runs and the Cards came up short, 6-5. The next morning we drove down to Johnson's Shut-Ins, never realizing at the time that not only would I never see old Busch Stadium again, I wouldn't be able to relax in the cool waters of the Shut-ins for quite some time either! AmeriEU's negligence on Tom Sauk Mountain has ruined any future visits to enjoy the Black River for who-knows-how-long.

July 24, 2004

The Giants were in town for a weekend series and, of course, it was a sell out crowd at Busch on Saturday. We had four seats in the Loge level behind home plate, but we also had extra tickets out in Bonds' territory in Section 218 that I sold at face value to one of the local broker guys. Later, I overheard a woman at the game say she paid three times face value for her tickets, so it was a really good day for the scalpers! Unfortunately, it wasn't as good for the Cards who lost in the 10th inning.

Road Trip to Great America

On Monday night the Cards were playing the Reds in a televised ESPN game. What a great road trip! We drifted into the Yankee Bar in Louisville as we had a hard time finding our way onto I-75 to make it to Cincinnati before dark. Staying at the Four Points hotel, we were close to the Great American Ballpark and Fountain Square where the local TV show, Good Morning Cincinnati is on t he air each weekday, live. My brother was up early on Monday morning, showing his colors, and his Cardinal ball cap. Wouldn't you know it, they ended up interviewing him on the local sports segment! "Bill the Cardinal Fan,"they called him!

We toured the ballpark and returned in time for batting practice with some Skyline Chili. Our box seats were good, but we upgraded to even better ones, just 10 rows behind the Cards dugout. We sipped on fortified snow cones and enjoyed a great game in a light rain that lasted most of the night. The Reds tied the score in the 8th, but the Cards won it with three runs in the 11th inning! What a night!

2000 Cardinals

One of my favorite games at Busch Stadium II was this Cardinals/Mets game in September, 2000. The Cards beat the Mets 6-5 and the line up looked like this:

Vina - 2B
Drew - RF
Edmonds - CF
Clark - 1B
Paquette - 3B
Langford - LF
Renteria - SS
Matheny - C
Stephenson - P

It was a bit odd, but it was really great seeing Will Clark in a Cards' uniform. Mike Matheny and JD Drew both went 2-4 and Jim Edmonds continued his amazing first year with the Redbirds, hitting a walk-off home run to win the game in the 9th!

The 2000 Cardinal team holds a special place for me since it marked the renewal of a baseball dynasty emerging in St. Louis. Walt Jocketty earned Executive of the Year for his work in retooling the Cardinals. Jocketty traded for starter Darryl Kile and closer Dave Veres. He signed free-agent pitcher Andy Benes, and mid-way thru spring training he pulled off his biggest deal, trading Kent Bottenfield and Adam Kennedy for Edmonds, who took over as the team's offensive leader batting .295 with 42 homers and 108 RBIs.

Edgar Renteria had one of the best seasons ever by a Cardinal shortstop, and catcher Mike Matheny's Gold Glove defense and leadership on the field guided the success of the pitching staff in 2000.

Darryl Kile became the first 20-game winner for St. Louis since 1985 and the Cardinals made it all the way to the NLCS against the Mets. Just one year away from Pujols' first season and Mark McGwire's last, 2000 was the beginning of a golden era for the Cardinals franchise, and I've been fortunate to haven enjoyed the ride!



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