Alex's Baseball Across America: Busch Stadium Review

If you can't see the review below, CLICK HERE.

B U S C H S T A D I U M

September 25, 2011

Chicago Cubs v. Saint Louis Cardinals

1:15pm

Saint Louis 3, Chicago 2

WP: Dotel (5-3, 3.46 ERA)

LP: Wells, R. (7-6, 4.99 ERA)

S: Motte (9)

Attendance: 41,469

Time: 2:30

66 degrees, cloudy

The following is an unbiased review of Busch Stadium, one of the greatest places in all of baseball. New Busch Stadium opened in 2006. The Cardinals promptly won their first World Series in 24 years that same year. The stadium sits in downtown St. Louis, which itself has been revitalized over the last 10 years. Busch is appropriately referred to as “Baseball Heaven”. St. Louis has been home to many baseball greats, from Rogers Hornsby to Stan Musial to Albert Pujols.

The Cardinals were pretty much left for dead the first of September. A Braves skid and a streak of good Cardinal baseball has changed all that. The Cardinals entered today 2 games behind the Braves. We had Edwin Jackson on the mound. The Cubs took a 1-0 lead in the 4th, but Jackson tied it up on a sac fly in the bottom of the 5th. The Cubs reclaimed the lead in the 7th, but Yadi cranked one out in the bottom half of the inning. The game went into the 8th tied at 2. Furcal pulled one to right in the bottom half of the inning to give the Cards a 3-2 lead, and Motte shut down the Cubs in the top of the 9th. The Nats managed to take care of the Braves, and the Cards found themselves 1 game out with 3 games to go.

The Atmosphere: As stated before, this place is known as “Baseball Heaven”. Therefore, it is! This places buzzes when there is a big game. It not only buzzes inside, it buzzes outside and all around the stadium. The Cardinal Red. The Arch. The Fans. Fredbird. Tony. Albert. Yadi. Matt. Carp. Wainright. Kosher dogs. What’s not to like?

The Scorecard: A trifold, real-life scorecard. It hasn’t changed much over the years. The cover does change every year. It’s simple. No diamonds. Has the rosters of both teams on it and is dated. My big gripe with it is the price. It’s $2.50, which makes it the most expensive scorecard in MLB. It could also use the addition of boxes that allow you write down the pitchers and their stats for the game...most others do that.

The Hot Dog: Hunter is the traditional brand here. It’s good and you can by them in local supermarkets here, but over the last few years I’ve fallen for the Hebrew National Kosher dogs located in the carts. Get them smothered in onions and you’re in hot dog heaven. Excellent taste, spice. Grilled. Nothing to complain about. It’ll get the #2 overall ranking. Coors maintains the top spot because all they serve is the kosher dog. Here at Busch, you gotta look for it at the half-dozen or so places they are offered.

The Broadcasters: #1. No brainer. Mike Shannon has been calling for the Cardinals for 40 years. He has a classic radio voice. He talks about the game, but he also talks about plenty of other things. He uses Jack Buck’s trademark “That’s A Winner!” after Cardinal victories. Kind of like Chuck using Paul Eels’ “Touchdown, Arkansas!”. It’s just the natural thing to say. He has a laugh that will make you laugh, too. His sidekick for the last few years has been John Rooney. I think the two of them will be around for as long as they want. There is a push this year to get Mike into the Hall of Fame as a broadcaster. Cast your vote for him by CLICKING HERE.

Entertainment: If the baseball’s not enough for you, there’s plenty more here. We have the best mascot...Fredbird. First off, he makes since. He’s a Cardinal!!! Go figure! Second, he’s actually funny. He can raise his top to try and throw off opposing pitchers, and he can stick his belly out at ya or rub his rear-end in your face. The way he walks is even funny. It’s kind of a shuffle. We have the cap dance using Cardinal helmets. The best “Kiss Cam” is here. Team Fredbird lives here...and yes, if you don’t have a t-shirt, you can try and get one from their slingshot. There’s a guy with season tickets who sits in the first base field box. He always wears a jersey that reads “Bartman” and his number is the number of years since the Cubs last World Series win. Love it! He is also known as “the sign guy” because he makes signs for seemingly every player. We also have “the whistle lady”. I thought she had disappeared but I actually heard her at today’s game! I got her autograph several years back. There was also “the yeller” out in the bleachers, but I don’t think she is around anymore.

No diamonds :)

Of course they have game-used items here. The largest authentics store in MLB. The only thing I’d do different here is make the proceeds go to Cardinals Care. Before I left for the trip, I bought the first base from today’s game since it was the last game of my trip. Interestingly...or not so interesting I hope...it could be the first base from Albert’s last game at Busch as a Cardinal. Hopefully, that will remain a COULD.

Other words: It’s Baseball Heaven. If you haven’t been, what are you doing with your life? Get up there. Go to the Arch. Grab a salad and lasagna at Charlie Gitto’s and go to a game...leave some room for that Kosher dog and don’t forget your pencil and radio! Oh, and go to Ted Drewe’s after the game!

It’s going to be a stressful offseason in St. Louis...

Gripes: Make the scorecard cheaper. Make the Authentics Store for the Cardinals Care charity--like the Pirates. Ballpark Village?

B U S C H S T A D I U M

S A I N T L O U I S , M I S S O U R I

H O M E O F T H E C A R D I N A L S

The gates always open 2 hours before game time here, whether it’s a Wednesday or a Saturday. There are no limits. Go where you want. Run down by the dugout or hang out in the bleachers. Today, I went and stood in the right field bleachers. The Cardinals were done with BP, so we were stuck watching the Cubs. I wasn’t paying much attention at first. I was looking at my phone when one of the players yelled, “Heads up!” At first I thought of Kramer, “You know, when somebody yells ‘heads up’, you’re not suppose to actually look up.” I looked up, and there was a ball headed right at me. I didn’t have time to adjust and it nailed the palm of my glove and bounced out. I couldn’t get it in the scramble. I always laugh at people who drop balls like that, and now I was the one to laugh at. I figured that was probably it...how often do they come right at you? Alfonso Soriano decided to give me another shot. He hit one about a half-dozen seats to my left. I went for it along with a few other folks. I just threw my glove up and hoped for the best...

The Crowd: Traditionally known as the best fans in baseball. People around the country know baseball fans in St. Louis know their baseball. I got that comment from several people along the way. We don’t just show up and yell and boo at the opposing team. We show up to see good baseball. We applaud good plays. We get loud when there’s 2 strikes (without being told to do so). I was a little disappointed that today wasn’t a sellout. It should have been. We surpassed 3 million fans again this season, the eighth season in a row.

The Stadium: It’s a retro-style ballpark offering views of the Arch. Very easy to get around. When you walk in, you’re on the main concourse. You can walk out to field level from there. Most places offer “all-inclusive” seats, which include all-you-can-eat-and-drink stuff. St. Louis is no different. The green seats behind home plate is the “Cardinal Club” and the restaurant is underneath the field box seats away from the field. There’s also the “Bank of America Club”, the “Champions Club”, and others. There’s a plaza beyond centerfield that will have bands and events before the game. Stan Musial stands at the third base gate. Though not as common a meeting spot at this park when compared to the old one, you can still meet up with people by simply saying, “Meet me at Stan.” Outside the left field gate are statues of other Cardinals greats.

S T A T I S T I C S U P D A T E

MLB Games Seen

37 of 37

Days

86 of 86

Driving Miles

16,635.1

Estimated Gallons of Gas

875

States / Provinces

38 + the District of Columbia + Ontario

(I might squeeze in Oklahoma on the way home by taking the Dora exit when I swing through Ft. Smith)

Hot Dogs Eaten

Too Many

Border Crossings

2 of 2

P R E D I C T I O N S U P D A T E

(AFTER 30 OF 30 GAMES)

Current Stats (Predicted Total through all 30 games)

Runs

277 (249)

Hits

524 (512)

Errors

37 (36)

(Doh!)

Home Runs

73 (65)

(Yadi! Furcal!)

Doubles

114 (101)

Triples

11 (10)

Sacrifices (Hits & Flies)

33 (31)

(3 today caused this to jump over)

Strikeouts

458 (415)

Walks

189 (189)

(Bingo!)

Home Team Wins

19 (17)

(Home teams were 19-11)

Complete Games

1 (1)

Shutouts

2 (2)

Saves

18 (15)

(Motte!)

Blown Saves

9 (7)

Balks

2 (2)

Wild Pitches

10 (19)

Hit Batters

19 (18)

(Over)

Walk-offs

2 (2)

Stolen Bases

34 (40)

Caught Stealing

14 (15)

Ejections

3 (4)

Smallest Crowd

11,617

Oriole Park at Camden Yards, Baltimore

September 1st, Toronto v. Baltimore

Largest Crowd

47,744

Yankee Stadium, New York

September 3rd, Toronto v. New York

B A L L P A R K R A N K I N G S

A quick note about my Stadium Rankings. There’s a lot of good ones out there! When good parks like the Rangers and Nationals Parks end up near the bottom, you know there is a lot of competition. Just because they are low, doesn’t mean they aren’t good. Baseball has just been stepping up the bar over the last few years.

The Stadium

1. PETCO Park, San Diego

2. AT&T Park, San Francisco

3. Busch Stadium, Saint Louis

4. Fenway Park, Boston

5. Target Field, Minneapolis

6. Comerica Park, Detroit

7. Yankee Stadium, New York

8. Wrigley Field, Chicago

9. Safeco Field, Seattle

10. PNC Park, Pittsburgh

11. Oriole Park at Camden Yards, Baltimore

12. Minute Maid Park, Houston

13. Chase Field, Phoenix

14. Progressive Field, Cleveland

15. Citizens Bank Park, Philadelphia

16. Citi Field, New York

17. Miller Park, Milwaukee

18. Coors Field, Denver

19. Great American Ball Park, Cincinnati

20. Rangers Ballpark in Arlington, Arlington

22. Nationals Park, Washington, D.C.

22. U.S. Cellular Field, Chicago

23. Turner Field, Atlanta

24. Kauffman Stadium, Kansas City

25. Rogers Centre, Toronto

26. Tropicana Field, Saint Petersburg

27. Dodger Stadium, Los Angeles

28. Angel Stadium of Anaheim, Anaheim

29. Sun Life Stadium, Miami Gardens

30. The Coliseum, Oakland

The Atmosphere

1. Busch Stadium, Saint Louis

2. AT&T Park, San Francisco

3. Fenway Park, Boston

4. Target Field, Minneapolis

5. PETCO Park, San Diego

The Crowd

1. Busch Stadium, Saint Louis

2. AT&T Park, San Francisco

3. Fenway Park, Boston

4. Target Field, Minneapolis

5. Citizens Bank Park, Philadelphia

The Scorecard

1. Target Field, Minneapolis

2. Comerica Park, Detroit

3. AT&T Park, San Francisco

4. Citizens Bank Ballpark, Philadelphia

5. Rangers Ballpark in Arlington, Arlington

I’d like to rank us, but they’ve got to lower the price.

The Hot Dog

1. Coors Field, Denver

2. Busch Stadium, Saint Louis

3. AT&T Park, San Francisco

4. Progressive Field, Cleveland

5. Yankee Stadium, New York

The Broadcasters

1. Busch Stadium, Saint Louis

2. Dodger Stadium, Los Angeles

3. AT&T Park, San Francisco

4. Miller Park, Milwaukee

5. Target Field, Minneapolis

Career ball #6. #4 for the trip. Off a Cub:( but nobody has to know that.

They NEVER go to batting practice, but they did today. I tried to get mom to talk with a couple of them and even fed her some facts to get a conversation going, but she wouldn’t go for it.

Motte looks in for the sign...

...sets...

...he winds...

...and the pitch...

...Swing...

...and a miss...STRIKE THREE...

...AND THAT’S A WINNER!

Big Mac Land has been a fixture for awhile. Retired numbers on the outfield wall in left. Pitch count up top.

The press area up top. Originally, the Budweiser roof was a blue Bud Light roof.

Our scoreboard needs an update. It’s setup for it. Get rid of the ads at the bottom corners and make it one big screen...it’d be perfect. Can’t cost more than a couple hundred bucks...right?

The strip with the current score, count, and batter. An updated version of what was in old Busch. Unlike most parks, our strip doesn’t go all the way around the stadium. This would be another upgrade, but I’d do the scoreboard first.