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[New] Busch Stadium |
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St. Louis, MO |
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Number of Games: 1 |
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First Game: April 3, 2007 |
Mets 4, Cardinals 1 |
It's done! It's over! At the age of 36, I have officially seen a game at all of the major league baseball stadiums. A moment for reflection, if you will indulge me...
When I first did a big baseball tour in 1993, I had no
idea I'd eventually get to all the ballparks, or even want to. It
was
just a way to spend one summer. But eventually, as I knocked off a few
ballparks a year, the goal of making it to all the ballparks started to look
attainable. By the time I voluntarily flew to Puerto
Rico to go to ballgames, I realized this was becoming one of the central
frivolous activities of my life. I was all set to finish off
all
the ballparks in the summer of 2006, but my St. Louis-born Cardinal-fan wife
wouldn't let me go to Busch without her. So, with the wife in tow (and as
a birthday present, no less...for her!), I crossed the last ballpark off the
list. I will try to get back to some of them if my travels take me to
town, and I will go to new ballparks as they open, but not a lot of people can
say what I could honestly say for the length of the 2007 baseball season:
I've been to all the ballparks. (Yay me.)
The newest incarnation of Busch Stadium seems to be a bit
of an afterthought to the late-nineties stadium boom. To be honest, I was
a little disappointed. On the one hand, I don't miss the
old Busch...the last of the four
awful cookie-cutters
going
the
way of the dinosaur isn't worth any tears. But surely a baseball town as
good as St. Louis could make a new ballpark that is worthy of its rich history.
Surely St. Louis deserves a ballpark on the level of Jacobs
Field, the Ballpark in Arlington,
PNC Park, or Oriole Park.
I'm afraid that hasn't happened here.
What was strange about the ballpark is that I greatly
preferred the exterior to the interior. Not so much the edifice itself,
although I did like it--it incorporated locally-appropriate arches into the
facade, and was a darker red than most other ballparks--but a lot of the touches
that help with the is-there-any-question-where-you-are test were on the outside
when I'd like at least a few of them on the inside. Cardinals' Hall of
Famers were represented in sculpture near home plate. The sculptures
were
a bit small--I don't mind a larger-than-life depiction. But when the
representation of Bob Gibson fails to elicit blood-curdling terror, well, the
sculptor hasn't done his/her job. The Mini-Me version of Gibson just
doesn't intimidate like the guy I imagine in the 1967 World Series. They'd
have done well to hire the sculptor from Cincinnati,
Milwaukee, or--my absolute favorite--the guy in
Detroit.
Also outside, the Cardinals track critical moments in
their history via plaques on the sidewalk. Many, I knew about...some, I
did not. I'd have liked it to not be interrupted--the plaques are only on
the west and east sides of the ballpark, and are interrupted by an empty stretch
along the north side. However, I still walked the whole way, reading every
plaque. I can't help but be saddened by the number of plaques devoted to
Mark McGwire's 1998 season. I called my dad to watch the 61st home run
together, and it was a special moment. But ever since his
performance
in front of the Congressional committee, I can't get myself to feel the same
magic about that day or that year. Yeah, I know there's no proof, but
emotions can be messed with that way. It's like a memory of a wonderful
weekend with an ex-girlfriend...who I later learn was possibly cheating on me.
I just can't make the memory beautiful anymore, and that's why those McGwire
plaques make me sad now.
On the north side of the ballpark, there are two other snippets of St. Louis baseball history--one beautiful, and one just confusing.
Beautiful was the tribute to Jack Buck. A large
section of wall is dedicated to his memory. While the photos are
nice--particularly the one of him with son Joe--the sound of his voice is easily
what carries the day. Buck's voice is instantly recognizable to anyone who
has ever listened to a baseball game, and the people of New Busch take advantage
of that recognition by having tapes of some of his most famous calls on
continuous loop there. In the few minutes I lingered--and his calls make
any baseball fan want to linger--I heard Bob
Forsch's
no-hitter and Mark McGwire's 60th home run. I can't think of a better
tribute. I think it's because I think it's more common to see pictures of
the dead than it is to listen to their voices. He seems so much more alive
this way. I hope that Herb Carneal gets similar treatment in Minnesota,
and that when their day comes--which I hope is a very long time from now--Vin
Scully and Bob Sheppard as well.
On the sidewalk, there's a strange painting of a yellow
line with the number 402. At first, I thought it was an extension of the
foul line, with a notation of how long a home run that landed there would be.
Once I poked my head into the ballpark, however, this proved impossible--the
yellow line seemed to be sticking out of center field of the new Busch.
That's when
we
made our next guess...it must be the outfield wall of the old Busch. (That
guess has been
confirmed by fellow ballpark traveler Frank Albanese.) Is it center
field? Left? Is this the spot where I saw Andy
Van Slyke break his collarbone, perhaps? Or where Ozzie Smith's NLCS
home run left the yard? I have no way of knowing. There's no label,
no explanation...nada. Just a line and a number. I'm all for
understated, but the old Busch deserves better.
Once I got inside Busch, I found a ballpark that I'd say is simply functional. None of the history that I see in moments like the plaques or the Jack Buck tribute makes it inside the ballpark. The best ballparks can both be functional and celebrate rich histories on the inside (Philadelphia comes to mind as an excellent example). But there's very little of that here.
Case in point: I came upon an out-of-town scoreboard
in the pavilion area. "Look," my wife said,
"the
Mariners are tied up with Oakland!" Indeed, my Mariners were playing
Oakland that day, and the score showed a 3-3 tie. It seemed strange to
have the out-of-town scoreboard hidden behind an ice cream vendor and some
girders, but different strokes, right?
But hold the phone...this couldn't be right. Didn't the M's game start later? And what's Felix Hernandez, #59, doing pitching two days in a row? Is this score from yesterday? Wait...the Angels aren't playing the Rangers tonight! What's going on?
A few paces later, I saw a Cardinals/Reds scoreboard, and
I figured it out. This had to have been the out of town scoreboard as it
appeared at the end of the last game at old Busch. Again, like the yellow
line outside, it was unexplained and
uncherished...it was just sort of thrown up there at a random place. And
again, old Busch deserved better. Why not recreate what was on the board
at a key moment in Cardinal history rather than the last day of the '05 season?
And why not let passersby know what's happening?
A little history was going on in front of us on this, the
second night of the 2007 season: the '06 Cardinals were given their World
Series rings. In a nice touch, they gave their Hall of Famers World Series
rings as well as the actual members of the championship team. St. Louis
deifies Stan Musial in the extreme, and even if love of sports stars feels a
little idolatrous to me at times, there is something undeniably touching about
such the unabashed love pouring down on an elderly man so frail that he needed
help to walk out to claim his ring. The feel-good moment continued when
Scott Spiezio
received his ring from his dad,
Ed. They
are the only
father-son
combination to win a World Series with the same club. Love of the elderly,
father-son hugs...what more could you want? It was almost enough to make
me forget Scott's comically bad 2005 Mariner campaign. Almost.
But the best part of the game, as always, were the Cardinal fans. While I was a little disappointed in the number of them who left early, I can forgive it...it was a bitterly cold school night and a lackluster Cardinal performance. But there's something exciting about being in the middle of a sea of red. Friendly Midwesterners chatted with us about our adventures, congratulated me on completing my set of parks, and talked about the team a little bit. A relative of my wife even got us tickets for the day...and wouldn't let us reimburse her! With its downtown location and packed house, Busch creates the feel I like from Fenway of a carnival atmosphere for the ballgame, where everyone is excited and anticipating a great night while walking through the city.
Even so, I can't help but think that Busch could have done much better. It doesn't quite celebrate the joy and history of such a great baseball town. It's just not quite enough.
And I should know. I've been to all of the ballparks now.
BASEBALL STUFF I'VE SEEN HERE:
Orlando Hernandez baffles the Cardinals with 7 innings of five-hit ball. He also delivers a difference-making 2-RBI double.
Scott Rolen homers.
Next stadium (chronologically)
Written April 2007.