Posted on 10/21/2005 8:54:56 AM PDT by Southside_Chicago_Republican
Busch Stadium's final bow came under a cool October sky, with class and grace and the tiny, brilliant flashes of drugstore cameras sparkling deep into the night.
It ended Wednesday with two of St. Louis' finest, capless and balding in their blue police shirts, standing in the left field grass and tossing a baseball back and forth as if they were still schoolboys. It ended with Emma Ganske, who had driven from her home in Collinsville without a ticket but who had talked herself into the old park at game's end, reaching over a low wall and scooping a handful of precious soil into a paper cup.
It ended with team employee Jason Piggee of Normandy, exactly at midnight by the big electronic clock high in right field, circling the Busch Stadium bases one last time, blowing kisses up into the empty scarlet seats.
"One more game, one more game, one more game," came a chant from just behind third base as the lights began to dim.
They would linger here, many of them, until early morning, to mark one more message on the smooth walls, to wave one more goodbye, or simply to remember.
(Excerpt) Read more at stltoday.com ...
--"Field of Dreams"
Go Astros!
Ooops! My tagline didn't show up when I posted.
GO WHITE SOX!!!
great quote!
Thanks for the memories, Busch. Many a new one will made made by your heir. Bravo to the St. Louis Cardinals, a classy ball club brimming with heart and talent. Congratulations to Larry Walker as he bids a fond farewell to baseball.
So much will change for the Cards next year. But the spirit of St. Louis will remain as potent as ever.
Went to a Cubs-Cardinals game at Busch a few years back.
I was the only Blue cap in a sea of Red caps.
I got up, looked around and turned around and yelled as loud as I could, "What the hell are all you Cardinal fans doing at a Cubs game ?"
It was off to the races after that...never did see much of the game.
LOL!
FYI
"When you grow up and you come here and it's so magical and you're running and you're dad's telling you 'slow down, slow down,' but you want to run from the car, run from the garage and get up here and get your free hat or get your free helmet and see the Cardinals. And you want them to win so bad. To me, it's always been my favorite place, my favorite place in the entire world."
Looks like your still livin'. And who said Cardinal's fans couldn't restrain themselves?!!! C'mon back anytime. Love ya - mean it.;)
Would have loved to play you. It would have been the Cubbies worst nightmare.
James Earl Jones was AWESOME in that movie....
Hmmmmm - fellow South Sider, Sox fan, I fly the Gadsden Flag myself, fellow Twain fan - I hope you aren't a woman, or I may have some 'splainin' to do to Mrs. Dupa......
For those of you not familar with the St. Louis skyline Busch Stadium in this pic is visible between the legs of the Arch.
And here is an overhead shot of the old and new baseball parks.
Regards
alfa6 ;>}
Almost a sell-out...it was a gas....the people in front of us turned their caps around...they always seemed to be standing or moving just enough so we couldn't see anything on the field.
The guys behind us always seemed to have one "xtra" beer after a beer run, that just seemed to get partially spilled on me. and they seemed to go on a lot of beer runs.
Popcorn just happend to get thown in the air about every other batter.
and they were absolutely merciless re: Brock-Broglio.
Great Rivalry.
The first game I ever saw was at Busch Stadium, and so was the last. I remember when it was built and, when I was a kid, I could walk down to the end of my street and see the city skyline and this great spot of light coming from the stadium on game nights. And then I might go in and flip on KMOX (I'm going to miss that, too!) and see how the guys were doing. It's amazing how the place provides so many vivid memories. A lot of the past is gone and forgotten, but I remember those times at Busch like they were yesterday. And not just the games, but the whole ambiance-- smelling the river when the wind was blowing the right way, or the coffee being roasted at the old Manhattan Coffee Co. I get back to St. Louis several times a year. It's going to be very different without the old ballyard.
Cards are a class act...watched as card fans applauded the Astros after the Game 6 Victory. Good Group of people.
IMHO. This is going to be a good WS, and I hope that the ESPN/FOX talking sports heads dont sell it short...just because neither the YANKS nor BOSOX are in it.
Is it true that the only one who ever hit a ball (albeit a foul ball) completely out of Busch was Strawberry?
You'll have no problems with Mrs. Dupa! BTW, I am very familiar with Hegewisch!
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