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Goodbye, old friend. (Busch Stadium)
St. Louis Post-Dispatch ^ | October 20, 2005 | Bill Smith, Elizabethe Holland, Jake Wagman, and Tim O'Neil

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 ...


TOPICS: Culture/Society; News/Current Events; US: Missouri
KEYWORDS: buschstadium; cardinals; stlouis
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"They'll arrive at your door as innocent as children, longing for the past.... And they'll walk out to the bleachers; sit in shirtsleeves on a perfect afternoon. They'll find they have reserved seats somewhere along one of the baselines, where they sat when they were children and cheered their heroes. And they'll watch the game and it'll be as if they dipped themselves in magic waters. The memories will be so thick they'll have to brush them away from their faces. People will come Ray. The one constant through all the years, Ray, has been baseball. America has rolled by like an army of steamrollers. It has been erased like a blackboard, rebuilt and erased again. But baseball has marked the time. This field, this game: it's a part of our past, Ray. It reminds of us of all that once was good and it could be again."

--"Field of Dreams"

1 posted on 10/21/2005 8:54:57 AM PDT by Southside_Chicago_Republican
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To: Southside_Chicago_Republican


Go Astros!


2 posted on 10/21/2005 9:00:51 AM PDT by in hoc signo vinces ("Houston, TX...a waiting quagmire for jihadis.")
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To: in hoc signo vinces

Ooops! My tagline didn't show up when I posted.

GO WHITE SOX!!!


3 posted on 10/21/2005 9:02:17 AM PDT by Southside_Chicago_Republican (Go White Sox!!!)
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To: Southside_Chicago_Republican

great quote!


4 posted on 10/21/2005 9:07:10 AM PDT by Spaghetti Man (NJ politics suck (and apparently so do some of the politicians!))
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To: Southside_Chicago_Republican

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.


5 posted on 10/21/2005 9:10:21 AM PDT by Cyclopean Squid
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To: Southside_Chicago_Republican

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.


6 posted on 10/21/2005 9:11:33 AM PDT by stylin19a
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To: stylin19a

LOL!


7 posted on 10/21/2005 9:13:03 AM PDT by Southside_Chicago_Republican (Go White Sox!!!)
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To: SCALEMAN

FYI


8 posted on 10/21/2005 9:13:05 AM PDT by ken5050 (Ann Coulter needs to have children ASAP to pass on her gene pool....any volunteers?)
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To: Southside_Chicago_Republican

"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."

9 posted on 10/21/2005 9:15:55 AM PDT by gubamyster
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To: stylin19a
"What the hell are all you Cardinal fans doing at a Cubs game ?"
Had a guy on the bus here in San Francisco this morning; he was making plans to visit a friend on Sunday to watch football, he said, "Hell no I'm a Dallas Cowboy fan" then he said, oh I should not have said that so loud.
10 posted on 10/21/2005 9:17:19 AM PDT by SF Republican
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To: stylin19a

Looks like your still livin'. And who said Cardinal's fans couldn't restrain themselves?!!! C'mon back anytime. Love ya - mean it.;)


11 posted on 10/21/2005 9:18:02 AM PDT by ShutUpandSing
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To: Southside_Chicago_Republican

Would have loved to play you. It would have been the Cubbies worst nightmare.


12 posted on 10/21/2005 9:18:35 AM PDT by wordsofearnest (Bring Back Torre)
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To: Southside_Chicago_Republican

James Earl Jones was AWESOME in that movie....


13 posted on 10/21/2005 9:18:36 AM PDT by MikefromOhio (Pwner of Noobs)
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To: Southside_Chicago_Republican

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......


14 posted on 10/21/2005 9:22:48 AM PDT by Hegewisch Dupa
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To: Southside_Chicago_Republican
As a former resident of St. Louis and one who had attended games at Busch, baseball, Pro football and high school football. Let me say Salute...


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 ;>}

15 posted on 10/21/2005 9:25:51 AM PDT by alfa6 (Work....the curse of the drinking class.)
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To: ShutUpandSing

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.


16 posted on 10/21/2005 9:26:57 AM PDT by stylin19a
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To: gubamyster

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.


17 posted on 10/21/2005 9:31:13 AM PDT by Southside_Chicago_Republican (Go White Sox!!!)
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To: Cyclopean Squid


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.


18 posted on 10/21/2005 9:31:42 AM PDT by in hoc signo vinces ("Houston, TX...a waiting quagmire for jihadis.")
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To: ShutUpandSing

Is it true that the only one who ever hit a ball (albeit a foul ball) completely out of Busch was Strawberry?


19 posted on 10/21/2005 9:32:56 AM PDT by Roccus (Able Danger? What's an Able Danger?)
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To: Hegewisch Dupa

You'll have no problems with Mrs. Dupa! BTW, I am very familiar with Hegewisch!


20 posted on 10/21/2005 9:33:31 AM PDT by Southside_Chicago_Republican (Go White Sox!!!)
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