By Jason Wesseldyk
Sports Editor
Last summer, I had the opportunity to do a tour of Major League Baseball stadiums with my two sons and dad that featured seven parks in seven days.
It was a lot of fun—and a little exhausting—and I chronicled my experiences at each of the stadiums in a seven-part series, sharing my thoughts on each of the ballparks and where they ranked in terms of personal favorites.
There was no stadium tour this summer, as my family and I opted for a week in Tennessee instead.
But my dad and one of my sons did have the chance recently to hit up Busch Stadium in St. Louis for the first time. And I figured, heck, why not write about my experience there as well.
Let’s get to it.
The trip to Busch Stadium was one of personal significance for me as a baseball fan. No, I don’t have any particular affinity for the Cardinals. Nor do I have any particular disdain for them.
The significance, instead, comes from the fact that I have now visited all five parks in the National League Central after previously making stops in Chicago, Milwaukee, Pittsburgh and Cincinnati.
This is the first division in which I’ve cleared the board, so to speak. The next closest is the American League Central, in which I’ve made it to four out of five: Detroit, Cleveland, Chicago and Minnesota.
So, that aspect of it was pretty cool.
As for the park itself, Busch Stadium opened in downtown St. Louis in 2006, with the Cardinals besting Milwaukee 6-4 in the first game on April 10.
The outside of the ballpark had the feel of a Cardinals museum, with a bronze statue of St. Louis legend Stan “The Man” Musial standing outside of Gate 3. Statues of other Cardinal greats—including Hall of Famers Enos Slaughter, Dizzy Dean, Rogers Hornsby, Red Schoendienst, Lou Brock, Bob Gibson, Ozzie Smith and Ted Simmons—were nearby at the corner of Clark and 8th streets.
These statues, which also featured Negro League St. Louis Stars legend Cool Papa Bell and broadcaster Jack Buck, had previously been displayed at the old Busch Memorial Stadium.
There were also several banners highlighting the Cardinals’ various championships as well as a huge World Series trophy replica nearby.
For a baseball lover, it was amazing.
Inside the stadium, the view was fantastic. The city’s skyline could be seen outside the stadium, with the famous Gateway Arch in view.
Like pretty much every park constructed since Baltimore built its stadium in 1992, Busch Stadium has the “retro” feel of an older stadium as opposed to the cookie-cutter stadiums that had been prevalent prior to that. It was a great atmosphere to take in a game.
The Cardinals happened to be hosting Texas, with former Detroit Tigers star pitcher Max Scherzer making the start for the Rangers.
My hope for the game was that Scherzer pitched well, but that St. Louis got the win.
That didn’t exactly happen, as Scherzer lasted just four innings, giving up three runs on four hits with a walk and five strikeouts.
He left with his team trailing 3-1, and an inning after his departure St. Louis scored five times to blow the game wide open.
Four of those runs came on a grand slam off the bat of pinch hitter Tommy Pham. It was one of the coolest home runs I’ve ever witnessed in person.
You see, Pham started his career with the Cardinals, playing nearly four seasons in St. Louis before being dealt to Tampa Bay at the trade deadline in 2018. In the six years since then, Pham has played for seven different organizations, most recently with the Chicago White Sox this season.
But at this year’s deadline, Pham—hitting .266 with five homers and 19 RBI with the White Sox—was sent back to the Cardinals in a three-team deal that also included the Dodgers.
So, this at-bat was his first since his return to the Cardinals. And as he stepped onto the on-deck circle, the St. Louis fans were already cheering for him, with most giving him a standing ovation when his name was announced.
After the grand slam, the stadium erupted, continuing to show their love for Pham until he made a curtain call to acknowledge the fans.
Like I said, it was a cool moment that was the highlight of a fun trip to a new stadium.
During my MLB stadium tour last summer, I closed out each entry by ranking the featured ballpark in terms of how much I liked it compared to the other parks. Since Busch Stadium was the only park I visited this year, I’d have to rank it number one.
But since I realize ranking it first out of one stadium doesn’t mean a whole lot, I figured I’d compare it to the ones I visited a year ago.
Wrigley Field is, of course, still places first, as the history of that place and the atmosphere there is second to none.
I would also rank it behind Cincinnati’s Great American Ball Park, Pittsburgh’s PNC Park and Detroit’s Comerica Park (although barely).
It does rank ahead of Milwaukee’s American Family Field, Cleveland’s Progressive Field and the Chicago White Sox’s Guaranteed Rate Field.
So overall, I’d put it fifth out of eight. That might not seem great, but when you consider how amazing most of these stadiums are, it’s actually pretty solid.
