It’s been a week and a half since we sat in the Commissioner’s Box at Busch Stadium to celebrate our tenth wedding anniversary, and I’m just now coming up with words to describe how cool it was!
We got to the stadium before the gates opened (of course!). We weren’t going to miss a moment of our special day, plus, it gave us a chance to take some pictures. While Ryan was busy getting the perfect shot of the statue of “Stan the Man,” I took a picture of him. Taking a picture of someone who is, himself, taking a picture, amuses me for some reason.
Finally, the gates opened, and we headed down to the Commissioner’s Box (the section of green seats–yeah, those were ours!). That’s right, I said down. It’s not often that we have field level seats, so it was strange to not have to go up endless ramps, stairs, and/or escalators! We were greeted by a team of Busch Stadium employees–two women, who were in charge of the seating, and two men, who would be our waiters for the evening. We were invited to go down onto the field for batting practice, to get our picture taken in the Cardinals dugout, (so cool!), and to get started on ordering the endless amounts of food we could have.
There are so many things you notice being that close to the action. I watched the players warm-up before the game–fascinating, especially when the trainer gets involved. It occasionally looked painful, but I’m assuming they knew what they were doing.
I especially liked this sign–it reminded me of a certain notorious incident involving the Cubs. I’m assuming those signs have always been there, but again, I’ve never been close enough to see it before!
For some reason, I was also especially amused watching the catcher, (Molina), pitcher, (Lohse), and pitching coach, (Dave Duncan), walking to and from the bullpen before the game. Yet another little detail I might have *seen* before, but not really processed who the players were, or where they were going.
Our view of the field during the game was amazing. We had an especially good view of first base, but the rest of it was also fantastic!
The game itself wasn’t the most exciting–not that I’m complaining. It was pretty obvious the Cards were going to win, and that was fine by me. It would have been a major bummer to see a losing game from those seats on our anniversary! But, because it wasn’t a particularly tense game, we could pay attention to some other things we might have missed. We could see players blowing bubbles with their gum–funny. We got to watch the photographers working in the camera pit, and we were so close, we could even hear the shutters on their cameras. We had a great view of the police officer assigned to the Cardinals dugout, which was a little weird, but also comforting when the guy sitting next to me, and the guy across the aisle from Ryan looked like they were about to get into a fist fight (the only downside to our evening).
My favorite part, though, was watching the players in the dugout. The pitchers, especially, seemed to be having a good time, and they were always all hanging out together. We saw Adam Wainwright throwing sunflower seeds at this teammates, and we also saw how good-natured he is–he tipped his cap to a group of fans behind us who were chanting his name. (They also got a wave from Jose Oquendo.)
We also got to see Pete Kozma in his Major League debut, which was really cool. He even got an RBI double, which was very exciting, and for that night, he was batting 1.000! Guess who they named the “star of the game” afterward? He said the first thing he was going to do was call his parents–how sweet!
Ryan arranged to have our names on the scoreboard, but in all of the Kozma excitement, I almost didn’t see it. As a matter of fact, Ryan didn’t see it at all, and it will always annoy me that I didn’t get a picture of it. At least one of us saw it, though!
It was a great night–such a fun experience to be treated like a VIP for the game. And the ending was just what we hoped for–a Cardinals win!
Nice photos and they look like great seats! My hubby and I went to Social Media Night last month. It was the day after our anniversary. I did the greeting thing too, but those things go by so darn fast that there’s no way you can snap a photo in time. Glad you enjoyed the game!
What row and seats were you sitting in?
We were in the third or fourth row, I believe…the first two seats on the aisle, nearest the Dugout.
My husband and I have green seats for this weekend’s game to celebrate our wedding anniversary as well. I do have an etiquette question, how much is an appropriate tip for your waiter/waitress?
thanks!
For two people, I don’t think $50 would be unreasonable…the servers do a lot of running back and forth. It does get a little confusing, though, because we had two servers waiting on us. One of them was focused more on our side of the seating area, though, so I would consider him the primary waiter. If $50 sounds like a lot to you, I’d go with 10-20% of the cost of your tickets as a general rule of thumb.
How much was the commisioners box?
I think our tickets were about $210 each…but they vary from about $180 to $230 (maybe even higher) depending on who the Cards are playing and such…
How do you get green seats? I’m trying to get a pack of 4 Commissioner’s Box Tickets, but they are SO expensive! Almost $1,000 for all 4 (WITHOUT the parking pass)!!! I would try and get green seats if they’re cheaper.
I think the only way to get tickets for those seats, (aside from knowing someone who owns them), is to check out Stub Hub. From what I remember, though, the prices can be pretty good. Not sure how that works after a championship season, though–all the prices may be higher!
Or, I guess I should say, “the green seats behind home plate.”
What did you take for cameras? I saw the pic of the Canon DSLR, I am just curious what lens(es) you took and if you had any trouble taking them in.
Clay,
For the trip to the Commissioner’s Box, we rented a 70-200mm F2.8 IS L from a local camera shop. It was about $40 for the day and well-worth it. We didn’t have any trouble bringing it into the stadium; as far as I know the only restriction is that they ask you not to be in people’s way – and they told us that we could not take pictures of the guys in the dugout once the game started.
(Of course, we managed to sneak a shot or two when possible.)
What time did you arrive to the ballpark? We have Comm box seats in may and want to make the most of getting to see batting practice!!!!!!!
We were there a little before the gates opened, probably about two-and-a-half hours before the game started. We wanted to make sure we enjoyed every minute of the experience!
Great web page, very informative – thanks! I just bought seats in the Commissioners Box to a game next week off of StubHub. On the Cardinals website it mentions VIP Parking, but the StubHub tickets make no mention of that – do you know anything about that? Also, how long are you permitted to be on the field/in the dugout? Thanks!
The VIP parking is just a pass to a street lot across Eighth St. from Busch if I recall correctly. Honestly, though, it was so hard getting out of that lot after the game was over that you may want to just park in one of the garages…the traffic flow is much better there.
The on field time was pretty brief…maybe 15-30 minutes at the most. And the dugout time was basically just long enough to have a member of the staff take your picture. There was no opportunity for talking to the players or anything like that…it’s just a photo op. They do get you your picture before the game is over, though, which is nice.
When you say they take your picture in the dugout is that with your camera or a staff photographer person? Also when do you tip your waiters?
A staff member will take your picture with one of their cameras (that’s the photo that they’ll have printed for you before the end of the game), but they’re also willing to take an additional picture with your camera…at least they did the night we were there.
The tipping is up to you. You can tip as you go, or, if you’d rather wait, they’ll let you know when they’re taking the last order of the night, so you could save it up for then.
We have commissioner’s box tickets for the end of September, Cubs vs. Cards. This will be my FIRST cardinals game. Any pointers???
Be there when the gates open so you don’t miss a moment! I’m so excited for you…there’s nothing like your first game at Busch…enjoy every second of it!
Go for the pulled pork. It is absolutely delicious! Take advantage of the in-seat service and treat the runners well. They helped me get a few autographs and made our experience extra great!
This is my first experience in the green seats. How close are the restrooms? The price of the seats I hate to leave them to long. Thanks for your help!
I think they’re fairly close…just up the ramp to the main level, and there’s probably men’s and women’s restrooms to the left and/or right.