Commissioner’s Box

Baseball Summer

2011 was the “Summer of Baseball” in the Markel household. Never in my life have I been to so many Major League Baseball games in one summer, not to mention all of Turkey’s games, and the one Gateway Grizzlies game we went to. To chronicle this “Baseball Summer,” here are pictures with views from all of the different seats we had!

The first game we went to was “Kids Opening Day” on Saturday, April 2, which occurred two days after actual Opening Day. The seats were just OK, but the tickets were cheap, and each of the children received a Matt Holliday baseball bat, and a voucher for a free ticket to a future game. Too bad the Cardinals lost.

Busch Stadium, Left Field Pavilion–Section 368, Row 6

Mother’s Day weekend, Saturday, May 7, was our second game of the year. Other than the Commissioner’s Box, these were my favorite seats we had. They were directly to the left of the press box, so naturally, the view was amazing, and even though we were up pretty high, it didn’t feel like it. (The only thing that would have made the game more enjoyable would have been the Cardinals actually beating the Brewers.) It was also free hat day for the adults–I ended up stealing Ryan’s hat because I liked it better than the women’s version!

Busch Stadium, Infield Terrace–Section 453, Row 1

The year’s third game was “Social Media Night” on Tuesday, May 17. This was our “Anniversary Eve” celebration, and one of two games that Ryan and I went to sans children, but we really went because I wanted to get the free “Tweet Me in St. Louis” t-shirts that were part of our tickets. The seats were pretty close to the field, but way out in left field…not a section I had been in before. It was kind of a strange place to watch a game from, because it felt like the seats were oriented the wrong direction, but the game itself was amazing–very exciting, and the Cardinals won right at the end!

Busch Stadium, Lower Left Field Box–Section 169, Row 16

Although it wasn’t a game, going on a Busch Stadium tour with Ryan the following afternoon also counts as part of “Baseball Summer.” We got to go in some exclusive areas of the ballpark, including the Cardinals dugout, the press box, and the Cardinals Club. We even saw some of the Astros players as they were on their way to the visitors’ clubhouse, (they were very polite), and some Cardinals warming up, jogging around the warning track.

The field, as seen from Mike Shannon’s point-of-view in the press box!

The most amazing seats of the season were in the Commissioner’s Box for our tenth wedding anniversary on Wednesday, May 18. An incredible experience, with a great view of the field, (and the Cards dugout). And the Redbirds were kind enough to win the game for us!

Busch Stadium, Commissioner’s Box–Row C

We went to our first Gateway Grizzlies game for “Honor Roll Night,” on Monday, June 13, to celebrate Moose’s achievements in school, (we were supposed to go back for a second game later in the season, but it was unbearably hot…maybe next year!). The ballpark is so small, I’m pretty sure there are no bad seats, and the ones we were in were certainly no exception. We had a great view of all of the action, from the game itself, to the between-inning antics on the field. The Grizzlies lost, but we didn’t really care since we’re not big Frontier League fans…it was just fun!

GCS Ballpark, Field Reserve Box Seats–Section 119, Row…6, maybe?

Here’s the view from the Upper Field at the park where Turkey played all of his games this summer, (and last year’s T-Ball games, as well). Technically, there were no seats, but this is what it looked like from where we stood and watched half of his games in June and July.

The other half of Turkey’s ball games were played on the Lower Field of the park. I like this field better, if only because it’s situated on more level terrain…the outfield of the Upper Field is completely inexplicable! Even though they don’t technically keep score, I’m happy to report that Turkey’s team had a winning season!

The Wednesday, June 22, Cardinals game was part of Marine Week in St. Louis. Going to this game was a complete spur-of-the-moment decision, and I’m so glad we went! We got to hear the Marine Band play, and saw them present the colors. There was also a Harrier jet flyover and a flag line on the field. We had good seats for this game, and really got to appreciate the shadows on the field as the evening went on! It’s a good thing there was so much to see at the ballpark, though, because it was another loss for the Redbirds!

Busch Stadium, Infield Terrace–Section 447, Row 6

We also had the chance to get seats on Thursday, July 28, in the Redbird Club at Busch Stadium. This was another really fun experience, (and the baby’s first ballgame, albeit in utero!), although the day we were there was so hot, it was hard to enjoy the game. (That, and Lance Berkman was injured and didn’t play.) I don’t think that any of us really even cared that the Cards dropped the game to the Astros because we were so worn out from the heat! I’d love to go back someday when the weather is a little more cooperative, so I can really enjoy it.

Busch Stadium, Infield Redbird Club–Section 244, Row 1

Another first was seeing a game from a party suite at the stadium on Tuesday, August 9, with Ryan’s co-workers. I spent most of the game inside the suite, although there was also outdoor seating. Either way, the view was great, even if the Cards did lose.

Busch Stadium, Party Suite–Section 308

The last game we went to this year was on Sunday, August 14. It was a nice way to bookend our “Baseball Summer”–there was another giveaway for the children, this time “Stan the Man” Build-A-Bears, which have proven to be very popular around here still. We had, unfortunately, what I considered to be the worst seats of the season–we were literally in the last row of seats on the uppermost deck in the outfield. It was still a fun time, though, and the Cards managed to win that one.

Busch Stadium, Right Field Terrace–Section 432, Row 11

So, that was our “Baseball Summer.” We only saw three Cardinal wins, compared to five losses, but we still had a great time! We attended games on Sundays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays, but no Monday or Friday games for some reason, (baseball always involves statistics, right?). We sat everywhere from practically the front row, (the Commissioner’s Box), to literally the last row. We had tickets to exclusive areas of the Stadium, as well as tickets for the cheap seats. We sat behind home plate, along the first base line, and in the outfield.

I doubt we’ll get to go to so many games in one summer again–things just really worked out perfectly this year. It was great to share baseball with the children this way, and create some great family memories. I’m thankful that baseball here in St. Louis is still fairly affordable for families, (many of the tickets we got were only $5 each, and you can bring food and beverages into the ballpark), so that we could see so many games from so many different areas of the ballpark this year!

The Commissioner’s Box

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!