Wordless Wednesday

The Agony of…Victory?

For those who weren’t watching the Cardinals game tonight (and you really should have been!), one of our rookies pitchers, Michael Wacha, had a no-hitter going into the ninth inning. He was down to the last out when a strangely played ball resulted in a single for the Nationals, and the end of the no-no. We were still winning, and there were already two outs in the inning, but you could see briefly in Wacha’s face, before he was pulled from the game, agony.

40,000 fans were on their feet for the entire ninth inning, screaming their support as they hoped to see their pitcher win a spot in the record books. But as the ump called, “Safe!” 40,000 fans were collectively silenced. You could have heard a pin drop. They too, were in agony. Not because we had lost, but because they had seen Wacha lose out on one of the greatest possible achievements for a pitcher. Not because they were disappointed in him, but because they were very, very disappointed for him.

Here at home, I was crumpled on the floor, with one son informing me that my screams had hurt his ears, and the other, clearly afraid I was having some kind of episode, patting my back and apologizing repeatedly, as though it was his fault the Nationals got a hit. I, too, was in agony, because Wacha is “my” player, the one who answered the question I submitted for Social Media Night, and the one who indirectly led to me winning a prize that night. I wanted to see him get that no-hitter, and I also wanted to share watching that happen with my boys, because we’ve never seen a Cardinals no-hitter before.

This was a great night for the Cards. Another win as the march to the play-offs continues, the magic number continuing to drop. And a one-hitter is still a great accomplishment. But it was still agonizing to watch the last out, knowing what could have been.

You hear much about the agony of defeat, and rightly so. But sometimes, there’s a certain agony to victory, too.

The City Bleeds Red!

Today, in honor of the Cards clinching a spot in the playoffs, the St. Louis Parks Department dyed the fountain at Kiener Plaza red:

This whole city bleeds Cardinal red! We play for October!

Chickadee Thursday

Chickadee loves baseball. And it doesn’t matter what game is on, she always assumes it’s our team, and yells, “Let’s go Cardinals!”

Don’t believe me? Ryan took this video last week. Just the team logo makes her cheer! “Let’s go Cardinals! Let’s go!”

“Charge!” (She loves to charge)

Baseball tends to make her a little bit hyper, it’s just so very exciting!

Wordless Wednesday

Not Part of the Family?

The Cardinals team store online, as part of a larger MLB shops promotion, is advertising 20% off select tees and fleece for the whole family.

Great! There’s a long-sleeve t-shirt in the women’s plus department that I’ve had my eye on, but didn’t want to buy at full price. Time to shop!

But, when I go to check out the sale, that shirt is not included. OK, fine. It’s not all tees and fleece, I get that. (The exact same shirt, which has the exact same regular price, in the misses section is on sale, but I digress.) But, upon closer inspection, I realize that not one single women’s plus-size shirt is included in the sale. Not one. Men have options, even big and tall men. Boys and girls are both covered. Plus size women, though? Guess we’re just out of luck. Maybe we just don’t count as part of the “whole” family.

The only other group left out is the infant/toddler/preschooler crowd, and given that there aren’t even t-shirts or fleece available in most of those sizes, that’s understandable. But not having one plus-size shirt that the “family” sale applies to? Now we’re just bordering on size discrimination!

Guess I’ll just go stand in the corner with the other kids not cool enough to shop with MLB.

Baseball Summer 2013

This was another busy summer of baseball games! I can honestly say that we watched baseball in pretty much all kinds of weather, from many different vantage points, and in way more ballparks than I would have imagined at the beginning of the season. The Cards won six of the nine games we saw them play, which is a pretty good percentage for us, and the children enjoyed seeing Fredbird bring the Cardinals flag out at the end of the game so many times!

The first game we went to was “Stan Musial Harmonica Night” in April. We had to wear winter jackets to the game, which was definitely a new experience! The game was filled with wonderful, loving, tributes to Stan, and it was an honor to be there.

Busch Stadium, Left Field Pavilion–Section 371

In May, to celebrate Moose’s first week of summer vacation, we traveled across the state to see the Cards play the Royals in Kansas City during the I-70 series. Our very first baseball road trip…how fun!

Kauffman Stadium, Hyvee Infield–Section 411, Row GG

Turkey played in his fourth season of parks and rec baseball this summer, and he got to play on two different fields. One of them had a scoreboard and lights, which was very cool.

The other was at Moose’s school, which was also very nice, even though it doesn’t have lights.

In June, Ryan and I went with a friend to Beer Stein Night, which was also the game that brought Lance Berkman to town. Sadly, we didn’t get to see him play, but we did see him being his normally awesome self, and signing autographs for people.

Busch Stadium, Infield Terrace–Section 450, Row 9

We went back to the see the Gateway Grizzlies play again this year, as part of Honor Roll Night for Moose’s school. You definitely don’t go to see good baseball, but it’s still a lot of fun! We spent a good portion of this game getting drizzled on, and it was surprisingly chilly.

GCS Ballpark–Section 121, Row J

At the end of July, we sat on the Coca-Cola rooftop deck (an all-inclusive area), for the first time. We enjoyed the buffet, and the extra space for walking around with Chickadee!

Busch Stadium, Coca-Cola Deck–Section CCD, Row C

At the beginning of August, Bunny and I had tickets to the Champions Club (another all-inclusive area), for Star Wars night, the first of two theme ticket events I attended, which was an amazing, once-in-a-lifetime baseball experience!

Busch Stadium, UMB Champions Club–Section CH6, Row C

A little later in August, we drove out to Springfield, MO, to see the Cardinals Double-A team, the Springfield Cardinals, also known as the “Baby Birds,” play. Two baseball road trips in one summer!

Hammons Field, Diamond Box–Section I, Row 9

The one game we try to go to every year is Build a Bear day. This year, they were giving away a stuffed Fredbird, as part of Fredbird’s birthday bash, so of course we had to be there!

Busch Stadium, Right Field Pavilion–Section 328, Row 5

On September 10, I kicked off “baseball week” in our house when I went to the Cardinals Social Media Night by myself. My ticket was on the Left Field Porch, which was a new place for me. This was one of the hottest days of the summer, but I still managed to have a good time. This was only the first of three games we went to that week, though!

Busch Stadium, Left Field Porch–Section LP3, Row 4

The following day, we all went back to Busch Stadium to see the Cards win again. For the last few summers, we’ve gotten seats in the Redbird Club with Ryan’s parents. Every year, I look forward to getting a cupcake while I’m there…yum!

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

We thought we were done with baseball for the year after the Redbird Club game, and then Moose’s school sent home a letter about an opportunity to buy tickets for a school fundraiser night. It’s the first time they’ve ever convinced us to participate in a fundraiser (other than buying Moose a new t-shirt every other year), but it was the Cardinals, so how could we say no?!? We even got to enjoy field level seats at this game, which is a rare treat for us! We also saw one of the strangest endings to a game ever…a walk-off victory on a passed ball!

Busch Stadium, Right Field Box–Section 130, Row 23

It seems like we have big “baseball summers” every other year, so I’m assuming next year will be lighter in the games attended department. We are hoping to make it to Memphis to see the Redbirds play, and I’m personally hoping to sit in the bleachers at Busch Stadium (the one area we’ve never been in, other than the elusive “green seats”), but other than that, I don’t have a lot in the way of expectations for next year. We’ll just have to see what the schedule (and ticket prices!), holds for us!

A Walk-Off Win

I was back at Busch Stadium last night for the third time this week. It was a beautiful night for a ballgame…at 69 degrees, it was much cooler than the first two games I attended (with temps in the mid-90s at first pitch), with a lovely breeze. My favorite kind of weather!

We were there because Moose’s school sold tickets to the game as their fall fundraiser. How could we possibly say no? It was exciting to get to see the principal and secretary down on the field (and Mrs. Pat even got to throw out a first pitch!).

As part of the pre-game entertainment, the cheerleaders and dance team from Lindenwood University performed. Not really what you expect at a baseball game (Turkey even leaned over to me and said, “This doesn’t seem very Busch Stadium!”), but we were impressed with the stunting they did.

Our seats were at the field level, which is a rare treat for us. It was nice to not have to hike up to the clouds, with two sherpas and mountain goat as our guides!

The most exciting part of the game, of course, was the extra-inning, walk-off win…even if it did happen in a rather bizarre fashion!

That’s our last visit to Busch Stadium for the season…it’s always hard to say goodbye, but there’s always next season to look forward to, not to mention the rest of this season on TV!

A Peek Inside the Redbird Club

I’ve blogged about the Redbird Club before, so I won’t rehash the full details of the experience, but here’s a look at what you can expect to see inside: