Busch Stadium

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.

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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!

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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.

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

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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.

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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.

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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!

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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!

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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!

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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!

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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!

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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!

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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!

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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!

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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!).

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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.

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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!

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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!

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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:

Victory at Busch Stadium

Just in case you were wondering what a victory at Busch Stadium looks like…

The players all run onto the field:

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There are fireworks:

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But most of all, there’s Fredbird with a giant flag!

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First Pitch to Final Pitch

I took pictures of the first and final pitches at last night’s Cardinals game. It’s interesting to see how different the view of the field is from the start of the game to the end!

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Social Media Night at Busch Stadium

Last night was Social Media Night at Busch Stadium. I really wanted to go, partly because they were doing a Q&A with the players, and partly because I really wanted to tweet and blog about it. So, I did something that I’ve never done before…I went to the baseball game by myself!

The event was held in the Bowtie Bar, a place I had never been. Apparently, it’s the only place at Busch Stadium that serves beer through the entire game, and is open after the game, as well. It was a fun, busy place, and they had a “bottoms up” counter, where there “pour” the beer from the bottom up, thanks to a magnet system in the bottom of the cup. It was fascinating to watch, although I can’t quite figure out why it’s a better method than the more traditional pour!

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It was an amazing night. The Q&A session was great. There was a pretty good crowd, although there were fewer people than I was expecting.

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There were three rookies answering questions: Joe Kelly, Michael Wacha, and Kolten Wong. It was really interesting to hear them talk about their experiences. I learned that Joe Kelly grew up skateboarding in California, Michael Wacha is an Iowa native who was a Cubs fan growing up, and Kolten Wong, being from Hawaii, could only watch ball games on TBS as a child.

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The most exciting part, though, was that they chose the question I submitted via Facebook, and asked Michael Wacha how he handled moving between the minor and major leagues, and how the players on the team made him feel at home in St. Louis. I learned that being sent back down is a great motivator for him to try harder, and, unsurprisingly, the team is very welcoming, and tries to make the new guys feel welcome.

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The seats that came with the Social Media Night ticket were on the Left Field Porch, another place I had never been. The view was decent…not my favorite seats at Busch, but then again, there are no bad seats in Baseball Heaven!

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While I was there, I stopped at the Kohn’s food cart, to buy a “killer pastrami sandwich,” something I’ve been wanting to try for a few months. It was pretty delicious (although the ballpark price was painful to pay!).

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During the game, the Cardinals were also retweeting fans’ Tweets about the game and Social Media Night. I tweeted up a storm, of course, because that’s why I was there. I wasn’t really expecting the Cardinals to notice any of my Tweets, but they did!

Because I was retweeted by the Cardinals, I was entered into a drawing for the night. I wasn’t expecting to win anything…I already hadn’t won any of the give-aways at the Q&A session (one of which was throwing out the first pitch…I was relieved not to win that one!). You can imagine my surprise, then, when I saw a tweet from the Cards on my way home on the train, announcing me as a winner of an autographed photo! The evening had already been so great, but that totally put it over the top for me!

This is the second Social Media Night event I’ve been to now, and I hope it won’t be the last!

Happy Birthday, Fredbird!

This weekend, the Cardinals celebrated Fredbird’s birthday. As it was the annual Build a Bear giveaway day today, the one game we try to make it to every year, we were there when the gates opened!

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Chickadee doesn’t need a ticket to the game yet, so she didn’t get her own Fredird, but Moose already had one at home, so he generously shared his with her (and she did not want to let it go)!

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There was confetti:

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And chalk art:

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And, of course, we sang “Happy Birthday” to everyone’s favorite mascot. But the highlight of the game was the fact that Fredbird’s friends from around MLB came to wish him a happy birthday! (And he even got a chance to rough up the Pirate Parrot a bit…in a very friendly way, of course, while trying to hit his birthday piñata). They even brought him a present!

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The Cards didn’t win this one, but it was still fun to be there for the party!

The Champions Club

When Bunny and I went to Star Wars Night at Busch Stadium, we had tickets for the Champions Club. This was definitely a one-time splurge event (much like the Commissioner’s Box), because, being exclusive, all-inclusive seats, the tickets were costly. It was a lot of fun to check it out, though, and see what it was like!

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If you’re unfamiliar with the Champions Club, here’s how it works. It’s located on the second level, and you have to get your ticket scanned a second time to get in, so don’t lose it after you get through the gates! After your ticket is scanned, you’re given a wristband, so you can come and go from the Club without having to keep showing your ticket. You then have access to an indoor area, somewhat like the Redbird Club, with bar seating, tables, and couches and easy chairs. There are also flat screen TVs all around, some showing the Cards game, and some showing other games around the league.

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Unlike the party suites, you are also guaranteed a dedicated seat outside, in one of about nine sections, which contain rows A-D. All of these seats are under an overhang, so sun and rain are never really an issue.

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The decor is what you would expect out of a place called the Champions Club…there are World Series trophies scattered all around (we do have a lot of them in St. Louis, after all!), as well as some other trophies (including a Stan trophy!), and pictures of notable moments in Cards history.

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Inside, there are also two full service bars, where you can get soft drinks and the standard lineup of A-B beers, as well as cocktails ( I had a whiskey sour!). There is also a limited wait staff that walks around, both inside and out, taking drink orders. I don’t know how often they go through…we were asked if we needed anything twice, but we were also walking around a lot of the time, so I don’t know what the standard is.

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In addition to the bars, there is a buffet area, with lots of food options.

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The night Bunny and I were there, there was a hot dog/brat table, with grilled onions, sauerkraut, and condiments from which to choose, as well as a nacho bar, so the baseball basics were covered as far as we were concerned!

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There was also a chilaquiles station (it was fun to watch the chef making them right there!):

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And a carving station that was serving some awesome roast beef:

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There was also what I would label a “fancy food” option…salad choices (including my favorite, Caesar), sautéed swiss chard, roasted potatoes, risotto, and an amazing breaded chicken in a white wine sauce topped with mushrooms and bacon. There were actually two buffet tables with these options, so this was clearly the main event, food-wise!

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Oh, and there was a dessert table (Bunny’s favorite!), with different kinds of cookies and brownies:

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Seriously, all of the food was amazing. The chicken was my favorite offering (for purposes of research, I did try a little of everything), but it was all great. I don’t know what kind of rotation the foods they offer are on, but I have to assume that no matter when you went, the food would be great.

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The staff working there was exemplary, as is the norm at Busch Stadium. The gentleman scanning tickets and giving out wristbands was very helpful, and showed us where everything was, including the private bathrooms (another nice perk). The bartenders were nice, and very accommodating to Bunny when she wanted to have a lime or a cherry in one of her sodas. The chefs working at the buffet were great, especially the gentleman at the carving station, who very kindly posed for a picture for me…he had a lot of personality!

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Like I said, this is huge splurge ticket, but if you ever have the chance, I highly recommend getting seats in the Champions Club just once…it’s totally worth the price of admission!

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Star Wars Night at Busch Stadium

Last night was Star Wars night at Busch Stadium:

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Tickets were expensive, so we couldn’t all go, but Ryan did get two tickets so that Bunny and I could take part. Why Bunny? Because the voice of her favorite character (Ahsoka Tano), from the Clone Wars was doing a meet and greet!

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Bunny had a great time meeting Ashley Eckstein, and Ashley was so nice! She talked to Bunny for several minutes, which doesn’t sound like a lot, but if you’ve ever been in one of those autograph lines, you know that a few minutes can seem like an eternity. Bunny learned that Ashley’s favorite episode of the Clone Wars is the one in which Ahsoka meets Chewbacca, which we haven’t seen yet, so we’re really looking forward to that. Ashley also told Bunny that Bunny’s eyes reminded her of Ahsoka, which, of course, put Bunny on cloud nine!

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Just in case you haven’t put two and two together yet, Ashley Eckstein is the wife of former Cardinal David Eckstein. He was with her, and was signing autographs and taking pictures, as well. I had hoped he might be, so I brought a baseball along…so we left with autographs of not only an actress, but a baseball player, too! He was also very nice…I was impressed with how gracious both of them were!

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The rest of the evening was a lot of fun, too. There were fans dressed in character, as well as characters stationed around the ballpark for photos. A highlight of the night was seeing “Jedi Fredbird!”

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We also saw Storm Troopers brining in the game ball and escorting the umps, and Princess Leia as a member of Team Fredbird. There was also a battle between Fredbird and Darth Vader, which ended with them dancing, Gangnam-style. It was a little surreal!

It was a great evening…I’m so glad Ryan sent us to the ballpark for a girls’ night out!

Coca-Cola Rooftop Deck

Today was a special day, because we had all-inclusive tickets to the Cardinals game. We sat on the Coca-Cola Rooftop Deck:

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First, we had to get into Busch Stadium, which wasn’t easy…there was an incredibly long line (the longest we’ve ever seen!), because of the Stan Musial statue giveaway:

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Stan Statue

We did finally make it into the ballpark, and made our way to our seats. When you first go to the Coca-Cola rooftop deck seats, you’re given a wristband, which gives you access to the food, and allows you to move around the ballpark, and come back without any troubles.

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There are bar-style seats, with a table in front of them:

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I loved these seats! There was room to walk with Chickadee, room for the children to move around without annoying the other fans around us, and it wasn’t too high up! Plus, you know, the food (hot dogs, nachos, BBQ chicken, beef, and pork, plus cookies and brownies)!

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I started with some BBQ pulled pork nachos:

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Chickadee loved them, so I had to go back for more food for me! Since she loved the pork so much (even more than the cookies and brownies!!!), I got more of that, plus a hot dog with sauerkraut. Yum!

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There was also a dedicated drinks server, which the children loved:

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We had a great view from center field:

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And a great view of the cameraman:

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The back-end of the deck overlooks the Ford Family Plaza:

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Fredbird hangs out there during the first three innings, so of course we had to go say “Hi!”

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And did I mention how much I love high socks Sundays?

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Of course, the best part of the game was that the Cards won!

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