Saturday, May 21, 2005
A Dying Breed
There are recent pictures of the new ballpark up at ballparkcontruction.com, and it looks very pretty. But I will be quite sad to see Busch II demolished. I've never seen a Cardinals game outside of that stadium.
I've been to a playoff game, gotten heat exhaustion, cheered McGuire home runs, attended Cubs series, witnessed a particularly ugly example of racism, watched a mother ignore her small children during a hit and run, gotten drunk with my parents, gotten drunk with friends, stared with my mouth open at the greatness that is Albert Pujols, screamed wildly at a double steal, clasped hands with my mom as we jumped up and down for an RBI base hit into the right field corner, looked for the green- and red-lit arches while driving across the Mississippi coming home from college for Christmas, seen blow outs on both sides, planned vacations around homestands, and kept score at every game since I can remember-all right there in that concrete bowl with the bright red seats.
I am excited about the new stadium. If I had the money, I'd buy one of those condos they're going to build across the street. But it won't be the same. There are all sorts of "retro" ballparks now. Busch III will just be the latest in a long line. There are only a few really, truly old-fashioned ballparks (Fenway, Wrigley, and Yankee Stadium off the top of my head [Why is it that my three most hated teams are in really truly classic parks?]). I don't think they will be building homages to the multipurpose stadia 25 years from now. However, sentimentally, it would be nice if at that point in the future, the Cardinals' home field could be seen as an actual throwback rather than a variation on a tired, trendy theme.
There better be a hand-operated scoreboard.
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How 'bout that Grand Slam by Mabry? I was, of course, in the car. And for the second game in a row, the starter did not get along with the strike zone. But we won, so I don't care. Silly Royals.
I've been to a playoff game, gotten heat exhaustion, cheered McGuire home runs, attended Cubs series, witnessed a particularly ugly example of racism, watched a mother ignore her small children during a hit and run, gotten drunk with my parents, gotten drunk with friends, stared with my mouth open at the greatness that is Albert Pujols, screamed wildly at a double steal, clasped hands with my mom as we jumped up and down for an RBI base hit into the right field corner, looked for the green- and red-lit arches while driving across the Mississippi coming home from college for Christmas, seen blow outs on both sides, planned vacations around homestands, and kept score at every game since I can remember-all right there in that concrete bowl with the bright red seats.
I am excited about the new stadium. If I had the money, I'd buy one of those condos they're going to build across the street. But it won't be the same. There are all sorts of "retro" ballparks now. Busch III will just be the latest in a long line. There are only a few really, truly old-fashioned ballparks (Fenway, Wrigley, and Yankee Stadium off the top of my head [Why is it that my three most hated teams are in really truly classic parks?]). I don't think they will be building homages to the multipurpose stadia 25 years from now. However, sentimentally, it would be nice if at that point in the future, the Cardinals' home field could be seen as an actual throwback rather than a variation on a tired, trendy theme.
There better be a hand-operated scoreboard.
____________________________________________
How 'bout that Grand Slam by Mabry? I was, of course, in the car. And for the second game in a row, the starter did not get along with the strike zone. But we won, so I don't care. Silly Royals.
