Farewell: Part 1

Don't worry, I'm not leavin y'all. I went to see a Cardinals game last night at the soon to be detonated Busch Stadium. When I went I thought it was going to be my last chance to see a game at the stadium before it is torn down to make room for the new one(also Busch Stadium-Here in St. Louis, we are very original). I don't know why they are tearing down a perfectly good stadium(I know they can make more profit from a new one). I mean, when they imploded the old arena it was time for it to go. It felt like the place was going to fall down when the horn sounded after a goal. Busch is still in good shape, comparatively.

When I was growing up we used to attend several baseball games a year. My mom would pack the Cracker Jacks(see, I told you we were original) and my step-dad would bring a large bag of peanuts(another example). We would all pile into the big brown van and head out to the Stadium. Sometimes, we were accompanied on these excursions by various members of our extended family(mostly my aunt and uncle and three cousins). We would get there and buy our sodas(beer for adults, but, this is my memory and I had soda-still do, in fact) in the souvenir cups and find our seats. I liked sitting in the bleachers, which, occasionally we did.

Once the game started, each kid would get a box of Cracker Jacks. We would always compare prizes(for some reason, I never got the good ones) and watch the game off and on. I remember that my soda always got watered down from the melting ice and flat from being sloshed around so much, but, I never cared cuz, we got those cool cups. My step-dad would give us some peanuts. For me, he would have to crack the shells, cuz, I couldn't do it without biting them and didn't want to do that most of the time. I loved cheering when the organ played, and yelling "CHARGE" or "LET'S GO CARDINALS" as the situation dictated, and standing during the wave.

Last night I got to the ball park, camera in hand, bought a souvenir cup soda(I hate beer, and I drove), bought a bratwurst(Cracker Jacks just don't have the same appeal for me anymore and my step-dad was not there to crack open peanuts if I bought them), and went to find my seat. The ballpark seemed smaller than I remembered it as a kid(I have only been to 3 games over the past 10-11 years, before last night). It used to seem so large, I remember bringing my binoculars so I could see the players. My friend and I sat down and watched, possibly the best baseball game I have seen in person. The redbirds won 5-0 behind Chris Carpenter, who notched his 21st win(those of you who know me, know how cool that was for me), Albert Pujols hit two homers and I witnessed a kid named Gall hit his first Major League homerun as well. The pitching for both teams was spectacular until the Mets brought in a reliever and the Cards took over. The only thing missing besides my innocence, was the wave. No one does the wave anymore. I soaked it all up, expecting it to be my last game, before the new stadium is put into service next season. However, today, the Steph called me. Her friend has a few extra tickets for the game Monday evening and I am invited. So, I will take some more pictures on Monday(they will be better than the ones I took last night) and post a final farewell to one of my fondest childhood memories next week.

I forgot how much I loved that place. I miss being too small to crack open peanuts.