Busch Stadium

Surface:  Natural Grass
Capacity: 46, 861 (Includes Standing Room Only)
Dimensions:  Left 336 ft.  Centerfield 400 ft.  Right 335 ft.
Stadium Opened:  April 10, 2006

Food:

• Traditional Ballpark favorites along with Mexican, pizza, BBQ, specialty fries, and Hardees. I am not a big fan of fast food restaurants having a consession stand at ballparks. When I am at the ballpark, I want to eat ballpark food, not Hardees.
• I had a tasty chicken quesadilla while at the game.

Stadium Design/Seating:

• 3 main seating decks, as well as bleachers in right and left field.
• I did not like the design of the upper deck. You aren't able to walk from one end to the other without going down a level in left field. I saw no reason for that, it just made it confusing.
• St. Louis skyline and Gateway Arch can be seen over the outfield wall. This is one of the best views in the Majors, although, I would still put PNC Park's skyline above Busch.
• Obstructed views in the upper deck. There is a black railing which is at eye level.
• Field level concourse is not open to the field and it is very dark and dungeon-like.
• First row of upper deck behind homeplate is set far back since the roof of the press box is in front of the first row.
Red seats, not the usual dark green.

Parking:

• Many parking lots surround the stadium ranging from $10-$20. We were lucky enough to get into a $10 lot real close to the stadium.

Atmosphere:

I was disappointed in the atmosphere at Busch Stadium. If it weren't for the statues (which, were ridiculously small anyway and the players looked like midgets) outside of the stadium of past Cardinal players, you would think the Cardinals were an expansion team that had just started. There was very little to no history in the stadium. No pictures or plaques of past greats like Ozzie Smith and Lou Brock can be found inside the stadium. Very disaapointing. This is the reason for such a low score in this category. The only sign of Cardinals history is the old scoreboards displayed in the concourse area. The old scoreboards depict what they looked like at the end of the last game in Old Busch Stadium. But for the most part, all of the Cardinals history is kept out of the park. Also, any Major League team that feels the need to do contests in between innings with an on-field entertainer/MC gets a low score in my book. If fans at a Major League game need more entertainment than what's provided on the field, then they shouldn't be there. In between innings would have been the perfect time for there to be highlights of Cardinals' history on the video board.

Now on to another one of my favorite features of ballparks....kids areas. Love them! Well, not really............Busch Stadium has the "US Cellular Family Pavillion" area which contains everything you could possibly want to do except watch the ballgame. There are batting cages, speed pitch, video games, and a play area. Don't get me wrong, I like kids....but to me, if a team insists on having a kids play area it should only be open before the game when the gates open, not during the game. I know that kids areas are becoming a very popular trend, but I am going to resist it as long as possible, I am a traditionalist.

Restrooms:

• Clean, no lines

Interesting Facts/Features:

• Gateway Arch can be seen in the skyline beyond the outfield wall.
• Markers on the sidewalks surrounding the stadium signifying where the outfield was in Old Busch Stadium.
• Ballpark Village is planned to occupy the site of the Old Busch Stadium. It will contain retail shops, restaurants, and entertainment. Although, so far nothing is constructed. It is disappointing that it is taking the Cardinals so long to build this area. The vacant dirt lot takes away from the beautiful skylin view.
• The Budweiser Clydesdales commercial/video is played towards the end of the game. Fans seem to love this tradition.
• 30 spectators were injured in July 2006 when a violent storm came through St. Louis and damaged the stadium near the press boxes. The game was delayed over 2 hours while the damage was cleaned up. The stadium now has designated storm shelter areas.
• Jack Buck statue outside the stadium.
• Before the game, kids were allowed to line up in the outfield concourse area and were shown on the video board asking questions live to a Cardinal player, who stood outside the dugout and answered these kids questions. I thought that was pretty neat since it was unscripted. Also, it was a good way to get the kids involved in baseball and not just in the outfield kids area. It was nice of the Cardinals' Todd Wellemeyer to take the time to answer the kids questions.

Overall Rating: 8.5

Questions? Comments? E-Mail me:amanda@baseballstadiumreviews.com