Hi, there! My name is Busch Memorial Stadium. I used to be the home of the St. Louis Cardinals - I say "used to" because they tore me down. (sigh) A new, younger stadium has now taken my place. She's okay, I guess...
Anyway, I was named after August Busch, Jr. who used to own the Anheuser Busch Brewery and the St. Louis Cardinals. My first name was Civic Center Busch Memorial Stadium, but that name sucked so I had them shorten it. I've also been known as "Busch Stadium II" (the original Cards' park was Sportsman's Park, but it was renamed 'Busch Stadium' in 1953), "The Old Bottlecap", and, more recently, "Old Busch Stadium".
I was designed by architect Edward Durrell Stone, and my construction began in 1964. I cost 25 million dollars to make, and was only the second stadium in all of baseball financed by private funds since the construction of Yankee Stadium. (take that, New Busch!) I was part of a grand plan to rejuvenate downtown St. Louis, and my roof's arched design echoed the Gateway Arch, which was completed only a year before I officially opened. I was one of the first multipurpose "cookie cutter" stadiums built in the United States from the early 1960s through the early 1970s - besides Cardinals baseball, I was also the home of the football Cardinals (The Big Red) until 1987, and was a venue for some big rock concerts! I love to rock out.
My gates opened for the first time on May 12, 1966, and at that time I had 57,673 seats. Booya! Right fielder Mike Shannon (who grew up in St. Louis on Winona Ave.) singled in the first inning for the inaugural hit in me, and the Cards beat the Atlanta Braves 4-3 in 12 innings. Mike would go on to become a Cardinals radio broadcaster, and let me tell you, he has drank a lot of cold, frosty Budweisers in my press box.
From that day on, all kinds of amazing things happened to me - Bob Gibson's 17 strikeouts in the 1968 World Series opener. Lou Brock's record-breaking stolen base in 1974. Ozzie Smith's game-winning homer off the Dodgers in the '85 NLCS. Mark McGwire's 62nd homer in 1998. And, while not a favorite moment of mine, in 2004 I was where the Boston Red Sox completed a sweep of St. Louis for their first Series championship since 1918. Damn! (The Cards won the 1967 World Series vs the Redsox in my uncle, Fenway Park. So we're all even now, Uncle Fenny!)
Oh, and my automatic tarp caught Vince Coleman's ankle during the 1985 playoffs, knocking him out for the World Series which the Cardinals lost. Vince, I am so, so sorry about that, dude...
I was the sight of one All-Star game in 1966 - the field tempurature that day was 105 degrees. Casey Stengel cracked, "This new park sure holds the heat well. It took the press right outta my pants." Whatever, Casey. St. Louis brings the heat - deal with it.
I hosted 10 NL Championship Series and six World Series, two of which we won ('67 and '82), with the '82 World Series being the only one won within my walls. It was the biggest party St. Louis has ever seen, and I was happy to be the host!
My structure was almost a perfect circle, with a diameter of 800 feet, and I covered more than 12 acres. I was 130-feet tall, measured from the playing field to the top of the stadium. In other words, I was one bad mo-fo who was built to last! Except I didn't...
My grass field was changed to Astroturf in 1970, and manager Whitey Herzog took advantage of that by fielding speedy teams in the 1980's. In 1996, mangement switched back to grass and reduced my seats to improve sight lines. I wasn't much for that Astroturf, anyways - it was kinda itchy.
The final game played in me was on October 19, 2005, Game 6 of the 2005 National League Championship Series - all because of Albert Pujols, who in Game Five hit a 3 run ninth-inning dinger in my nemesis Minute Maid Park to send the series back to me for one final game. Alas, the Houston Astros beat my beloved Cardinals 5-1, taking the series 4-2. It really didn't matter, though - all of my friends were just happy to spend one last night with me. People stayed late into the night after the final out, and they wrote all kinds of memories and messages to me all over my walls, pillars, and any other surface they could find. (They also took some of me, but that's ok - I know who you are...)
My demolition began at 3:07 Central Standard Time on November 7, 2005, as my location would become part of the outfield and Ballpark Village area for the new Busch Stadium. Unlike recent stadium demolitions, which had been triggered implosions, I was torn down with a wrecking ball piece-by-piece over a period of a few weeks to avoid any risk of damage to the new structure. At 12:25 AM local time on December 8, 2005, my final standing section was demolished. I was gone for good, and it bummed me out...
So that's why I'm on myspace, now - I figured I'd keep in touch with all my old friends who I've partied with. There's a lot more to know about me, so be sure to check out my blog, and feel free to comment!
