Busch Stadium

St. Louis Cardinals (National League)

8/10

The exterior of the ballpark the afternoon after the game I went to, before I headed out.

The StL skyline as Cardinals/Brewers is about to start.

The stadium the next morning, taken from the top of the Gateway Arch.

I first went to Busch Stadium(the current one) in June 2015. I had broken up the long trip from Houston by driving to Texarkana the night before and stopped at the Clinton Presidential Library in Little Rock before heading to St. Louis. This was a Monday night game, featuring a Cardinal team that would have the best record in baseball that season, against a Brewer team that would finish 32 wins behind them.

This Busch stadium, is a retro modern park built more or less in the heart of Downtown St. Louis. Light rail runs right beside the third base side of the stadium, this is how I got to the game from my hotel in the area of the Zoo. There is a good view of the skyline from the upper deck, including the Gateway Arch, as well as the old courthouse nearby. Right across the street from left field is "Cardinals Nation" a bar/restaurant type-place, which rakes in the money for the team before and after games. The only strange thing about this place is while the third level concourse has an unobstructed view of the field, the bottom one doesn't, with only a few pockets fit to stand and watch the game.

The big plus of this place for me, was the atmosphere. For a Monday night, usually the quietest of the week, against a lousier, but divisional opponent, there were an eyelash over 40,000 people here. It ended up being a 1-0 win for the Brewers, with the run coming in the top of the 1st and some tension in the bottom of the 9th, with a few video reviews. The fans were very much into the game, but not rabid, like in some other places. Cardinal fans enjoy a seemingly random reputation for being knowledgeable and well-behaved and I can't disagree after coming here. This place is up there with Wrigley and San Francisco in terms of atmosphere, at least according to me.

The slight knock, was the food. There didn't seem to be a whole lot you couldn't do anywhere else. I went to a Hardee's on the third base side of the upper deck and paid 17.50 for a burger, fries and drink, there's high-priced concessions, which are kind of the norm, and then there's this insanity. Only Toronto is worse, in my experience.

Overall, even gougy concessions can't take away from the increasingly rare pleasure of a big crowd, watching baseball for baseball's sake. Between that and the hotel(The Moonrise, on University Blvd.) I will be back in St.L at some point.

Update 2020: It's very hard to believe that it's been almost 5 years since I was here. I would love to update this place this year, but am not too sure about my summer schedule. St. Louis continues it's solid relationship with the Cardinals, finishing 2nd in attendance for 2019, averaging just under 43k a game. If you look up "Busch Stadium replacement" this place is it. Having only opened in 2006 and drawing good crowds, there's no talk of a new park and I wouldn't expect this to change for at least the next 10 years. A point for atmosphere and concession, with a minus for expensive food mean this place is a solid 8.


Linescore
2015-06-01
                          123     456    789    RHE
Milwaukee           100    000    000     160
St. Louis              000   000    000     081
Temp: 65F   Time: 3:05  Att: 40,689

Newman Outdoor Field

Fargo-Moorhead Red Hawks, American Association

7/10

 

The exterior? Red bricks. The field is sponsored by "Newman Outdoor" a local billboard firm.

A late May evening saw a smaller crowd for the opening week of the season in Fargo.

This is a very good facility for this league, especially compared to some of the lesser ones.

I ended up coming into Fargo from rural Wisconsin, where I'd stopped after seeing a White Sox game the day before. I was winding down my 2017 trip and this was the last new park I was going to get to see. It's located in North Dakota's largest city, just across the state line from Minnesota. The park is nestled on the campus of North Dakota State University, which presented as more of an ag school than anything. The park is used for college baseball earlier in the spring.

The field is a redbrick facade with a wide, wraparound concrete concourse with a view of the field.It's not very remarkable, but for this level, its a more than adequate park. Food options were pretty tame, I went into the left field corner and ordered something a little better, but don't remember what it was. Maybe do the reviews a little more promptly? The game was a little one sided for the visitors as a recent NDSU grad threw 7 scoreless innings for Sioux City in his one and only pro start. The atmosphere was somewhat flat, as it was the first Tuesday night home game of the season and closer to 60 degrees than baseball weather.

This place is entitled to it's 7, but not much else. I'd for sure be willing to go back, but it's kind of an outpost for most people. For me, it's on the way south and east, so I'm sure I'll see it again soon enough.


Linescore
2017-05-30
                                                     123  456   789    R H E
Sioux City Explorers                       000  105  010  7 12 1
Fargo-Moorhead Red Hawks            000   000  000  0 5  0
Time: 3:04 Temp: 63F Att: 2,051