Driving up I-55, I could hardly control my excitement of visiting the new Busch Stadium in St. Louis for the first time as I weaved through traffic with my wife critiquing each move.
Although I’ve seen games at nearly 30 Major League Baseball parks, I’ve never had the opportunity to see the new stadium of my favorite ball club, the Cardinals.
Once we got downtown, I found the same parking garage I used for the old Busch Stadium and we made our way across the street to the new stadium, which opened in 2006 with the Cardinals winning the World Series.
My first impression of the structure reminded me of a  mixture between Camden Yards in Baltimore and Coors Field in Denver, two other spectacular baseball facilities.
But as I walked from the left field corner around to the home plate entrance I noticed an attention to detail that is not common with most parks. Statues of former Cardinal greats like Ozzie Smith, Bob Gibson, Stan Musial and more showed St. Louis’ rich history of baseball excellence.
The arches that greet fans at the home plate entrance are a nice touch but what’s inside is even better. I’ve seen the park on television many, many times but the tube doesn’t do it justice. My wife and I had our 8 ½ month baby girl Olivia with us, so we were a bit concerned being the only couple with a stroller.
Once inside, we took an escalator up to our killer seats, which were 30 rows behind home plate on the lower level. These were not cheap seats at $75 apiece, but they were certainly worth it considering the face value read $99. My wife and I also paid $75 per ticket at Fenway Park in Boston last April, but we were about 30 rows behind the center field wall.
We arrived nearly two hours early so we watched batting practice and toured the concourse, which was a baseball fans’ paradise with food, drinks, games, memorabilia and more. I recommend the Nathan’s Hot Dogs.
Everywhere we went, the ushers were making sure all the fans had enough water, especially us, since we had a baby. One usher said if my wife and baby get too hot they could come up to a “cool-off room” with plenty of free ice water. All the workers were extremely nice, it felt like I was in the South rather than the Midwest. You could tell they all took pride in their jobs, which is a reflection of the Cards’ wonderful organization.
They even had ice chests set up around the concourse so fans could get a cup of ice and fill it with water from a free fountain. That is not usual in this day of greedy owners and overpaid players. Yes, an adult beverage at $7.75 a pop is ridiculous but at least the option of free water was available.
Once completely settled in our seats, I looked around the new stadium with amazement. The downtown buildings hover in all directions and the arch tops it off, providing a wonderful backdrop for baseball.
A few reminders of the Old Busch Stadium remain like the green grass in dead center field and BigMac Land in deep left field, but the new features are what make the new Busch a Top 5 ballpark in my opinion.
The main video scoreboard in right center is incredible, topped by a pair of Redbirds with a neat wind-up clock in the middle–it is cool but not distracting from the game. In fact, everything about the stadium oozes with a true baseball feel.
No gimmicky sounds or music is needed, just the occasional “charge” when the Cards get a rally stirring, which wasn’t often considering they lost to the Minnesota Twins 3-1 that evening.
Getting back to the seats, we were fortunate to be on the end but it wouldn’t have been too bad to be in the middle because there were only 10 seats per row. Instead of having people passing by all game making it hard to stay focused on the action, the small rows felt neighborly. It also helps that Cardinal fans are savvy enough to wait until the inning is over to get a drink or go to the restroom.
Speaking of between innings, about every other inning two girls with recycle trash bags came by and picked up garbage so it wouldn’t pile up around the seating area. Also, our seats were cushioned and every bit as comfortable as a movie theater, plus this stadium had plenty of shade unlike the old Busch Stadium, which trapped the heat because it didn’t have an open-air design like the new park.
The game itself was a bit boring but the sight lines from nearly every seat looked to be tremendous. I know our view was amazing. Even though the team didn’t play real well, the fans had their back to the end. No booing and moaning like you get in New York, Philadelphia and many other cities. I can only imagine how cool it would have been to attend the next day when Albert Pujols hit two homeruns in a Cards’ victory.
If you want to experience baseball at its purest with modern technology meeting an old-time feel, go to the new Busch Stadium. It may take a while to save up enough money depending on your budget, but it’s worth every penny.
My daughter probably won’t remember her first trip to St. Louis but we have pictures that will be fun to go through when she gets older. To top it all off, Ozzie Smith, my favorite player of all-time and idol growing up, threw out the first pitch.

(Will Gilbert is sports editor for The Sun-Times. Send comments to sports@thesuntimes.com)