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ALL STAR GAME: 2009 WORLD SERIES: 2006
BEEN THERE: Aug. 15, 2009 (quick "drive-by")
With a beautiful red brick exterior and steel arches along the roof and on top of the main entrances, this is one of the most self-consciously "retro"-design stadiums. That is entirely appropriate in the heart of one of the most enthusiastic and successful baseball cities in America. After repeated delays over financial issues, construction on a new baseball stadium in St. Louis finally began in early 2004. Because the portion on the north (left field) side overlapped with the previous "Busch Stadium," construction was not completed by the time the 2006 season began. Six thousand additional seats in the two upper decks around the left field corner opened to the public in late May, more than a month ahead of schedule.
My initial impression of this stadium was that it was too jumbled, with an unnecessary proliferation of various deck configurations. Indeed, the main profile in the diagram above only applies to the portion of the grandstand from first base to third base. From the bend near first base to right field, the lower deck extends back about ten additional rows, occupying the space where the two luxury box levels would otherwise be. On the third base side, the fourth deck terminates just before the two light standards, on the other side of which the third deck extends back several extra rows, with a roof on top. The "interrupted" upper deck design feature has been used in all but two of the major league stadiums built since the turn of the century, and this case is most similar to Citizens Bank Park, which also has a lower-profile grandstand beyond the "gap." (The same thing applies to Nationals Park in Washington.) Another similarity -- also recent trend in stadium design -- is that there is hardly any separation between the two upper decks. This upper-deck configuration is apparently intended to provide a view of the field from the upper level concourse, but my experience at Citizens Bank Park makes me dubious of that. One of the interesting features of the newest Busch Stadium is the close proximity of the upper decks to the left field corner. This made it possible to squeeze in an extra deck below the second deck; it is called the "Left Field Porch." Even though Anheuser-Busch no longer owns the Cardinals, the Budweiser logo is prominently displayed in several places, most notably on the scoreboard behind the upper deck in right center field.
The outfield, in sharp contrast to the grandstand, is almost perfectly symmetrical. This distinguishes it from the rest of the "Neoclassical" stadiums. The overall shape of the structure resembles the Rangers Ballpark in Arlington, but with four main levels. Note that the unequal closeness of the upper decks to the field is reversed from one corner to the other in the two stadiums. The fact that the upper decks bend inward at perpendicular angles struck me as fairly unique, and then realized that it is a subtle tribute to the original Busch Stadium, a.k.a. "Sportsman's Park. The biggest advantage over the previous Busch Stadium is the open view of St. Louis skyline beyond the outfield, especially the world-famous St. Louis Gateway Arch. All in all, it seems to be a very good stadium -- not outrageously fancy, not too big, and not too small. Just about right.
The new Busch Stadium proved to be as beneficial to the Cardinals's fortunes as the previous iteration had been: In its very first year in operation, 2006, the Cardinals won the National League pennant and went on to beat the Detroit Tigers four games to one in the World Series. (The last three games were at home.) The Cards thus became the fourth baseball team ever to win a world championship during the inaugural year of their new stadium; the previous such teams were the Pittsburgh Pirates (1909), the Boston Red Sox (1912), and the New York Yankees (1923).
SOURCES: Lowry (2006), Pastier (2007), Washington Post
FAN TIPS: Mike Zurawski, Jonathan Karberg, James Sutton
