Take Me Out to the Ballgame

Last night was my first visit to the new Busch Stadium. Very Norman Rockwellish, actually. If he'd painted pictures of families going to the ballpark, it would be walking by the front entrance of the new stadium. Our tickets were fan-double-tastic, thanks to former Mayor S.'s generosity. We sat in section 250, and my seat was directly behind home plate. This section is in the Red Bird Club, so on the way to our seats we walked thru the club with all the good food, including a bakery....ooo la la the chocolate covered strawberries!

I was soaking in the view of the field and the park from my great seat when the folks in the row in front of us arrived. Naturally, an EXTRA extra large fan sat in front of me and felt the need to lean forward most of the game, so that I could only see his XXL back. He was wearing an ESPN polo shirt which had slogans written all over it. Slogans like: "A soft drink and a bag of chips." "Get on with your bad self." There were many more, but I only had seven innings to read them. They left when the Cardinals were down by 6.

Section 250 is a great place to expect foul balls. One man two seats and one row in front of me caught a ball hit by Cinncinati. I ducked every time a ball even looked like it would sail over the net. Not that I had anything to fear. The XXL fan made a perfect body guard. No ball would get by his girth.

I didn't have any of the delish snacks, though B. had a hot dog and two beers and J. got peanuts. I'd eaten four quarts of popcorn at home before I knew we had tickets that afternoon.

Even after Cinncinati's home runs and single hits put them 7 up, we held out hope that the Cardinals would rally. They tried. But like a bad deja vous, they filled all three bases as Pujols stepped up to the bat and ....struck out. We lost 7 to 1.

A lost game cannot dim the lights on my first ever visit, free tickets, free parking, balmy weather, and good company at St. Louis. But I sure won't be able to sit any place else now that I'm totally spoiled by section 250. Unless I get to sit in the green seats where they bring you food. And those party boxes are nice. Oh, and the game isn't bad either.