Well I meant to write about Busch Stadium in St. Louis right after we got back but I've been slacking. Better late than never right? I have to say, we had a blast at Busch Stadium! St. Louis is absolutely a baseball city and the Cardinals have a great and storied franchise much like the Giants and the Cubs so as someone who just loves the game, St. Louis was a treat!
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| A cool shot from behind home plate on our first night there |
Transportation
From what I could tell, the metro lines that run to and from the ballpark aren't bad. We only used it once since we rented a car for our trip and we were staying about 15-20 minutes away from the stadium. There are several park and ride stations so you could find the nearest station, park there and ride the metro straight to the ballpark. If you do drive, there's a parking garage by the Arch that's really cheap with all day parking. It might be more expensive during the week but it's a great option because it's less than 1 mile from the Arch to the stadium. If you can find a good deal to stay downtown, even better!
Ballpark Village
This place is CRAZY AWESOME! The Cardinals really nailed it with this and their Hall of Fame Museum next door. You walk in to a giant Fox Sports Midwest Bar that has multiple other bars and restaurants both downstairs and upstairs. And it's always hoppin' in there! The word on the street is that it's better pre-game than post-game. I have no idea if they will charge anything for the Post Season but that is definitely where I would be watching the games if I couldn't get tickets.
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| Inside of Ballpark Village from the second floor |
If you take the stadium tour, you can buy a combo ticket for the Hall of Fame Museum as well for $18 total. The tour is fantastic and ends on the field (take the 12:30 tour on a night game day and you might catch some players arriving when you are on the field!). The Cardinals are such a storied franchise, much like the Giants, that the Hall of Fame is a must. We spent over an hour in there and could have stayed longer. It was really cool. I'm not sure how to get this campaign rolling but the Giants NEED a Hall of Fame Museum. I also think they need something like the Ballpark Village.
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From the Cardinals dugout at the end of our tour
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Where to Sit
Much like Wrigley, we did a good job of sitting all over the stadium. We went to 4 games here, one Cardinals Yankees game and 3 Cardinals Giants games. Here's the breakdown of where we sat for all 4 games!
Game 1 - Section 127 (Right Field Box)
This section holds a special place in my heart even though it's right next to the Cardinals Bullpen. The usher in that section is a 19 year old kid named Aaron and he was awesome. He told us we could come back to his section any of the other 3 games and he would find us some seats over there. He was fun to chat with and hopefully if he makes it to San Francisco we can show him the ropes at AT&T. He also went over to Carlos Martinez in the bullpen and asked him for a ball, which he then gave to me. I was stoked! Since Sean is on a mission to be the next
Zack Hample, any balls we can collect are a win!
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| View from the front row of 127 |
Game 2 - Section 201 (Legends Club Party Suite)
WORTH EVERY PENNY! We bought these as soon as tickets went on sale in December for $80 each. This ticket included all you can eat food AND drinks! You get to hang out in an air conditioned suite with a personal Bartender. Ours was Dorothy and she would have beers ready and waiting for us. Then you walk out from your suite to a section of about 30 padded seats and under an overhang. If you go anytime between May and August, get these tickets for a day game. TRUST ME! It gets pretty hot and humid there and having shade and AC is where it's at! The food was delicious and I would definitely sit here again.
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| View from our seats in 201 |
Game 3 - Section 172 (Left Field Box)
These are pretty much the equivalent seats to section 127 in left field. Right next to the Visitors bullpen and a great view. The best part about these seats and the right field seats is that these aren't bleacher seats. I'm not a huge fan of bleacher seats so I liked that we had actual seats in these 2 sections. If you're lucky, you can get someone to toss you a ball from the bullpen if you are a visiting fan. This was the game that Pence hit that homer into Big Mac Land right above our heads and it was freakin sweet to watch. We kept waiting for it to fall and it never did!
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| View from our seats in 172 |
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| Giants Bullpen - Javy getting warmed up! |
Game 4 - Section 149 (Home Plate Box)
Last but not least, sitting right behind home plate! This was awesome. We only paid $90 for these seats on Stubhub and the seats were fantastic. Also padded seats which was nice! This was actually my favorite game of the 4 even though the Giants lost because we had 2 rain delays and it was our last day there, so naturally the more time we could spend there the better! We also got to see Oscar Taveras hit his first Major League home run. The stadium erupted and then the sky just opened up and it started pouring immediately. It was a cool moment to be apart of even if it was against the Giants. By the second rain delay we were pros and could tell it was about to start dumping rain again. We bailed for cover just before it started pouring again. They had to push a foot of water out of the center field bleachers once it finally stopped raining. I got a little worried they would call the game but luckily we got to finish it up. I think we would have died from the heat and humidity at this game had it not rained so I was so happy it did.
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| View from our seats in 149 |
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| Second rain delay downpoor. It was awesome! |
And finally, the best kept ticket secret at Busch Stadium. Every home game at 9am you can buy a voucher for $11.20. They sell about 200 of these I think. 15 minutes before game time, you go to the specified gate with your voucher and redeem 2 mystery tickets. These could be anywhere from lower box to standing room only but for under $6 each, it's worth the gamble. We did it just for fun to see what we would get and ended up with tickets in the second deck (similar view as club level at AT&T). If you are not picky about your seats, this is the way to go!
Ballpark Food
The absolute standout thing I had here was the tater tot nachos. They changed my life honestly. Listen, you are on vacation at a new stadium, indulgence is a must. We shared these between 3 of us and it definitely filled us up. These are only served on the lower level behind right field to my knowledge. Also, they have a great beer selection here!
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| Tater Tot Nachos aka HEAVEN! |
I will absolutely be going back here for games. It helps that one of our favorite baseball friends is a Cardinals fan so we will always be able to talk him into going back. I highly recommend checking this stadium off your list sooner rather than later!
Here are a few more pictures from our adventures.
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| The Fab Four! From Left to Right: Sean, Me, Kari, Bryan |
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The Hilton by the stadium has a restaurant and bar on the roof.
Cool shot of Busch Stadium from up there! |
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| The Arch. I couldn't get enough pictures of the Arch! |
I hope I've inspired you to check out St. Louis! You won't regret it!
