The first time we went to St. Louis, there were only three of us - Jason, Fish, and myself. So, it stands today as the least-attended ball trip. But, that doesn't mean there weren't some classic moments. In fact, the reason for the name of this blog came from this trip. (I'll spare everyone the insane story).
St. Louis, Missouri in the middle of July. How should I describe it? In a word or five: hot, muggy, humid, oppressive, heat. It was ridiculously hot if you can't tell from that.
Our first park was in Kansas City - Kauffman Stadium. Now, what is usually a three hour drive turned into I believe a five hour drive due to a wreck on I-70. We still made the game in plenty of time, though. The park itself was, and is, beautiful. It's just a great setup and a wonderful place to watch a game. The Royals played the A's who at that time was very good. All I remember is watching Eric Chavez bomb ball after ball into the fountains. It was ridiculous.
To be honest I have no clue who won the game. I just remember batting practice, the heat (again), and the park. It was so nice, we've been back. But, that story comes in another post.
The next night we went to (Old) Busch to watch the Cardinals play the Pirates. But, before that, we decided to take in some of the St. Louis sights - namely the arch. Due to the ridiculous demand for tours, we didn't have enough time to go up in the arch, get back to our hotel to get our game tickets, which was in East St. Louis (not really, but it would be difficult to convince any of us that), and back to the park. So...we sent Jason running back to the hotel...in the St. Louis heat. 45 minutes later, Jason returns to us, as we're sitting in the air conditioning inside the arch, dripping with sweat and none too happy. He took one for the team. LOL
So, we got to go up in the arch and it was pretty cool. It was my second time up. First time I was in high school, and it was during a thunder storm. NOT COOL!! This time thankfully was clear.
After the arch, we headed to the stadium to watch batting practice. We hoped to get in soon enough to watch Mark McGwire hit. Wellllllllll...it was Fuji Picture Day at the park. NO BATTING PRACTICE!!! CRAP!!
The game itself was ok. Cardinals beat the Pirates, but why wouldn't they? Everyone does (except the Reds on ball trip 2009...again, a later post). The one thing I remember is the Cardinals' fans. They are widely regarded as the best around. And it's pretty accurate. I remember the roar when they took the lead late in the game on what I think was a double. It was deafening.
Oh, and McGwire? Tossed during his first at bat for arguing balls and strikes. I have that on video, too, but you know the story behind that. Anyone know someone who can dub HI 8 to DVD???
There is one more inside joke from this trip. The Listerine bottle. When we checked into our hotel, we parked in front where the registration is. After we checked in, we headed to our car to unload. The car next to us decided not to wait for us to clear. So, they backed out over my bag. While they narrowly missed the camcorder, they did run over my bottle of Listerine. Of course, when a car backs over a plastic bottle of Listerine, it SOUNDS like something is being broken. I was petrified they had run over the camera. Thankfully, just the bottle of Listerine. And every year it seems, Fish has decided to dent/alter my bottle for a good laugh. Yeah, you probably had to be there. But you weren't. :-)
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