The St. Louis Cardinals play host to the Texas Rangers on Wednesday, for Game 1 of the World Series. Busch Stadium is a terrific park packed with passionate fans who are very knowledgeable about baseball. And no wonder – the Cardinals are playing in their 18th World Series, having won 10 of them, second only to the Yankees in the number of championships. Who Has the Most World Championships
The Cardinals opened their 46,000 seat stadium in 2006. It is a retro-style ballpark with natural grass and a panoramic view of the downtown skyline, highlighted by the St. Louis Arch, which towers some 630 feet above the Mississippi River.
Busch Stadium has a terrific looking scoreboard in a ballpark that offers great vantage points no matter where you sit. Notice the big logo for Budweiser, a St. Louis brew made of course by Anheiser-Busch.
Outside the ballpark there are statues of Cardinals greats Bob Gibson and Stan Musial. Gibson, the Cardinal leader in career victories with 251, was one of the most intimidating pitchers of his era, knocking down any batter who dared to dig in at the plate. During the 1968 season, Gibson’s Earned Run Average was just 1.12, fourth best of any pitcher in Major League history.
Stan Musial was a fan favorite, making the National League All-Star team every year from 1946 to 1963, ending his career with 3,630 hits (4th highest total in baseball history) and a lifetime batting average of .331.
One of the best things about Busch Stadium is when the Cardinals win – they always celebrate with fireworks after the game!
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Hopefully we won’t see too many fireworks in St. Louis this year – I’m rooting for the Texas Rangers to win their very first World Series ever. And I think they’ll do it. I said I was done making predictions but I can’t resist. I’m picking the Rangers in 6!
