$2.539

Last night, the Cards were unable to stave off defeat, and fell at the hands of Astros. The good news was that Busch Stadium was able to host one last game.

Of course, this is a brutal end to what was a stellar season. Once again, when the postseason came around, the Cards just seemed to be out of gas. The pain of the loss is compounded by the impending demolition of old Busch Stadium to make way for the new Busch Stadium next door.

With the demolition looming, the fans last night grabbed everything that wasn’t nailed down. The news this morning showed folks with everything from trash can signs to cupholders to large seating charts. They even showed one guy with one of the gigantic mustard jars from the hot dog stands! There were fans collecting dirt from the field, taking the bunting from the railings, and even the seating section signage. This always seems to be the case when an old stadium is slated for demolition, but I’m still just amazed at the brazen attitude some of these folks have. Of course, most of ’em just don’t wanna let go — although I bet there are some fresh Busch Stadium related materials on eBay this morning! 🙂

Last night, I pulled out all my tickets from ten seasons of attending games at Busch. I have some kind of tribute to the old gal in mind, but haven’t quite figured out what to do. I have way too many to display them all, but wanna feature some of them, along with some of my favorite photos of Busch that I’ve shot over the years.

As I reflected on the games I’ve seen there, I also realized that our tickets to the World Series game 4 last year are now doubly significant. Not only was that the game that “reversed the curse” for the Red Sox, but was also the last World Series game ever played at Busch Stadium. Gotta do something special with those.

So, the season’s over for the Redbirds, and I can start focusing on other things to do with my evenings. The season went by far too quickly, and wasn’t as satisfying as it could’ve been. Next year, the Cards are in a new house, and once again baseball will grace the grass downtown. I can’t wait until then!