Margaret BauerHolding hands, a middle-aged couple leans against the guardrail, peering out into a pit of metal support beams and scurrying hard hats. At their backs stands the soon-to-be-demolished monolith of Busch Stadium, which will be left in the dust when the construction on the Cardinals’ new ballpark concludes next spring.
“It really is the end of an era,” the older man says. “And it’s about more than just baseball…believe it or not, our first date was to the Cards-Braves game in ’66-the stadium’s inaugural game. I don’t remember who won. But the date went well,” he says, while his wife affectionately rubs his thinning hair.
The Cardinals in fact defeated Atlanta 4-3 in that match-off. But now, almost 39 years later, fans such as these are the ones left feeling beaten down.
“It just makes me feel old,” the man says. “It brings home the idea that we’re not as young as we used to be. It’s a little difficult to see something like this turned into something for the St. Louis history books. I know it’s just a stadium, but it’s also a landmark that represents a lot more to me-attending those ballgames as a teenager, drinking my first ballpark beer, and courting my wife,” he adds with a wink.
This nostalgic older couple is not alone at their perch high above the foundations of the infant Busch Stadium.
One college student peering across the site to the new park’s framework says he’ll miss the old Busch despite being a recent transplant to the city.
“The town I grew up in didn’t have much in the way of professional sports, let alone a major-league baseball team,” he says. “When I moved out here for school a little over three years ago, I was immediately drawn in by the atmosphere, and I’ve been a captive Cardinals fan ever since. I like the feel of the old Busch-whenever I’m at a game I just get the feeling that I’m a part of something very established.”
Construction workers are busy laying down support beams and a tour group of elementary school kids walks by on a stadium tour, arm-in-arm. As the middle-aged couple leave their post at the edge of the platform and walk off toward their parked car, I can’t help but be reminded that this ebb and flow of old and new is far from an isolated occurrence.
Fast forward six months from now to February 2006. With spring around the corner, many of us are setting out on new adventures of our own. Maybe it’s the prospect of life after graduation in May for the seniors, the excitement of a budding new relationship, or a really kick-ass summer break destination that puts St. Louis to shame.
In any case, you’re in good company. Spring should be a time for reveling in the present and enjoying where you’re at. Winter’s behind us, and what better time to focus on the here and now then today, the time of year when the first tans appear, people fall in love (or so the story goes), and you can’t walk through the Quad without dodging the Frisbees whizzing past your head.
You never know when you’ll find yourself in the position of that husband and wife, looking back on your first-date locale with an air of nostalgia, wistfully accepting that your ballpark will soon be a pile of rubble or that they’ve turned your all-night diner into a Walgreen’s.
So try to relax and enjoy what’s left of our precious Busch Stadium. And if you really want to make a good impression, buy your girlfriend some Cardinals tickets so she can legally kick back with a Bud Light in the nosebleed section of Busch while it still exists.