Busch Stadium Tribute, 1966-2005
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New Ballpark Pictures!! (under construction - 2004/2005)
It may seem strange to some to pay tribute to a Stadium, but when I can remember events that happened at the Stadium better than I can remember other events of my life (much to the chagrin of my wife), it doesn't seem strange at all to me! I can remember as if it were yesterday certain games, certain at-bats, certain ballpark events.
The first memory of going to Busch was in the early 1970s when my Dad took the family along with a school outing. I remember one of the times it was t-shirt night.
I remember going to a game for my birthday in the mid-70s. It was a rain delayed game and we walked up to the ticket counter and got box seats right behind the visitors dugout. During the game, Bernie Carbo hit a triple.
I remember going to a game in the late-70s with a high school friend. He had gotten first row box seats ticket somehow, but they were way down the left field line right next to the ball girl. It was the first time I went without adult supervision!
I remember going to a game in the early 80s. It was against the Braves and the Cardinals got a come from behind victory. I believe it was mug night.
I remember in 1980 winning 2 tickets to a game because I submitted a question to "Ask the GM" on KMOX radio and they used my question on the air. I think the question had to do with what player would they choose in the draft if they could pick anyone.
I remember trying to go to a game in early April and the game was called because of snow! It was visor day, so we went in and got the visors and waited for the game to be called.
I remember in the early 80s (82/83) after a long extra inning game, my brother and I were sitting in the parking garage just about to exit on the street and Willie McGee ran right in front of our car! (He was on the way to his car.)
I remember going to a game with my brother and he caught a batting practice home run. We always went early and watched batting practice from the right field loge box sections.
I remember driving down from college for opening day 1983. That was the year of the new scoreboard and video board. The crowd booed the new scoreboard because they played commercials between innings. The Cards didn't have a good day.
I was at the game that Darryl Strawberry hit a home run (off of Ken Daley) that hit the clock on the right field scoreboard.
I remember going to a game with my youngest brother and it rained so hard that we couldn't see the other side of the stadium, but after a long delay the grounds crew got the field back in shape and they finished the game.
In the mid 80s I went to several opening days in a row. (Maybe 83-87?)
I remember being at the NL East title clinching game in 1987 and everyone was given a "rally t-shirt" to wave. It was a sea of white!
I remember going to a game in the mid-90s that also had a long rain delay, so they started showing the Chicago Bulls playoff game on the big screen.
Busch First/Lasts
Feat First Last Game May 12, 1966, Cardinals 4, Atlanta 3 October 2, 2005, Cardinals 7, Reds 5 Starting Pitchers Ray Washburn (Cardinals) vs Wade Blasingame (Atlanta) Matt Morris, (Cardinals) vs Brandon Claussen (Reds) Batter Felipe Alou, Atlanta Chris Denorfia, Reds Hit Gary Geiger, Atlanta, single Albert Pujols, Cardinals, single Run Jerry Buchek, Cardinals Abraham Nunez, Cardinals Double Geiger, Atlanta So Taguchi, Cardinals Triple Mike Shannon, Cardinals, 5/13/1966 Jose Reyes, Mets, 9/11/2005 Home Run Alou, Atlanta Chris Duncan, Cardinals RBI Shannon David Eckstein, Cardinals Stolen base Lou Brock, Cardinals, 5/15/1966 Jim Edmonds, Cardinals, 9/30/2005 Winning Pitcher Don Dennis, Cardinals Brad Thompson, Cardinals Losing Pitcher Phil Niekro, Atlanta Claussen Save Nelson Briles, Cardinals, 5/15/1966 Jason Isringhausen, Cardinals Walk Hank Aaron, Atlanta, by Washburn John Mabry, Cardinals, by David Weathers, Reds Strikeout Eddie Matthews, Atlanta, by Washburn Denorfia, Reds, by Isringhausen Two-homer game Alou, Atlanta Larry Walker, Cardinals, 10/1/2005 Three-homer game Larry Parrish, Montreal, 5/29/1977 Larry Walker, Colorado, 4/28/1999 Grand Slam Curt Flood, Cardinals, 5/25/1966 Albert Pujols, Cardinals, 9/30/2005 Inside the park HR Dal Maxville, Cardinals, 5/17/1967 Brant Brown, Pittsburgh, 5/9/1999 Source: Cardinals, Post-Dispatch research - Compiled by Derrick Goold
The Cards were 1,760-1,409 in regular season games and 35-18 in the postseason at Busch Stadium.
The stadium was originally known as Civic Center Busch Memorial Stadium, but the name was shortened to Busch Stadium in 1982.
Because of the team's long association with the Anheuser Busch Brewing Co., the traditional seventh-inning stretch rendition of "Take Me Out to the Ballgame" is followed after the bottom of the seventh by the Budweiser "King Of Beers" jingle.
Do you remember? (all these events happened at Busch Stadium)
- Bob Gibson shutting out his 8th club of the season, July 25th, 1968?
- Carl Taylor hitting a walk off grand slam against the Padres on Aug. 11th, 1970?
- Bob Gibson getting his 200th win on Aug 4th, 1971?
- Bob Gibson getting his 3000th strikeout on July 17th, 1974?
- Lou Brock stealing his 104th & 105th base of the season on Sept. 10th, 1975
- Kenny Reitz hitting two home runs and driving in eight runs on June 28th, 1977?
- Lou Brock stealing his 3000th base on Sept. 30th, 1977?
- Roger Freed hitting a pinch hit walk-off grand slam in the 11th inning against the Astros on May 1st, 1979?
- Lou Brock's 3000th hit on Aug. 13th, 1979?
- Gary Templeton collecting his 100th hit from the right side of the plate on Sept. 28th, 1979? (he already had 111 hits from the left side)
- Pete Rose moving into 2nd place on the all-time hit list on June 22nd, 1982?
- Steve Carlton getting his 300th win on Sept. 23rd, 1983?
- The Cardinals stealing their 314th base of the season, on Oct. 5th, 1985? (ties the 1912 New York Giants)
- Todd Worrell getting his 24th save of the season on Aug. 10th, 1986. (a record at the time for rookies)
- Tommy Herr hitting a 10th inning walk-off grand slam against the Mets on seat cushion night, April 18th, 1987?
- Vince Coleman stealing his 50th consecutive base, July 26th, 1989?
- Lee Smith getting his 300th save on Aug 25th, 1991?
- Lee Smith getting his 47th save on Oct. 2nd, 1991? (NL record at the time)
- Tom Henke getting his 300th save on Aug. 18th, 1995?
- Brian Jordan's 8th inning home run winning game 4 of the 1996 LCS?
- Willie McGee hitting a 9th inning walk-off home run in the 1997 home opener?
- Mark McGwire getting 3 home runs in a game at Busch on April 14th, 1998? (first Cardinal to do so.)
- Mark McGwire getting his 62nd home run of the season on Sept. 8th, 1998? (major league record at the time)
- Mark McGwire getting his 69th & 70th home run of the season on Sept. 27, 1998? (major league record at the time)
- Mark McGwire getting his 500th home run on Aug. 5th, 1999?
- The Cardinals hitting 6 home runs in a game at Busch on April 9th, 2000?
- Edgar Renteria hitting a walk-off home run against the Cubs on July 28th, 2002?
- Tony LaRussa getting his 2,000th career win as a manager on Sept. 10, 2003?
- Ken Griffey Jr. getting his 500th home run on June 20th, 2004?
- Trevor Hoffman getting his 400th save on May 6th, 2005?
- Albert Pujols reaching 30 home runs for the fifth consecutive season on Aug. 5th 2005?
- David Eckstein hitting a walk-off grand slam against the Braves on Aug. 7th 2005?
(This site is in no way affiliated or sponsored by the St. Louis Cardinals or Major League Baseball and is intended to be used for non-commercial, personal enjoyment. Although I attempt to be as correct/accurate as possible when giving information in these documents, I make no guarantees as to their accuracy. Questions/comments may be sent to the address below. Mark Mobley (1999-2021) all rights reserved. All photos and/or images may be copyrighted by their original owners/sources.)
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