Busch Stadium
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| Busch Stadium | |
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| Facility Statistics | |
| Location | 250 Stadium Plaza St. Louis, Missouri 63102 |
| Opened | May 12, 1966 |
| Owner | The St. Louis Cardinals |
| Surface | Grass |
| Architects | Sverdrup & Parcel and Associates Edward Durell Stone Schwarz & Van Hoefen, Associated |
| Former Names | |
| Busch Memorial Stadium | 1966-1982 |
| Tenants | |
| St. Louis Cardinals (MLB) | 1966-present |
| St. Louis Cardinals (NFL) | 1966-1987 |
| St. Louis Rams (NFL) | 1995 |
| Seating Capacity | |
| 2003 baseball | 49,676 |
| Dimensions | |
| 1966 Original | |
| Left Field | 330 ft |
| Left-Center | 386 ft |
| Center Field | 414 ft |
| Right-Center | 386 ft |
| Right Field | 330 ft |
| 1996 to Date | |
| Left Field | 330 ft |
| Left-Center | 372 ft |
| Center Field | 402 ft |
| Right-Center | 372 ft |
| Right Field | 330 ft |
| Backstop | 64 ft |
Busch Stadium in St. Louis, Missouri has been the home of the St. Louis baseball Cardinals since May 12, 1966, four days after the last game was played in their old home, also known as Busch Stadium or Sportsman's Park. It was known as Busch Memorial Stadium until 1982. The stadium's name comes from the Busch family of Anheuser-Busch, who owned the baseball team until March 1996 and championed the stadium's construction.
It was the home of the St. Louis football Cardinals from 1966 through 1987, until the team moved to Arizona after owner Bill Bidwill failed to convince the city to build a new stadium. The St. Louis Rams played there briefly during part of the 1995 NFL season, until their new stadium, now the Edward Jones Dome, was ready.
The stadium was designed by architect Edward Durrell Stone. Its arched design echoes the nearby Gateway Arch. The grounds are home to bronze statues of the baseball team's Hall-of-Famers such as Bob Gibson and Stan Musial. The Musial statue was unveiled on a Sunday in August, 1968, after the Chicago Cubs had swept a 3-game series, and some fans feared the statue might turn out to be Ernie Banks.
The stadium's playing surface, originally natural grass, was Astroturf starting in 1970. With the plastic surface and the field below street level, hot July days effectively turned the diamond into the world's largest Teflon frying pan. Thankfully, grass returned in 1996 after the Rams moved to their new indoor stadium.
Busch Stadium has hosted World Series games in six different seasons: 1967, 1968, 1982, 1985, 1987, and 2004. The stadium was also the site of Mark McGwire's historic 62nd home run of the 1998 season that broke Roger Maris' single-season record, and also of Big Mac's 70th of that season for a record which lasted through 2001. It remains to be seen whether the recent steroids scandal will taint those records.
The dimensions in center and the power alleys have been altered from time to time over the years. Initially the park was very conducive to the Bob Gibson and Lou Brock style of play, lots of room for pitchers to make mistakes, and for extra-base hits and not so many home runs. Later changes tried to make the outfield better balanced between pitching and power hitting. In the interest of space, only the original and the most recent dimensions are shown in the accompanying grid.
Of all the 1960s "cookie cutter" stadiums, Busch is probably the most visually appealing and best-designed. Post-1995 remodeling further improved the intimacy level about as much as possible for a multi-purpose facility. Regardless, the stadium, now one of the older Major League Baseball venues, is scheduled to be demolished in late 2005, to be replaced by a new 46,000-seat ball park scheduled to open in April 2006. The new park will also be named Busch Stadium.
The original design of the 1966 stadium was a true baseball park. It was then altered to accommodate the NFL. 40 years later, the original dream will become reality.
Links
- Busch Stadium on Google maps (http://maps.google.com/maps?ll=38.624014,-90.192786&spn=0.004603,0.007060&t=k&hl=en)
Busch_Stadium,_Exterior.jpg