The Chris Moeller Archives

Twilight of the gods

May 12th marks two important baseball anniversaries. Thirty-nine years ago today, a new Busch Stadium (the second) opened in St. Louis. International beer baron and Cardinals' owner August A. Busch, Jr., to his endless credit and in contrast with his successors, built the ballpark with his own money. It cost $26 million to construct, and with the exception of a $6 million bond issue for site improvements, the money came from Busch and other private sources. That $26 million translates to about $154 million in 21st century dollars, according to The Inflation Calculator.

Busch's vision built loyalty in generations of baseball fans in the midwest, and through baseball and his ballpark, Gussie finally received the love of the St. Louis community he had never received from his beer business. Well into his eighties, Busch would climb onto a bright red beer wagon on Opening Day and prior to post-season games, and be pulled by a team of Clydesdales. Decked in a red cowboy hat and red jacket, he would receive a standing ovation. He sold a hell of a lot of beer, too. There's a lesson in capitalism and public goodwill in there somewhere.
As you probably know by now (though it's received too little national attention,) the stadium's 39th birthday is also going to be its last. Fittingly, one of Busch's sons, Billy, pulled the number off the outfield wall this afternoon, counting down the remaining home games at the park (now 61.) The game on May 12th, 1966 went 12 innings before Hall-of-Famer Lou Brock singled in the winning run. Today, the Cards blew out the candles with a thumping of the Dodgers, 10-3.


Today also marks Yogi Berra's 80th birthday. The Yankees Hall-of-Famer and American folk hero was born on Elizabeth Street in the Hill section of St. Louis, the original Italian-American neighborhood in the Gateway City. Fourteen years ago, the old man and I got up early on a Sunday and went out to snap a picture of the house, which still stands. Directly across the street, was- and is- the boyhood home of former Cardinals catcher, Hall-of-Fame broadcaster, and former Carson guest host Joe Garagiola. Joe is more responsible than anyone for perpetuating the image of Lawrence Berra as "the unwitting philosopher-king of the Cultural West." (My phrase.) The two grew up playing ball on a trash dump with a burned-out hunk of a car serving as a dugout. (Harry Caray was also raised there, in an orphanage, roughly a decade earlier.)

Elizabeth Street looked in 1991 just as you would imagine it-- well-kept, modest homes built of St. Louis-style red brick, surrounded by manicured lawns and hedges, with a sprinkling of Virgin Mary statues scattered about near neighborhood doorways. Steven Soderbergh's 1993 film, "King of the Hill," was based and filmed on location there. I'm pretty sure that Berra's sister (sister[s]?) still live in that part of St. Louis. One was a nun, I know that.


I hope Yogi and Joe both get a chance to pull down a number at the stadium this year. I've spent a lot of time considering the pomp and circumstance of this tradition already, and I want to share some of my latest thoughts on the subject with you. First of all, I hope it's considered a natural that former Cardinals MVP and Manager Joe Torre will pull down a number when the Yankees visit Busch next month. (You might have heard, Joe's had a bit of managerial success since he left town, though Buzz Bissinger never wrote a book about him.)

Many people probably expect Stan Musial to pull down the final number. After all, the 84-year-old is one of the top 5 ballplayers of all-time (I'll explain this at another time), and he's widely and accurately considered the Greatest Cardinal of Them All. He'd bust out his harmonica and make it a great party, October 2nd. But Stan never played in this Busch Stadium. He retired in 1963, having played his entire career at old Sportsman's Park, which later became the original Busch Stadium. He wore uniform #6 so pulling off that number would be appropriate, but the last homestand is only five games long, so game 6 would fall on a Wednesday afternoon two and a half weeks before the season ends. See how tricky this becomes?
Ozzie Smith wore #1 so he'd be a great choice to bring down the final number, and he made Busch Stadium his creative canvas for 15 years, but he doesn't get along well with the current manager so that's not a done deal. Mark McGwire provided Busch with its greatest international exposure, so he'd be a fine choice (and screw your steroid bullshit,) but he never played in a World Series in St. Louis. Whitey Herzog gave Busch Stadium its everlasting legacy, which is its role in defining the "Runnin' Redbirds" World Series clubs on the carpet of the 1980s, and Red Schoendienst managed the World Series clubs of 1967 and 1968.

I think my choice, though, would be the guy who's probably seen more ballgames at Busch than any other person. Broadcaster and former Card Mike Shannon was in the lineup in right field the night the park opened. The St. Louis native homered at Busch in Game 3 of the '67 Series, and again in Game 7 in '68. He retired from baseball and the Cards in 1970, and has been a broadcaster for the team since '72. On many of the nights we weren't at Busch Stadium, Mike was our eyes and ears, and with Jack Buck's departure, he's the ideal choice. As Mike himself would say, "It looks like ole' Abner will be right on duty in the ninth. Heh, heh, heh."

posted by CM @ 10:58 PM