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By Tim Wood
Major league baseball shot itself in the foot a few years ago with a strike and the cancellation of the World Series. Over the July 4 weekend, my faith in the big leagues was at least partially restored.
As readers of past columns know, I grew up as a St. Louis Cardinal baseball fan. I had planned to visit family in Kansas City over the July 4 weekend, and then discovered that the Cardinals were playing in St. Louis that weekend.
A quick trip to their web site provided the surprising news that tickets were reasonable priced and seats were available. Children's seats were priced as low as $3.
With my two boys in tow, we headed up to St. Louis Friday. I hadn't been in Busch Stadium in years. I've watched games there since the 1960s. I saw the original stadium configuration with grass, then saw games with Astroturf and the "wailing walls."
With the construction of an indoor football stadium in St. Louis, Busch Stadium has become a baseball-only field. It has been remodeled, and even from my seats, one row below the top, it was beautiful.
Baseball on Astroturf is an abomination. Busch Stadium now has grass. It also has an old-fashioned scoreboard, sections that honor players who have had their numbers retired, and the "Big Mac" zone. If Mark McGwire or any other player deposits a home run in that upper deck area, everyone in the stadium goes home with a coupon for a McDonald's Big Mac.
Although the Cardinals lost to the Arizona Diamondbacks, McGwire didn't disappoint. He sent a line drive over the left field wall for a home run, then followed up with a monster shot that hit the Big Mac sign. Two feet higher and we would have had hamburgers for lunch the next day.
Pre-game activities included parachutists, a veteran playing the National Anthem on a trumpet, and a jazz trio doing "Take Me Out to the Ballgame."
There may be hope for major league baseball yet.
Published July 9, 1999 in The Columbia Daily Herald.
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