Busch Stadium
Busch Stadium III
Location	700 Clark Street St. Louis, Missouri 63102
Broke ground	January 17, 2004
Opened	April 4, 2006 (MiLB exhibition) April 10, 2006 (MLB)
Owner	St. Louis Cardinals
Surface	Grass
Construction cost	$346 million [1]
Architect	HOK Sport
Tenants	St. Louis Cardinals (NL) (2006-)
Capacity	43,975 seats 46,861 (with standing room)[2]
Field dimensions	Left Field — 336 ft / 102. Events 38 BC - Octavian marries Livia Drusilla. 1287 - King Alfonso III of Aragon invades Minorca "MMIV" redirects here For the Modest Mouse album see " Baron von Bullshit Rides Again " Events 1581 - Francis Drake completes a circumnavigation of the world and is knighted by Elizabeth I. Year 2006 ( MMVI) was a Common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. Part of the History of baseball series Minor league baseball is a hierarchy of Professional baseball leagues in North Events 879 - Louis III becomes King of the Western Franks. 1407 - the lama Year 2006 ( MMVI) was a Common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. The St Louis Cardinals (also referred to as "the Cards " or "the Redbirds " are a professional Baseball team based in St The United States dollar ( sign: $; code: USD) is the unit of Currency of the United States; it has also been The St Louis Cardinals (also referred to as "the Cards " or "the Redbirds " are a professional Baseball team based in St The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, or simply the National League ( NL) is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball Year 2006 ( MMVI) was a Common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. 5 m Left Center Field — 375 ft / 114 m Center Field — 400 ft / 122 m Right Center Field — 375 ft / 114 m Right Field — 335 ft / 102 m[3]

Busch Stadium (also referred to informally as "New Busch Stadium" or "Busch Stadium III") is the home of the St. Louis Cardinals of the National League of Major League Baseball. The St Louis Cardinals (also referred to as "the Cards " or "the Redbirds " are a professional Baseball team based in St The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, or simply the National League ( NL) is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball It replaced Busch Memorial Stadium and occupies a portion of that stadium's former footprint. Busch Memorial Stadium, or Busch Stadium was the home of the St Busch Stadium has been chosen by MLB to host the 2009 All-Star Game. Related events The DHL Fan Fest an amusement park and a quasi-museum will be held July 10 &ndash 14 at America's Center The Major League Baseball All-Star Game, also popularly known as the "Midsummer Classic" is an annual Baseball game between players from the National League ^[4]

The ballpark opened on April 4, 2006 with an exhibition between the minor league Memphis Redbirds and Springfield Cardinals, both affiliates of the St. A baseball park, baseball stadium, or ball park / ballpark is the field of play in the game of Baseball and the spectator seating areas Events 1581 - Francis Drake completes a circumnavigation of the world and is knighted by Elizabeth I. Athletics (track and field For an extensive coverage see 2006 in athletics (track and field Track Part of the History of baseball series Minor league baseball is a hierarchy of Professional baseball leagues in North The Memphis Redbirds are the Triple-A Minor league baseball affiliate of the St The Springfield Cardinals are a Minor league baseball team based in Springfield Missouri. Louis Cardinals, which Springfield won 5-3. The first official major league game occurred on April 10, 2006 as the Cardinals defeated the Milwaukee Brewers 6-4. Events 879 - Louis III becomes King of the Western Franks. 1407 - the lama Year 2006 ( MMVI) was a Common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. The Milwaukee Brewers are a Major League Baseball team based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, which plays in the Central Division of the National League A commercial area, dubbed Ballpark Village, is being developed adjacent to the stadium over the remainder of the former stadium's footprint. St Louis Ballpark Village is a planned $650 million development in downtown St

The stadium is the third stadium in St. Louis to carry the name Busch Stadium. Sportsman's Park was renamed Busch Stadium in 1953, after team owner Gussie Busch. For the race track outside Chicago known as Sportsman's Park see Chicago Motor Speedway. This page is for 3rd generation brewing magnate August A "Gussie" Busch Jr The first Busch closed in 1966, and both the baseball Cardinals, and the NFL's St. Louis Cardinals moved to a new multi-purpose stadium, named Busch Memorial Stadium. The National Football League ( NFL) is the largest professional American football league. The Arizona Cardinals are a professional American football team based in Glendale Arizona, just outside of Phoenix. Busch Memorial Stadium, or Busch Stadium was the home of the St

History

In 1995, St. Year 1995 ( MCMXCV) was a Common year starting on Sunday. Events of 1995 Louis Cardinals team ownership began to lobby for a new ballpark in downtown St. Louis, but the team was unable to acquire funding for the project for several years. Downtown St Louis is the central business district of St Louis Missouri, the hub of tourism and entertainment and the anchor of the St In June 2001, the State of Missouri signed a contract with the team, proposing a ballpark in downtown St. Events in June Madaraka Day June 1 to commemorate when Kenya gained internal self-rule Year 2001 ( MMI) was a Common year starting on Monday according to the Gregorian calendar. Missouri ( or) is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States bordered by Iowa, Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee Louis, but a subsequent funding bill was struck down in May 2002, leaving the saga open. MAY ( also known as: Mei メイ 메이 is a Korean singer well known in South Korea for singing the song "Miracle" See also 2002 (disambiguation Year 2002 ( MMII) was a Common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar. ^[5][6] Team owners sought a location near Madison, Illinois, adjacent to Gateway International Raceway, until the city of St. Madison is a city in Madison County and partially in St Clair County, Illinois, United States. Gateway International Raceway is a race track in Madison Illinois, USA just minutes from Downtown St Louis drafted a financing plan for the team to construct the new stadium in downtown St. Louis. ^[7] The Stadium was financed through private bonds, bank loans, a long-term loan from St. Louis County, and money from the team owners. The development, including the Ballpark Village will cost approximately $646 million with the stadium alone costing $346 million. ^[8]

In its debut season every game was sold out, giving a total attendance of 3,407,104 for the season, the second-largest in team history. ^[9]

Construction

New and old Busch Stadiums.

New Busch Stadium was designed by HOK Sport and built by Hunt Construction with an estimated cost of $365 million. The stadium was built in phases:

• First, the construction of the south side of the new stadium.
• Second, the wrecking ball demolition of the old stadium, which began the week of November 7, 2005 and lasted until December 8, 2005. A wrecking ball is a heavy steel ball usually hung from a crane, that is used for demolishing large buildings Events 1492 - The Ensisheim Meteorite the oldest Meteorite with a known date of impact strikes the Earth around noon in a Wheat Year 2005 ( MMV) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link displays full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Events 1609 - Biblioteca Ambrosiana opens its reading room the second public library of Europe.
• Third, building the north side of the new stadium (i. e. the left field area).

The field level (16,880 seats), terrace level (9,150), and bleachers (3,661) were completed in time for opening day, with total capacity on that day of 37,962, not including up to 2,751 standing room tickets. Construction on the seating area was completed in late May increasing the capacity for the May 29, 2006 game vs the Houston Astros with finishing touches performed throughout the year. Events 363 - Roman Emperor Julian defeats the Sassanid army in the Battle of Ctesiphon, under the walls of the Year 2006 ( MMVI) was a Common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. The Houston Astros are a Professional baseball team based in Houston Texas. Including all 2,886 standing-room-only tickets for the general public and the suites and party rooms, the stadium's total capacity is 46,861. Natural grass turf was installed in March 2006. Stories without links will be removed. News stories must be in English

Features and design

Whereas the old stadium was a fully enclosed "cookie-cutter" facility similar to Riverfront, Veterans and Three Rivers stadiums, the new stadium is much more open-air, allowing an unobstructed view of its surroundings. Multi-purpose stadiums are a type of Stadium designed for use by multiple teams playing Baseball, American football, soccer, and in some Riverfront Stadium, later known as Cinergy Field, (2002 was the home of the Cincinnati Reds National League Baseball team and the Philadelphia Veterans Stadium (informally called "The Vet") was a professional sports facility located at the northeast corner of Broad Street and Pattison Three Rivers Stadium was a Multi-purpose stadium located in Pittsburgh Pennsylvania from 1970 to 2000 It offers a panoramic view of the downtown St. Louis skyline, as well as the city's distinctive Gateway Arch. The Jefferson National Expansion Memorial is located in St Louis Missouri near The Arch and several other significant St. Louis landmarks are reflected in the park's architecture.

The Gate 3 entrance on the west side of Busch Stadium

The Gate 3 entrance on the west side of the stadium is most iconic, with a large "bridge" resembling the Eads Bridge arching over the entrance. The Eads Bridge is a combined road and railway bridge over the Mississippi River at St Outside this entrance also stands a bronze statue of Cardinals legend Stan "The Man" Musial. Stanley Frank Musial (born November 21, 1920) originally Stanisław Franciszek Musiał, (ˈmjuːziəl nicknamed "Stan the Man" and Other Cardinals statues that previously surrounded Busch Memorial Stadium are now displayed at the corner of Clark and Eighth streets, outside the Cardinals' team store. The exterior contains historical plaques of Cardinals logos, the STL insignia and a Busch Stadium logo behind home plate. Hand-carved originals were cast into colored concrete for a total of 94 castings that adorn the brick facade. Around the exterior of the stadium, embedded into the sidewalks are fan-purchased bricks surrounding marble plaques commemorating the Top 100 Cardinal Moments.

The interior incorporates many familiar elements from the previous Busch Stadium into the new, intimate "retro-era" design. The traditional green fences and Cardinal red seats are a theme continued from the previous ballpark. The center field batter's eye is a grassy knoll, flanked symmetrically by bleacher seats and the bullpens. Although a new electronic scoreboard is now in use in right center-field, the old scoreboard is still displayed in the main concourse as a monument to the old stadium, acting as a buffer to the nearby I-64/US-40. Interstate 64 (abbreviated I-64) is an Interstate Highway in the eastern United States. Furthermore, the neon flying redbird display is faithfully recreated on the new LED ribbon boards during Cardinals home runs. A tornado siren also sounds and fireworks are launched from the right field scoreboard after Cardinal home runs and wins.

The new stadium has nearly the same field dimensions as the old stadium, although with less foul territory. Observations indicate it plays fairly to both hitters and pitchers, as well as left-handers and right-handers.

After St. Louis Post-Dispatch sportswriter Rick Hummel was honored with the J. G. Taylor Spink Award and induction into the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum in 2007, the Cardinals renamed the stadium's press box the "Bob Broeg-Rick Hummel Press Box", honoring the two local writers enshrined in Cooperstown. The St Louis Post-Dispatch is the only major city-wide Newspaper in St Rick Hummel is a St Louis Post-Dispatch Columnist who was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize in 1980 The J G Taylor Spink Award is the highest award given by the Baseball Writers Association of America (BBWAA to its members Robert William Patrick Broeg ( March 18 1918 &ndash October 28 2005) was an American sportswriter

Longtime KSHE radio personality John Ulett serves as the stadium's public address announcer, while Ernie Hays is the stadium organist. KSHE is a rock & roll radio station licensed to Crestwood Missouri which serves the St Both of these men served in these same positions at the old Busch Memorial Stadium.

Directly north of the stadium, construction will soon commence on Ballpark Village which will include both commercial and residential space and the new St. St Louis Ballpark Village is a planned $650 million development in downtown St Louis Cardinals Hall of Fame.

Recent Additions

In 2008, the St. Louis Cardinals introduced the Champions Club [1] inside Busch Stadium. The Club used to be a number of corporate suites along the third baseline. It seats 382 fans in the remodeled suite section. The Champions Club also hosts a pilot program called the SkyBOX. St. Louis-based Vivid Sky introduced the SkyBOX into the Champions Club in April of 2008. Vivid Sky has developed the SkyBOX in-venue sports entertainment system that gives the power back to the fans in the stands The SkyBOX gives Champions Club patrons the ability to view instant replays and statistical information via a wireless device (iPhone or iPod Touch).

2006 weather incident

On July 19, 2006, a severe thunderstorm associated with a passing derecho whipped up very high winds throughout St. Events 711 - Muslim forces under Tariq ibn Ziyad defeat the Visigoths led by their king Roderic. Year 2006 ( MMVI) was a Common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. derecho ( from Spanish: " derecho " meaning "right" is a widespread and long-lived violent convectively induced straight-line windstorm that is Louis. At the new Busch Stadium, the storm knocked over portable concession stands, damaging the infield rain tarp as it was deployed, and dislodged several of the plastic sheets that were designed to protect the open-air press box. One of those sheets, at least 10 feet by 5 feet (3 m by 1. 5 m) in dimension, fell into the stands. At least thirty spectators were injured, of whom five were taken to the hospital (one of those had a seizure apparently unrelated to the storm). An epileptic seizure is caused by excessive and/or hypersynchronous electrical Neuronal activity and is usually self-limiting The game, which saw the Cardinals defeat the Atlanta Braves 8-3, was delayed by 2 hours and 21 minutes, while the crews cleaned up. ^[10] The stadium now has designated shelter areas for such disasters which are located throughout the ballpark in strategically placed ramps and stairwells. Ballpark personnel also displayed the National Weather Service's weather radar display on the video board in the outfield. The National Weather Service ( NWS) once known as the Weather Bureau is one of the six scientific agencies that make up the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration A weather radar is a type of Radar used to locate precipitation, calculate its motion estimate its type ( Rain

Playoff history

2006

On October 7 and 8, 2006, New Busch Stadium hosted its first playoff games. 2006 Major League Baseball season|2006 Nippon Professional Baseball season Headline Event of the Year The 2006 World Baseball Classic is a surprise success Events 3761 BC - The epoch (origin of the modern Hebrew calendar ( Proleptic Julian calendar) Events 314 - Roman Emperor Licinius is defeated by his colleague Constantine I at the Battle of Cibalae, and loses Year 2006 ( MMVI) was a Common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. On October 7, in Game 3 of the 2006 National League Division Series, the San Diego Padres defeated the Cardinals 3-1. The National League Division Series ( NLDS) the opening round of the 2006 National League playoffs began on Tuesday October 3, and ended on The San Diego Padres are a Major League Baseball team based in San Diego California since their founding in 1969 However, the Redbirds defeated the Padres in Game 4, on October 8, 2006, to win the series three games to one. Events 314 - Roman Emperor Licinius is defeated by his colleague Constantine I at the Battle of Cibalae, and loses Year 2006 ( MMVI) was a Common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar.

On October 14, during the first 2006 National League Championship Series game played at New Busch, the Cardinals defeated the New York Mets 5-0 to take a 2-1 lead in that series. Events 1066 - Norman Conquest: Battle of Hastings - In England on Senlac Hill seven miles from Hastings, the forces The National League Championship Series ( NLCS) the second round of the 2006 National League playoffs began on October 12 and ended on "Mets" redirects here For the medical term see Metastasis. The Cardinals went on to win the 2006 National League Championship in 7 games.

On October 24, 26, and 27, the Cardinals hosted the first World Series games at New Busch Stadium against the Detroit Tigers. Events 69 - Second Battle of Bedriacum, forces under Antonius Primus the commander of the Danube armies loyal to Vespasian, defeat Events 740 - An Earthquake strikes Constantinople, causing much damage and death Events 312 - Constantine the Great is said to have received his famous Vision of the Cross. For other events named "World Series" see World Series (disambiguation. The Detroit Tigers are a professional baseball team based in Detroit, Michigan, USA The Cards won all three games, and secured their tenth world championship, four games to one. After the game, many fans climbed the famous statue of Stan Musial to celebrate. Stanley Frank Musial (born November 21, 1920) originally Stanisław Franciszek Musiał, (ˈmjuːziəl nicknamed "Stan the Man" and There was also a fireworks display in left field. The games of October 26 and 27th were rescheduled from a postponement October 25. Events 1147 - The Portuguese, under Afonso I, and Crusaders from England and Flanders conquer Lisbon after a

By virtue of the Cardinals winning the World Series in 2006, New Busch Stadium joined a very short list of ballparks whose occupants won the Series in the ballpark's inaugural year. The last previous one had been Yankee Stadium, in 1923. The original Yankee Stadium is a Stadium located in The Bronx in New York City. The Cardinals are also the first team to win a World Series at home in the inaugural season of a stadium since the 1912 Boston Red Sox (Fenway Park).

Photo gallery

Stadium construction as of 6/26/05.	Stadium construction as of 8/5/05.	Old Busch Stadium	New stadium, after demolition of old stadium was completed.
New stadium as of 2/7/06.	Inside stadium during open house, April 8th 2006	Inside stadium during open house, April 8th 2006	Inside stadium during open house, April 8th 2006
Inside stadium during open house, April 8th 2006	Inside stadium during open house, April 8th 2006	Inside stadium during open house, April 8th 2006	Inside stadium during open house, April 8th 2006

References

External links

• Review of Busch Stadium, complete with game photos, from Ballpark Digest
• Redbirdcentral Time-Lapse created from KMOV stadium cam
• New Busch Stadium & Construction FAQ, from CardsClubhouse. com, a not-for-profit online community
• Seats3D Seat View