The decision of when to visit St. Louis for a Cardinals game had been a topic of conversation in our household for at least a year. Robbie and I are in our mid-20's regarding our baseball stadium chase, and we've been talking about what stadium we want to be our last. There were several factors that went into our decision. At first I said I wanted Busch Stadium as my last because we dislike the Cardinals very much. But as soon as I said it, I knew I didn't want that one to have that sour taste as our final ballpark memory. Another factor that went into our decision was Yadier Molina. He's been a Cardinal lifer at the catcher position, and we absolutely did not want to go to Busch Stadium while he was a Cardinal. I can't even stand looking at his face. So hearing their fans sing his praises was an easy "nope" for me. A third factor that went into our decision was that we didn't want to go when the Cardinals were breathing down our necks as far as chasing a post-season goes. The Cardinals have been the Brewers complete nemesis in the past decade as far as taking over 1st place in the division, or being neck and neck with the Brewers coming down the stretch. So, all that being said, the 2022 season was the Cardinals last with Yadier Molina (excellent news), and about the June mark of this season it was apparent that the Cardinals were plummeting in the division with no way out. So, around the All-Star break, we looked at the remaining Brewers schedule and noticed the last series they had at the Cardinals was in mid-September. We pulled the trigger on getting a refundable hotel room, we were going to drive our own car, and we would wait to get tickets. We had flexibility in all our plans JUST in case the Cardinals miraculously turned their season around. Buuuut, they didn't! So at the beginning of September, all plans were go!
The Brewers played a Monday-Thursday series in St. Louis, so to minimize Robbie's PTO, we left Sunday and returned Tuesday, and the game we attended was Monday night. It was an easy drive west to St. Louis on Sunday, roughly 5.5 hours. We left early because we wanted to get to our hotel in time to watch the Packers, Brewers, and the Badgers volleyball match (who, by the way, are #1 in the country!). And we made it with time to spare! You should've seen our tech set-up! We had volleyball on the TV, the Packers on the iPad, and the Brewers on my phone. I didn't know where to look half tbe time! The Packers and Brewers ended up losing, but the Badgers volleyball won their match. And may I just say, of all 3 sports playing that day, I wanted it to be the Badgers winning if I had to choose just 1 to win. The Badgers are #1, and undefeated, in the country, and they were playing another undefeated team in Florida, who was #2 in the country! A marquee matchup if I do say so myself! The Badgers pulled off a thrilling upset, winning on a reverse sweep! Their backs were against the wall, going down 2 sets to 0, needing to win the next 4 to get the victory! And they freaking did it! In Florida, no less! That may have been the best part of the weekend!
After the sports were finished, we got some food, and walked around the city a little bit. It was a Sunday evening, so not much was going on downtown.
On Monday, Robbie worked from the hotel all day, so I was left to my own devices. I slept in until 10am, got lunch for both of us, and read for about 3 hours straight! After Robbie was finished with work, we headed out to Busch Stadium. Being we stayed right downtown, it was a short walk right down the street! We could actually see the stadium from the front door of our hotel! We also crossed paths with the Arch!
When we got to the stadium, there was a cool Ballpark Village outside of it, which used to be the site of the old Busch Stadium.
Then of course I had to show my displeasure for the Cardinals. I told Robbie I want a pic in front of the STL sign, and he was like, "you want me to take your picture in front of THAT?" I said "yep, I'm going to stick my tongue out and put my thumb down!" LOL!
We got into the stadium shortly after gates opened but the Brewers batting practice was just ending. Sitting this close to the dugout allows great views of the players as they come in from the field!
We had seats 3 rows behind the Brewers dugout, and a fellow Brewers fan pointed out that our closer, Devin Williams was still down by the netting. It turned out he was talking to his grandparents. He grew up around the St. Louis area so I'm sure it was nice for him to have relatives there. Anyway, we walked towards him, waiting for a break to ask for a picture (this was the one time I didn't bring a ball to sign)! Unfortunately we didn't get a pic because as soon as he was done talking to his grandparents, he left for the clubhouse. But, as we were getting food in the concourse, we ran into his grandpa, so we talked to him a little bit. He told us about his path to the mlb, being drafted straight out of high school. He said that he was invited to work out with the Cardinals before he was drafted by the Brewers. He also took partial credit for his newly minted Airbender! It was a fun conversation, and I'm glad we ran into him!
This games matchup was the Cardinals' Wainwright vs. the Brewers' Freddy Peralta, aka Fastball Freddy! Now, normally this wouldn't have been an issue, but Wainwright was set to pitch for his 200th win in this game. In all our planning, we did not account for this. We knew he was pitching for his 200th 6 days before we went, so we knew the Brewers would most likely give this game to Wainwright, but that didn't make it any easier for us to be there.
The Brewers mustered just a scattering of hits, but couldn't get anyone across the plate. All it took was a solo homerun in the 4th inning by Cardinals Wilson Contreras (Wilson's brother William is actually a player with the Brewers) to do it, as the Cardinals won, 1-0. Wainwright pitched 7 frustrating innings. He was just serving up 60-80mph pitches the whole game, and I'm pretty sure I could've gotten a hit off of him. I thought that was a thing he was doing for this game only, but nope, thats been his thing his whole career. It was irritating watching him pitch like that and the Brewers just whiffing at everything he threw across the plate. Even though I knew the Cardinals were most likely going to win for Wainwright, I was still super mad at it.
There were a few hilights of the game! One of our rookies, Sal Frelick, was playing Center Field. He went after a ball and made an amazing catch, running full on into the wall, then bouncing straight back into the dirt. Then, we got to see another rookie pitcher, Abner Uribe, pitch in relief for the first time in person. This guy can throw 103, and it shows! He pitched a clean inning! Both of these rookies futures look very bright!
After the final pitch, we got up and left right away, and as we were walking up the stairs, Robbie saw someone crying. Lol. I said that better have been a relative. :) The Cardinals had a ceremony after the game for Wainwright, and apparently he tipped his cap to the Brewers dugout and mouthed 'thank you.' Yeah, Wainwright, you're welcome, for laying down for your ass. No thanks to you, this was my least favorite experience at any ballpark. Probably ever! My optimistic self thought "wouldn't it be great if we put up a 6 spot on him in the 1st and he can't climb out." Ah, wishful thinking. The Cardinals always find a way to screw us over. I digress.
The good news about that game is that it only took 2 hours, so we were in that building the least amount of time, and we gave the Cardinals the least amount of our money. Can you tell I'm still bitter about this? Haha!
As we were walking back, we ran into an older couple that were also brewers fans and the lady was like, "you think the brewers gave than win to them?" Great minds think alike, sweet lady! They went to the next game, and of course the brewers won that game. In fact, they won the rest of the series! Go figure!
When we got back to the hotel, Robbie and I were talking about the events that transpired, and he pretty much said that we are ultimately the winners. So what that we just gave them that game. We will most likely win the division, and that was most likely their last "moment" of the season. That made my night a little better.
Tuesday morning, we had breakfast at the hotel, then hit the road for our journey home. One thing I have to say, is that our drive back was the same route we took when we moved to Cincinnati, and that was our first time driving that route since then, so it brought back memories for sure.
It was a quick trip, but that's exactly how I envisioned our St. Louis trip going. We crossed this stadium off our list and never have to go there again. And I'm VERY glad we didn't save that stadium for last!
