Busch Stadium and More.... (without the alcohol)

So... I' m not sure how or why my superintendent continues to approve some of these field trips we are going on. On Tuesday of this week, I went with the 7th graders to St. Louis. The P.E. teacher (Mr. Richards) planned a P.E. field trip which included 1) a tour of Busch stadium (home of the Cardinals), and 2) a tour of the Cardinal museum, and bowling hall of fame. Since I don't own a T.V., I haven't watched professional baseball for a long time, therefore I am out of the loop when it comes to the best teams and stars. However, I must admit that Cardinals fan or not, the tour of Busch stadium was a highlight of this week. They started by telling us about their field. I have been around and played on a lot of fields. I was dying inside to just take either a swing of the bat or a pop fly or grounder on that field. The Kentucky blue grass was one of the best I've ever seen. They take care of that field as if it were a child. They water it everyday, and mow it everyday, and it looks nice. They have layers of sand and rock underneath, so it drains extra water rather quickly. The tour guide mentioned that it could rain leaving inches on the field, and in 20 minutes, they are ready to play baseball.

Notice the beauty of that grass all you baseball fans.

We went through all the different ritzy box offices, and he sounded more like a ticket salesman than a tour guide because his famous words were, "for one price, you get a seat in this area, and all you can eat and drink." Some of the places were pretty fancy, and I don't personally know anyone that can afford that kind of wealth. He even made it a point to show us the area which costs $28,000 a year to sit in. They make you commit for 10 years, and you watch all 42 home games. WHEEEW! That's a lot of money, I think I would rather buy a car or a house since you could over 10 years time. I don't know anyone who can just whip that out of their pocket.

Next, we got to go to the press box, where the radio broadcasters sit. People say it is the best seat in the house, what do you think?

This is standing up in the press box.

This is sitting down in the broadcaster's chair.

Yes! I think that would be the best seat in the house, besides of course from the batter's perspective.

But, the coolest of all... we really got to go down on the field (we couldn't walk on the grass, otherwise the grass police would come arrest us), and go to none other but.... the dug outs

We are walking into the dug out. I (the picture taker) am standing on the same stair that the star Albert Pujoles stands. Pretty cool huh!

This is the field view (pitcher's mound) from the dug out

All the happy 7th graders ready for the game. We even sang "Take me Out to the Ball Game" to make it official. Notice some of our cub and Yankee fans in the midst. We did have a few of those.


Here we are, walking around the field (so as not to get arrested) on our way back from the dug outs.
Right behind home plate. You can see everything. The field, the stands, and the famous gateway to the west with all the buildings. This picture is worth many memories.
Our tour guide talked about the history of the Cardinal's logo, and how it has changed over time, as well as famous players and their retired numbers. He talked about the wealth of baseball cards. I should probably pull mine out again, and see what I have. Of course, I am so out of the loop, I wouldn't know if I had a card worth a million dollars or not.
The cardinals have won the world series 10 times. Every time they re-design the trophy, the Cardinals win. Here is the trophy from 2006.

The baseball questions you get asked when you live in Central Illinois are actually quite humorous. The classic... Are you a Cubs fan? After answering no. "Oh' then you must be a Cardinal fan"? As if they are the only two options. When I mention I'm not partial to any team (besides the Yankee's... I can't stand them...even though Babe Ruth is cool!, and so are his candy bars), they think how could you not like the Cards? (or Cubs). Why doesn't anyone ever mention the White Socks? They're from Chicago too. Are they inferior because socks are something you wear on your feet?

After all of that fun, we went over the to bowling hall of fame. Did you know that bowling first started in ancient Egypt. They really didn't have anything to do, so they started throwing a heavy ball to knock over "pins." In France, it started outside. People became lethargic( because they wanted to bowl rather than attend to their duties), and greedy (they began gambling on bowling), that King Louis XIV started indoor bowling. He outlawed bowling because of people shirking their duties, but he still wanted to play. He and his magistrates started playing indoors, in churches, and other "private" areas - hence bowling is more of an indoor sport.
Finally, we were able to bowl 4 frames in the bowling hall of fame.
I did manage to get a strike in one of those 4 frames. It was the last one, and they didn't let me bowl again, so I ended up getting a whooping 35 points in 4 frames. I guess that's not too bad - I didn't get any gutter balls at least.
While there, I saw the coolest car, and I can imagine myself driving one of these down the highway. Here's my old bowling joke - if I owned this, I would go rolling down the lane!
Hopefully, I'll always have a "spare" tire, just in case!

Until your next strike! Go Bowling! :)