This article first appeared in the St. Louis Beacon, April 29, 2010 - Showing off the new Busch Stadium to houseguests was bittersweet this week.
The sweet part was the Cardinals victory, especially given that my college roommate became a diehard Atlanta Braves fan. I tried not to gloat, really.
The bitter parts came when those seeing Busch for the first time praised -- then criticized -- the stadium. Maybe it's because I still have so many more memories of the round Busch, but I wasn't as enthusiastic as the visitors. Yes, Busch has a good atmosphere (though the Tuesday night crowd was fairly small -- for St. Louis), and the view of the Old Courthouse and the Arch bring the city right into the stadium. But even though I realize that the new stadium makes sense, I miss the old one.
Then there's the matter of food. Two of the visitors were from the Bay area -- and given the series result against the Giants, they had their own chance to gloat. But they didn't. Not about the teams anyway. It was the food choices -- or lack thereof -- that brought about a few not-so-glowing comments.
And here I may have done Busch wrong, but I had no comeback to their criticisms of the lack of variety at the concession stands. Are there more options than nachos, pretzels, burgers, hot dogs and brats? We were by the kosher hot dog stand, which meets my definition of fancy dining at the ball park.
It's a ball game, for goodness sakes. Eat a dog.
Beacon staff writer Mary Delach Leonard and features and commentary editor Donna Korando are combining to present Two Chicks Talkin' about the Birds, a look at baseball in St. Louis from the cheap seats by long-time fans.