Game 6: Busch Stadium ... Wish my father could have seen this ... Well, part of it anyway

Rangers 4, Cardinals 2
Saturday, June 22, 2013
(Randy's Perspective)

I’d always wanted to go to Busch Stadium. And we made it there, after an odd twist.

Let me say first that the stadium and the game were terrific. The Rangers beat the Cardinals, 4-2, after a little more than an hour rain delay.
We had pretty good seats in the left-centerfield bleachers.

But let me just tell you what happened before the game started. Sometimes I think I’m too old (in my mid-fifties - extraordinarily young at heart, but in my fifties, nevertheless) to be really surprised by things life throws at you. Then again, not so much.

We left Evansville around 10 a.m., got to St. Louis a little before 1, and made our first St. Louis stop a touristy one: the Anheuser-Busch factory tour. It’s free, by the way.

We saw some clydesdales but didn’t see a dalmation, toured the historic and extraordinarily well-preserved part of the plant, heard a lot about beechwood aging and then got stranded at the far end of the facility when a gargantuan thunderstorm rolled through. It was our first of two rain delays that day. The rain was so heavy and lightning so close that A-B shut down the trolley service for 45 minutes.

We eventually made it back to the hospitality room, where we were offered two free glasses of beer. As we drank our beers, I met three ballpark chasers from Atlanta. I figured they were from Georgia by the red t-shirt one was wearing with the enormous black-on-red “G” on the back. (Go Dawgs. Always makes me feel at home.) Anyway, these guys had been to Cincinnati, Cleveland, Detroit, two Chicago’s and now St. Louis.

I asked why they didn’t catch PNC on the swing, and the oldest of the three said, “You’re about the fifth person that asked the same question. I guess we should have.”

While sitting in the hospitality room, our crew decided we were hungry. Penny and Rachel, the vegetarians, decided to consult a special phone app that offers restaurants with “vegetarian-friendly” menus. The app, I kid you not, is called the Happy Cow.

Well, Happy Cow pinpointed what appeared to be a delightful sandwich shop/coffee house/book store only .6 miles from the Budweiser facility. Excellent.

In retrospect, we should have known what was coming when we heard the name. But, coffee houses being coffee houses, always going for a hip pun of a name, we didn’t really think twice about the place, even when we learned it is called Shameless Grounds.

The epiphany came about two minutes after we entered. I’m not sure whether it was the poster of Miss October (probably from the late 70’s) on one wall, or whether it was the groupings of book titles (fiction, literature, alternative sex, queer fiction, bondage), or whether it was the names of the sandwiches that finally clued us in. Sandwich names included: Ample Breast (a turkey sandwich, which I ordered); the Chauvinist Pig (featuring all styles of pork, which Marc ordered); and the vegetarian Farmer’s Daughter (which Penny and Rachel ordered). Penny said her first clue that we were in a non-traditional establishment was when she saw a basket of condoms and lubes with the sign “Free” next to it.

So please get this picture. Here we are, four West Virginians – two couples, one young, one slightly older – wearing Cardinals t-shirts, marching into Shameless Grounds looking for a sandwich. It’s distinctly possible the restaurateurs were sizing us up, just as we were sizing them up.

You should know, however, that the food was nothing short of fabulous. Everything was excellent. The kitchen was immaculate. Penny said her hummus was as good as she’s ever tasted. My Ample Breast was a pleasure.

So, here’s the conversation that took place at the counter shortly before we left:

Penny: We were just curious. Can you describe this place to us? What do you do here, other than serve food and coffee?

Restaurateur Lady: We’re a sex-positive establishment. We embrace all manners of sexual interest and provide a meeting place for our friends. We welcome those falling outside traditional lines: gay and lesbian, trans-sexual, kinky, bondage. We’re good with all of that, and we provide a meeting place.

Penny: Do you get a lot of straight people in here?

Restaurateur Lady: Oh, yes. We’re a tolerant group.

(Pause)

Randy: The sandwiches were terrific.

(Pause)

Restaurateur Lady: What? … Well, ok.

So, if you’re in St. Louis and you’re an extraordinarily open-minded person who likes good food and coffee in a “different” setting, by all means feel free to check out Shameless Grounds.

If you’re not especially tolerant and can be easily shocked, it’s not your place.


Next stop was Busch Stadium, where we hit a rain delay. The weather was dark and stormy (yes, yes ... It was a dark and stormy night), but the NWS continued to insist the storm would move past.

The first pitch came at about 7:25 p.m., an hour and twenty minutes after the scheduled start.

There was a full house. The Rangers had won on Friday and would in fact sweep this series between the two teams that had played in the 2011 World Series.

In an odd twist, I mentioned in earlier blog that the Cardinals were my father’s favorite team, and his favorite player was Tim McCarver. I felt a little throat lump before the game when the Cardinals honored McCarver, who was broadcasting his final series from St. Louis.


My father, Bill Coleman, died in 1976, when I was 18 years. I never actually knew why my father loved the Cardinals, but I have a theory that seems even more legitimate based on a conversation with the guy sitting next to me (Dan) in the bleachers. My father was born in 1922 and grew up in Saluda, South Carolina. I’ve heard about all of these southerners that chose to follow the Cardinals because their games were on the radio via powerful KMOX. I think that’s where his loyalty originated.

Dan said he's been to 19 MLB parks. He’s from St. Louis and sees the Cardinals 30 to 40 times a year. He's a fan of PNC. Said it's his favorite park so far, even though the crowd was small when he was there. He also liked Turner Field and Fenway. He wasn't impressed with Wrigley Field.

Dan also verified a couple of things that I had noticed on Saturday. First, he said it’s usually a pleasure going to games in St. Louis because the fan base is by-and-large friendly and knowledgeable. I had noticed that. Even in our bleacher seats, we were surrounded by folks that were into the game and seemed to appreciate all of its nuances.

In fact, I had just finished reading the book Francona, by Dan Shaughnessy. The book referenced the Red Sox World Series sweep in 2004 and how surprised many in the Red Sox contingent were at the welcome they received in St. Louis. Even after the Game 4 clincher at Busch, Cardinals fans showed respect to the Red Sox organization and its fans.

Another thing my bleacher friend pointed out was that some of the Busch Stadium sight lines are not so great, which I had discovered. Our tickets were fine, as are most. But some upper deck seats are a long, long way from home plate, while others actually have a limited view of the outfield.

Rachel and Marc (Penny's daugher and her fiance), who were with us, said the other time they have been in Busch Stadium, they were a long, long, long way from home plate. Even the vendors ignored them, they said.

But I couldn't help but think of my father, Bill Coleman.


I remember one time when I was probably 10 years old or so, he pulled me into the den one Saturday afternoon and encouraged me to sit with him and watch the Baseball Game of the Week. The Cardinals were playing and Bob Gibson was on the mound. He said nobody could pitch like Bob Gibson.

Going further back in history, my father also liked Dizzy Dean, the great character who used to say, "It ain't bragging if you can back it up."

My dad had a great story about Dizzy Dean that went like this. A professor once said Dizzy Dean’s curve ball was an optical illusion. Dizzy allegedly said, “I’d like to take that smart guy and stand him behind a tree.”

As I was sitting in those left-field bleacher seats watching the Cardinals against the Rangers, I thought about how much my father would have loved to be there.

In St. Louis. Watching his Cardinals.