Cardinal Legends Gather for Opening Day (photo courtesy of Nathan Heimgartner)

Imagine a gorgeous summer day with temperatures in the low 80’s. You sit down next to some of your closest friends talking baseball in anticipation of an upcoming game, the first one you’ve seen this year. A warm breeze carries the smell of barbecue as you take a pull from a cold beverage and smile at your good fortune.

I attended my 8th straight St. Louis Cardinal home Opening Day this year, but this one seemed more special than usual. The last couple of seasons, we’ve had rain, snow and overall terrible weather. Attending opening day has almost been more like survival than enjoyment. We hadn’t seen a Cardinal win since 2006 and each of the teams had major flaws that made you doubt how far they’d go.

This year, everything has come together. After a spectacular offseason in which the Cardinals filled their most glaring weaknesses (Holliday, Lopez, Penny, Garcia, Rasmus 2.0), the Cardinals are 15-7 to begin the season and are showing why they are one of the best teams in baseball.

We Have It Good
I was lucky enough to attend the Cardinals away opener in Cincinnati and the difference couldn’t be more striking. Cincinnati was great, but there is added electricity to the air in St. Louis. From the Cardinals pregame ceremonies with the Clydesdales, introductions of Hall of Famers and players to the massive fan support downtown, you figure out how special we have it in St. Louis.

This doesn’t just stop on opening day. The Cardinals routinely have 40,000 strong at the ballpark while other teams struggle to draw 20,000 fans. It doesn’t hurt that the Cardinals have a strong team, but even good teams are feeling the economy around Major League Baseball.

Holliday Blogging

Baby Bryson

After a Winter hiatus, I will be back to blogging around once a week. It’s been a busy time preparing for new beginnings as my son was born April 28th (the same birthday as David Freese).

I also had the opportunity to write for a great Cardinal pre-season magazine (Maple Street Annual). Check it out if you get a chance.  It is full of great information about the 2010 team.  You can find the magazine at many St. Louis (and Southeast Missouri) grocery stores and newsstands or go here.

So, naturally, I got to surfing.  Actually came across something pretty cool, called tilt-shift photography.  It’s a way to make real life photos look like miniature models.  Nothing to do with baseball, or Game 5, or hot stove banter, but it is one way to make Busch Stadium look really cool (click on photo for full size):

My amateur hack-jobs have nothing on the ones I linked to above, but still pretty fun.  If you have photoshop you can make especially gnarly ones.  For the rest of us, there is a free tool here that doesn’t require a software download or anything (and is what I used to make these).

Hopefully this amuses you enough to get you to Game 5.  Then Chase Utley can do the rest.

all photos shamelessly stolen from the internet

Have you ever wanted to hang out at Pujols’ locker?  What would it be like to visit the field, or see where the Cardinals prepare for their games?  Monday, I had the opportunity to visit Busch Stadium during the Cardinal’s “Season Ticket Holder Appreciation Night”.  It was emceed by Cardinals announcer Jay Randolph and featured appearances by Bill DeWitt III, and former Cardinals:  Kerry Robinson and Jason Simontacchi.

In my two part look at the event, I first wanted to focus on Bill DeWitt III.

Cards Club located behind home plate

Normally, I wouldn’t be invited to these gatherings, but the Cardinals extended their events to partial season ticket holders in 2009.  I was happy to find that my 27 game plan was upgraded to qualify.

The Cardinals are doing more for the fans during the “All-Star Summer” than they have in the past.  This hasn’t been the only instance where I’ve been impressed with the Cardinals PR, as they seem to be going the extra step this year.

Public relations has historically been a sore spot for the club, but I believe the Cardinals may be taking a lesson from the Blues “Whatever it takes” slogan.  They are stepping up their customer service efforts, and it has been refreshing.

Making the event even more special, my Dad made the trip up to St. Louis from the Southeast Missouri area to join me.  After parking in a free parking lot next to the stadium, we walked into the area outside of the ballpark, behind home plate.  My dad and I met up with fellow blogger, Matt Wilson and his family for the event and began the evening in the upscale Cardinals Club, located behind home plate.  The Cardinals had a complimentary buffet of ballpark food and desert along with free refreshments of soda and beer.

Bill Dewitt III

Randolph kicked off the event by discussing our stadium tour along with an introduction of himself and the other guests.  DeWitt was the first to speak, thanking everyone for being season ticket holders, and discussing his hopes for the ballpark village.

I know that many of us are frustrated with the lack of movement in the development, but the man that is spearheading the project laid out plausible reasons for the delay, and seems earnest in his efforts to make it a success.

For everyone that criticizes the area as “Lake DeWitt”, and feel like the owners aren’t doing anything, I think they are minimizing the efforts put forth by the club.  No one could have predicted this historic recession, and the Cardinals have felt the effects like everyone else.  It is an embarrassment to them, but they are going to build the project right, and are willing to wait to make it happen.

This methodical approach mirrors their player acquisitions and development.  They minimize risk to allow the club the best opportunity to win, year in and year out.  They don’t make the flashy moves, but when you look back over a period of time, you realize that more often than not they are taking the prudent approach.

The team and PR staff has also been criticized in the past for not being out in front of negative issues.  Whether it be a DL stint, roster scenario or the ballpark developments, they have often times painted a rosier picture than the reality.  This has been a well deserved criticism, in my opinion, but DeWitt didn’t have to stand up and discuss the project with us.  He took responsibility and tried to describe the process to us.

While DeWitt admits being “as frustrated as anyone” in regards to the slow pace, he is optimistic.  Much of the foundation has been laid in the background and he believes that as soon as the economy picks back up, we will see real progress.

One of the funniest moments of the night happened due to the TVs in the Cardinals Clubhouse.  The area is lined along the walls with flat screen TVs, and the Cardinals were showing Monday’s game during the event.  Everyone was paying half of their attention to the TVs throughout the night.

Halfway through the speech, DeWitt interrupted himself with spontaneous: “Oh, that was a nice catch!”   Colby Rasmus had made a nice play at the wall, and it was refreshing to see one of the owners during a “fan moment”.  DeWitt was self effacing afterwords by saying: “I must not be that interesting if I can’t even hold my own attention.”  Everyone laughed at the joke, and I especially enjoyed seeing a glimpse of his sense of humor.  You often forget that the front office/ owners are fans too, and want the team to succeed for more than just business reasons.

I had not heard much from DeWitt III since he became President, but I was impressed with him all the same.  He seemed knowledgeable and down to earth, and even made himself available throughout the night to talk to fans.  It reminded me that there are real people behind the scenes working hard to make the Cardinals a success.

While it is fair to criticize the Cardinals for many of their decisions, you have to remember that they want to win as badly as we do.  They have a pretty good track record as a top notch front office, and most often deserve the benefit of the doubt.

Stacey & her mom on Mother's Day

As you may or may not know, my wife and I will be bringing Lincoln Kenneth Dobbins, a future Cardinal fan (if not starting pitcher), into the world on or around August 14th of this year. Earlier this month over Mother’s Day weekend, we took a trip to Ohio to visit my dad’s side of the family so they could witness the enormity of Lincoln’s presence (it’s hard to believe Stacey still has two more months of growing to do).

The 1,200 mile journey only lasted Thursday through Sunday, but we made the absolute most of it by squeezing in a dinner with a Great Grandmother to-be on Friday, a surprise baby shower with extended family on Saturday and a Cardinals game in Cincinnati on the way home. We were very excited that Stacey’s mom, Jan, could join us on the trip to make the weekend in Ohio and Mother’s Day at Great American Ballpark that much more meaningful!

After an overnight stay at the Millenium Hotel in downtown Cincinnati, the three of us went to Rock Bottom Brewery for lunch before the game. Jan and I sampled seven of their beers on tap before selecting a seasonal brew as our favorite.  If you didn’t believe them before, Fountains of Wayne was right – Staceys’ mom really does have it going on! I highly recommend the Millenium if you ever venture to Cincinnati, and the price tag of $75 including all taxes was a steal! If you do stay downtown, I also recommend not using hotel parking. Instead of paying $25+ per day at the hotel, I used a nice parking garage just across the street. Since we stayed less than 24 hours, it cost us $8. I’ve found that if you ask the concierge or valet attendant for alternative parking options, they’ll usually point you in the right direction.

Great American Ballpark in Cincinnati, Ohio

Stacey and I had visited Great American Ballpark once before on Easter in 2004. For the most part, it was as we remembered. Jan was surprised when we told her the ballpark opened in 2003. I think the design and materials do make it look like it was built in the late eighties or early nineties, before Camden Yards revolutionized the retro look and feel of ballparks. I guess Cincinnati was trying to be different. Some think it didn’t work as planned and I agree.  Simply put, Great American Ballpark seems to be disjointed from the main downtown area.  Hopefully the developments that are underway in the adjacent lots will help that problem.  The view of the field and of the Ohio River from our section along the third base line was outstanding, but the ballpark seems to lack personality… unless you find a plethora of white steel to be appealing.

The game itself was quite long.  Because we had a long drive ahead of us, we decided to leave after about three and a half hours since it was only the eighth inning.  Turns out, the game would go into extra innings with the Cardinals winning a close one 8-7 after nearly four and a half hours.  On the radio we listened to the eighth pitcher of the day, Chris Perez, close out his first save on the season as we began our drive back to the StL…

It’s no secret that we plan much of our travel schedules around Cardinals away games.  But when I think of all the journeys Stacey and I have made over the years to different ballparks watching the Cardinals and other teams play, I find myself not able to remember more than one or two specific plays or performaces without glancing at the box scores or newspaper articles online. But I do remember distinctly how each journey felt. On this particular journey, we’ll always remember the many well-wishes from family, friends and even complete strangers in Cincinnati congratulating us on our future Cardinals fan.  The victory at Great American Ballpark that Sunday just added a little more icing onto an already sweet and happy Mother’s Day weekend in Ohio.

Safe travels,
Paul Dobbins
www.ballparkjourneys.com

Stacey and Paul Dobbins at Wrigley

In the last 8 days, my wife and I have had the opportunity to see the Cardinals play the Cubs twice – once at Wrigley (4/18) and once at Busch (4/26). Unfortunately, the Cardinals lost both games we attended. Despite the poor results, the experiences were – as always – entertaining. At Wrigley we witnessed several heated verbal arguments and even a classic fist-fight in the stands. In all cases, drunk Cardinal fans were tossed, and rightly so. At Busch, we did see a few Cubs fans being sternly talked-to by security, but well before anything significant happened. I was actually surprised at the lack of a security presence at Wrigley. So the edge in security goes to Busch.

Additional ratings and observations about Wrigley and Busch:

Neighborhood
Around Wrigley, parking is the weak spot with some spots costing upwards of $40, but the bars and restaurants in Wrigleyville are plentiful and priced more reasonably than the parking. Downtown St. Louis needs much more than just Ballpark Village to even come close to thinking about creating this type of atmosphere.
Advantage: Wrigley

Affordability
First, St. Louis doesn’t have the dominant presence of ticket brokers at every street corner, which has been a sore subject in Chicago in recent years. And while neither club’s ticket office prices are great for Cubs/Cards games ($32 for a bleacher seat at Busch which is 45% higher than regular games costing $22), at least at Busch you can still buy tickets for Cubs/Cards games (albeit standing room or nosebleeds) during the season. Don’t think you have to use the ticket office though; good last minute deals can usually still be found via Craigslist, eBay and StubHub – especially in this economy…
Advantage: Busch

Views
While Wrigley has unique views from rooftops and their seats are closer to the action, a large percentage of tickets in the 200 level seats have semi-obstructed views courtesy of the lovely metal poles holding up the upper level. Luckily our seats were far enough back in the 200 level section that the views were ok. But if you do sit in the 200 level down the road just know that your chances of having a completely obstructed view decrease the farther back you sit in the section. I’ve sat in other sections at Wrigley and had great views, but at Busch there’s not really a bad view in the house.
Advantage: Busch

Comfort & Amenities
Most people think Wrigley is extremely small, but if judged by seating capacity, that’s not really the case. And therein lies the problem. There are 41,118 seats at Wrigley putting Wrigley in the lower third of MLB ballpark seating capacities, but that’s still only a few thousand less than new Busch (46,861). Missing in those Wrigley numbers, however, are about 1,700 rooftop seats, (the Cubs get a 17% cut of the revenues so I’ll count them as seats). That brings the total seating capacity to nearly 43,000 which would put Wrigley in the dead center of all MLB ballparks for seating capacity. The problem is that Wrigley was not originally built vertically and has limited space to expand so no matter how you cut it, Wrigley is cramped compared to Busch. Not as bad as Fenway, but close…
Advantage: Busch

History & Traditions
Wow, does Wrigley have some history! That ivy-covered wall has been a solid part of losing teams for generations! (sorry, I had to put at least one jab in) More seriously, the seventh inning stretch at Wrigley remains the best in baseball and seeing an opposing team’s home run ball thrown back is a Wrigley classic moment!
Advantage: Wrigley

Overall, my opinion remains that Wrigley is a great place to visit for a game or a series and a must-visit ballpark for anyone who loves baseball, but I am very glad it is not my everyday, home ballpark. The amenities and comfort of Busch trumps the history and neighborhood atmosphere of Wrigley as an everyday ballpark. Carlos Zambrano might have been onto something earlier this year when he suggested the Cubs should get a new home after visiting the new Yankee Stadium. Maybe a new ballpark would reverse the 100+ year losing streak…

Nah.

Agree? Disagree? I’d love to read your ballpark ratings and stories of memorable Cards/Cubs game experiences – make sure you leave a comment below.

Safe travels,
Paul Dobbins
www.ballparkjourneys.com
Twitter

I’ve been to Wrigley before, but never for a Cards/Cubs game. I haven’t been this excited for a baseball road trip in quite a long time. There’s always something special about watching your favorite team play on the road in another ballpark, but this time it’s different.  In these tough economic times, following your favorite ballclub on the road can have a wonderfully calming effect… it reminds you of what’s important in life – time spent with friends and family – and that you have to enjoy it and live life to the fullest.  I’ve found that the excitement of a new journey with new experiences takes you back to your youth and creates a certain kind of traditional happiness.

I think tonight I will probably go to sleep watching The Natural or Field of Dreams, two of my favorite movies of all-time.

The Cardinals will win or lose on Saturday, but either way we plan on having a great time taking in the atmosphere. My post next week will be about our first Cards/Cubs experience at Wrigley.  For now, I leave you with one of the most inspirational speeches about baseball in cinematic history that rings true throughout the times, both good and bad.  It gives me goose bumps every time…

Safe travels & Go Cards!
-Paul

Paul Dobbins
www.ballparkjourneys.com
ballparkjourney on Twitter

As a season-ticket holder since 2006, I see a lot of Busch Stadium throughout the season so the thought of taking a tour  never really occurred to me.  I’m glad I went yesterday!  If you haven’t taken the tour – or even if you have – I highly recommend a tour of Busch Stadium this coming week.  Let me tell you why a stadium tour just prior to Opening Day is a good use of that $10 burning a hole in your pocket…

Preparing Busch Stadium for Opening Day

As I waited at Gate 5 in the Outfield, I watched as a cleaning crew was power-washing the bleachers.  Once I entered the stadium, sweepers and golf carts were everywhere, tidying up the place.  In right field, new signage was being installed with a boom truck.  Scoreboard operators were testing the monitors and sign boards throughout the stadium (in one instance Chris Duncan’s position was listed on the board as 2B – look closely at the picture).  New logos and ads were displayed in several locations.  And while it was kind of disappointing that we couldn’t go into the dugout, at the least reason was because of a new coat of paint that had yet to dry.

I really enjoyed seeing the decor in the Redbird Club (inspired by DeWitt’s baseball card collection), visiting the broadcasting booth, seeing the Cardinals Club, and – of course – walking on the field.  But the thing I enjoyed seeing the most is all the action and preparations being made for Opening Day.  This is an exciting time of year, and my visit only increased my excitement for the season.

If you’re near St. Louis this coming week and get the chance, go down to Busch Stadium if only to see the preparations.  While you’re there, stop in for the tour if you haven’t been on it.  You’re bound to see things you haven’t seen before, even if you’re a season ticket holder like me.  More importantly, you’ll be even more ready for this All Star Season to begin! 

Safe travels,
Paul

Paul Dobbins
president@ballparkjourneys.com
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The Dobbins Family outside Bright House Field in Clearwater, FL. Spring '09

Luckily for me, I had some time to ponder these issues this past week while in beautiful Florida catching a Cardinals spring training game against the Phillies in Clearwater. Upon walking up to the ballpark with my wife, parents & extended family, memories of my only other spring training experience flooded my thoughts…

In the late ’80s we would visit my grandparents in Vero Beach, known during the spring as Dodgertown (sadly, they’ve since moved). The Dodgers had just won the World Series. One of my favorite pitchers was Orel Hershiser. My dad and I left the stadium a bit early after Orel had finished pitching. We found him walking with a trainer between the ballpark and clubhouse. I had never seen a pitcher’s arm wrapped in ice like that before – I remember asking why his shoulder looked so strange. While it looked like he needed to get somewhere, Hershiser stopped to talk to me and my dad for a few minutes. In reality, it was probably thirty seconds, but even such a short interaction left us both with memories that will never fade.

Fast forward to Spring Training 2009… the fifth inning is just about to start. Albert Pujols comes out of the dugout and heads to the on-deck circle to prepare for his next at-bat. But before he gets there, he spots a few kids near the backstop and immediately makes his way over to them.  Smiling, as he seemingly always does, Albert couldn’t resist conversing and joking around with the young fans as the pitcher finishes his warm-up throws. Parents quickly snap photos, capturing images that will be forever remembered and shown to future kids and grandkids.

On the flight back home I realized that it’s been twenty years since I’ve been to a Spring Training game. In those years, there have been doping allegations, positive drug tests, cheating, asterisks, a work stoppage & exponentially rising costs to attend a game.

But despite everything that is “wrong” in this baseball era we live in, one thing hasn’t changed… at Spring Training, lifelong memories are still being made for fans of all ages. It is the highest level of baseball in its purest form in a beautiful, relaxed atmosphere. My wife and I have agreed to make Spring Training travel an annual event. And we’re very much looking forward to experiencing the magic of Spring Training with our son or daughter (the sex of our first child should be known on Tuesday!).

My name is Paul Dobbins, the newest contributor to Whiteyball. As President of BallparkJourneys.com, my writing will concentrate on baseball travel, ballpark experiences and positive stories showing why baseball is still one of America’s greatest treasures. Until next time…

Safe travels,
Paul
president@ballparkjourneys.com

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