I was seated in the lower rows behind center field at Busch Stadium, hoping for a home run ball to be hit to me. Matt Holiday stepped up to bat and smoked the ball, right into center field. Home run!

 When I was younger going to Cardinals games Became a tradition that I would do with my family every year. I can remember how good the nachos looked at Busch Stadium and how cool the plastic helmets that they were served in.

 My favorite part of the Cardinals games was the gift I got with My ticket. My mom would make sure to have us go to games where I would like the gift. I still have the stuffed Clydesdale that I received from one of these games.

As I grew older, Cardinals games began to change for me. I still enjoyed them but in different ways.

 I still liked the gifts but we would go to games where the gifts were more mature like a Cardinals jersey or a bobblehead.

 One game that I can remember very well from this time was the Fredbirds birthday game where, when we arrived they gave me a Fredbird Birthday Build a Bear and then later into the game they gave out free ice cream to all the kids, But the most memorable part of this game was when the Pirate’s mascot, the Pirate’s Parrot, pied Fredbird in the face, starting my long grudge against the Pirates. 

I can always look back and remember the countless times I was in attendance at a Cardinals game. I can remember how much I used to love the environment at Busch Stadium and at Ballpark Village and how much I loved driving through the city on the way to the game looking at the arch and the tall buildings. 

Everything about the environment at Cardinals games was perfect to me, which may have been why I loved going so much.

Now when I think of going to a Cardinals game I may still think of going with my family, but I also think of going with my friends.

It feels so freeing to me to be able to go to St. Louis with my friends and soak in the environment of the city of St. Louis and Busch Stadium on my own, with all the time to do whatever I want.

I still enjoy going to the games that have the free jerseys as you enter the stadium and getting the nachos that I loved as a kid, but I also enjoy now more than ever the ability to soak in the beauty of what we have created, like the Sky Scrapers, the Arch, and the stadium, where 46,000 people can gather to watch a game they love.