Content area
Full Text
To the delight of Cardinal Nation, the ballyhooed "Farewell Weekend" in Busch Stadium is but a run-up to another dash for baseball glory.
So here's to Busch -- may it be home to a long, prosperous October.
Sunday's chance to sweep a three-game set from the Cincinnati Reds will close the 40th and last regular season at Busch Stadium downtown. But fans are looking forward to as many as 10 more post- season games in the not-so-old ball yard: three in the first-round playoffs, four in the National League Championship Series and three in the World Series.
"It would be wonderful to get there for this special year," said Margaret Boes of St. Charles, who attended Saturday's 9-6 victory. "We could go out with a big, big bang. Make more good memories."
Of course, there could be as few as two more games. Boes, 37, spoke for the multitudes in preferring to hold a good thought.
Just next door, at the site of the next Busch Stadium, workers lift steel and mount bright red seats in preparation for their final assault upon the familiar arch-topped heights. Headache-ball cranes are to begin their work within three weeks of the last pitch.
The new brick-and-steel "retro" stadium will open next year and become the third graced with the name of Busch. The late Gussie Busch renamed old Sportsman's Park, at Grand Boulevard and Dodier Avenue on the North Side, shortly after he bought the Cardinals in 1953 (he got the old park for an extra $1.1 million).
The second Busch, built for $26 million, opened as Civic Center Busch Memorial Stadium on May 12, 1966, when the Cardinals beat the Atlanta Braves...