Busch Memorial Stadium

From SoSH

Busch Memorial Stadium

Location:	St. Louis, Missouri
Opened:	May 12, 1966
Owner:	St. Louis Cardinals
Surface:	Grass (AstroTurf 1970-1995)
Architect:	Edward Durrell Stone
Current Capacity:	49,676 (baseball)
Build Cost:	$25,000,000
Tenants:	St. Louis Cardinals (NL) 1966 - 2005 St. Louis Cardinals (NFL) 1966 - 1987 St. Louis Stars (NPSL/NASL) 1967 - 1974 St. Louis Rams (NFL) 1995

For the park known as Busch Stadium I, see Sportsman's Park. For the current park, see New Busch Stadium.

1 Stadium History
2 Trivia
3 Field Dimensions
4 Wall Height
5 External Links

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Stadium History

The National League St. Louis Cardinals moved into Busch Memorial Stadium in 1966, four days after playing their last game in Sportsman's Park. It was one of the first multipurpose facilities in the United States, though originally designed to be baseball-only, arguably shortening the duration of its usability. Initially, the park was suited primarily to pitching and to a style of offense favoring speed over power, but it was renovated later on to help improve the balance between pitching and hitting. This might have been motivated largely by the "Year of the Pitcher" in 1968, when Denny McLain won 31 games, Bob Gibson had an ERA of 1.12, Mickey Lolich won three complete World Series games, and Don Drysdale threw six consecutive shutouts and 58 consecutive scoreless innings.

The NFL St. Louis Cardinals took up residence in Busch Stadium in 1966 as well, but moved to Tempe, Arizona after the 1987 season when owner Bill Bidwell failed to secure a football-only facility. In 1995, the park was converted to a baseball-only facility.

The final game in Busch Memorial Stadium was Game 6 of the 2005 National League Championship Series, when the Houston Astros clinched the first pennant in franchise history and took the series 4-2.

Busch Memorial Stadium was demolished by wrecking ball over a few weeks in 2005. It was initially supposed to be demolished by implosion, but fears of damaging the nearby light-rail line favored the wrecking-ball approach. On December 8, 2005, the final standing section of the stadium was demolished. New Busch Stadium is partially located within the site of Busch Memorial Stadium.

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Trivia

Site of the 1966 MLB All-Star Game.
Site of the first World Series clincher for the Boston Red Sox since 1918.
Mark McGwire hit his record-breaking 62nd home run and his record-setting 70th home run at Busch Memorial Stadium in 1998. Barry Bonds later broke his single-season home run record in 2001.

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