Busch Stadium

The View Beyond the Wall

When HOK Sport laid out Busch Stadium, lead architect Jim Chibnall turned the entire field toward the Gateway Arch and the downtown St. Louis skyline. The outfield stands were kept low to preserve that sightline. Before Opening Day 2014, the Cardinals extended the idea outward with Ballpark Village, an entertainment district beyond the outfield wall where fans can see the field from outside the stadium.

The playing field runs symmetric: 336 feet down the left-field line, 335 down the right, 375 to both alleys, 400 to center. The surface is natural grass, laid in March 2006 ahead of the first game.

Two Octobers

The park held its first game on April 4, 2006, an exhibition against the Springfield Cardinals that St. Louis won 5–3. The first major-league game followed, a 6–4 win over Milwaukee behind Mark Mulder. That inaugural season ended with the Cardinals winning all three home games of the World Series against Detroit — the decisive Game 5 on October 27, a 4–2 final, with David Eckstein batting .364 across the series to earn MVP.

Five years later, October 27 again, Game 6 of the 2011 World Series ended on a David Freese walk-off home run. The Cardinals took Game 7 the next night, 6–2, for their 11th title. The 2009 All-Star Game passed through in between — the American League winning 4–3, Carl Crawford the MVP.

The Cardinals are the only club that has played here. Seating holds 44,494, with standing-room and suites raising total capacity to 46,861, and the Arch is still there past the low outfield wall.

Reporting: Wikipedia, Sports Illustrated, Last Word on Sports. Park data: MLB StatsAPI and Retrosheet, via the Fever engine.