There is sooo much crying in baseball...

Yesterday was the Cards' home opener at the new Busch Stadium, and I was fortunate enough to have a ticket. I literally don't even know how to begin to describe my mixed feelings of anticipation, excitement, wonder, and bittersweetness (I think I just made that word up) surrounding the new stadium.

For some reason, the tradition of baseball, especially Cardinal baseball, has always severely tugged at my heart strings. It makes me cry. I cried when Eck struck out the side to clinch a playoff birth in 1996. I cried everytime I saw the Ozzie farewell commercial on television during his last season before retirement. I cried when McGwire hit #62. Needless to say, I cried over Darryl Kile and Jack Buck - a lot. I cried during the entire goodbye to Busch video montage after the last game played there (Game 6 of the playoffs vs. the Astros) in 2005, even though they played horribly cheesy songs like Phil Collins' "You'll Be in my Heart" and Sarah McLachlan's "I Will Remember You." I cried when I drove over the river and into St. Louis a few hours after they imploded the old Busch and I saw what was missing. And I definitely welled up yesterday when I passed through the turnstyle and entered the new Busch for the first time, partly out of sadness, partly out of extreme pride.

The new stadium is nothing short of amazing, and I'm sure after just a few outings, it'll feel like home again. The opening day festivities welcomed old faces like Bob Gibson, Lou Brock, Stan the Man, Ozzie Smith, and my personal favorite Willie McGee in order to make the newness of it all a little more familiar. Plus, there are so many traditions rescued from the old Busch that immediately allow us to pick up right where we left off...for example, the crowd singing "The Star-Spangled Banner" a capella (Buck's favorite way), those age-old celebratory songs like "Celebration" by Kool and the Gang and "The Heat Is On" by Glen Frey, Fredbird, Mike Shannon's voice, the Budweiser Clydesdales, red and white fireworks after big homeruns, and Ernie Hays on the organ.

Sidenote: The details that the design crew incorporated into the construction are unbelievable. If you want to see more pictures than what I've posted here, I can e-mail them to you. I was a big photog yesterday. Also, if you want to check out some cool Cardinal gear, click here. I highly encourage you, Cardinal fan or not, to check out many awesome old Busch stadium video memories. We aren't the best fans in baseball for nothing (sorry Cub fan readers).