One Cool Day
Sunday was one of the neatest days for me. I was going to pick up Anna around 11:45 when I decided to call Jason. "What are you doing?" I asked. Off today like me so I put it to him, Let's go see if we can get into the ballgame. "What do you think our chances are?" he asked me. I didn't think they were very good, but I would regret not trying for the rest of my life.
Off we went to Busch Stadium. I had always purchased my tickets, and have never paid a scalper. If I couldn't get a ticket, then I didn't go. But my boss had told me of times he used to go a few years ago, before he had kids. The Cardinals always let in police officers for free. So he would go to the press gate and be let in. I had never tried this and so I sought out a city cop, and ran into a Sergeant walking out of a gate. I went to him and told him what I had heard and asked if it was still possible, and he told me he would find out. He consulted a couple of ticket takers who directed us down to the press gate, but as we started walking that way, another ticket taker called us over. He was an older man, and he said "Come in here." He opened up a gate and we walked right into Busch Stadium for the final regular season home game ever to be played in this building.
As I slowly walked in, absorbing the experience, another gentleman walked up to Jason and I. He said "I saw you get in without tickets, but here you go anyway." He handed us the certificates that they were handing out marking the final game. This was my prize that I had hoped to get.
We made our way to the upper deck and took a place with the other standing room patrons. Directly up from home plate I saw one of the best games ever. Then stood there for two more hours while they had a wonderful ceremony commemorating the past forty years at this stadium.
At last I made my way outside after the final fireworks were completed. I had felt like I was ten years old, but knew it was time to head back home. Jason had left a little earlier than me, so I slowly made my way to the train, and took a seat. What a day! I will not forget this experience for a long time. Now I wonder what our chances of getting into the World Series games are?
