Bucket List Item: Busch Stadium

Many years ago, I asked my first husband, Chuck, if he believed in Heaven. I'm not sure why I asked; he was not a religious person (nor am I). But he responded yes, he does. Heaven, he explained, is the St. Louis Cardinals winning game seven of the World Series. His parents had family from Missouri, so he had been a lifelong fan, even though he never lived there himself.

Since I had met Chuck in the late 80s, the Cardinals had only won the World Series once, in 2006. In 2004, the Boston Red Sox swept them in the Series. But not before we bought a ginormous television one hour before game one. 

I became an avid St. Louis Cardinals fan in the Fall of 2011. 

On June 20th, 2011, our 19th anniversary, Chuck died of a heart attack while on a fishing trip with our son. He was 52. His nephew placed a Cardinals hat into his casket at the cemetery service. 

Charles R. Mundorff 7/10/58–6/20/2011

I don't remember much about that summer. The grief paralyzed my kids and me. One of our coping mechanisms was to watch a lot of sports on television. I guess it was a distraction and a connection to one of Chuck's favorite pastimes. 

The Cardinals were having an average season. By the end of August that year, according to Wikipedia, they only had a 4.3% chance of making the playoffs. But they caught fire in September. On the last day of the regular season, the Cardinals beat the Braves to secure a Wild Card spot. At that point, I knew what was to come. As the Cardinals made their way through the postseason, the kids and I watched every inning we could. By late October, the Cardinals had won the National League Championship Series to face the Texas Rangers in the World Series.

It was a bit of an emotional roller coaster. The highlight was an 11th-inning walk-off home run in game six, after trailing 7–5 in the 9th. This tied the Series and secured the seventh game. Then they did it. Four months after my husband passed away, the St. Louis Cardinals won game seven of the World Series. Was he watching? Was he pulling strings? I'll never know, but I have been a die-hard Cards fan ever since. 

My favorite 2011 players were Albert Pujols, Yadier Molina, and Adam Wainright. I still have a crush on Yadi. And although Pujols left the team the following season, he returned this year. All three of those players are on the 2022 team (which is sitting on top of the NL Central Division). All three have announced their plans to retire at the end of the season. If I am going to check "going to a Cardinals game at Busch Stadium" off of my bucket list, this is the year. 

We fly to St. Louis on Friday and have tickets to three games over the weekend. 

"Busch Stadium" by Ronni Kurtz, Unsplash

In 2017, I remarried a wonderful man, who helped make this trip possible, and will be going with me. Bless a man who can love a widow. He says he's going to make sure I don't meet Yadi, the only man I said I'd leave him for.