Newswise — The 2005 Major League Baseball season marks the end of an era in St. Louis. On Oct. 2, the Cardinals will play their last regular season game at historic Busch Stadium.
Saint Louis University professor of communication, Robert Krizek, Ph.D., is spending this baseball season studying how the ballpark's closing will affect fans.
The ballpark's gates will shut at the end of the season, and the stadium will be torn down to make way for a new Busch Stadium in almost the same location. The razing of the seventh oldest MLB stadium not only marks the end of the Cardinals' history there, but it also means a physical reminder of memories is gone for hundreds of thousands of Cardinals fans.
"I examine what the ballpark meant to people and their lives," Krizek said. "Fans and franchise employees invest much of their individual identities in baseball, their favorite team and ballparks; and Cardinals fans are known across the country for their love of the game, their team and Busch Stadium. I collect people's stories and experiences at the ballpark " such as memories of their father, husband or friend " in order to tell the bigger story of each stadium."
Travelers Digest has named Busch Stadium the No. 4 ballpark in the nation, behind only Yankee Stadium, Fenway Park and Wrigley Field. Busch Stadium also was the home of one of the greatest two-way home run battles in the history of baseball " between Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa " and is the place where Babe Ruth and Roger Maris' records fell.
Krizek, an ethnographer who studies American culture, has done previous research at Old Comiskey Park, the home of the Chicago White Sox from 1910-1990; and Arlington Stadium, the home of the Texas Rangers from 1972-1993. He has presented his research on baseball and American culture at the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown on three separate occasions.
"When we tear down a ballpark, we are losing a physical connection to memories " to the past," Krizek said.
He has collected hundreds of stories from fans whose earliest memories are going to the ballpark with their father and even a widow who had scattered her husband's ashes in a ballpark, unbeknownst to stadium management.
Krizek also works with MLB teams to help make the transition from the old stadium the new ballpark. Krizek says this can include such things as moving old sections of seats to the new ballpark or moving wheelbarrows of dirt from the old stadium to the location of the new stadium.
Saint Louis University is a Jesuit, Catholic university ranked among the top research institutions in the nation. The University fosters the intellectual and character development of 11,500 students on campuses in St. Louis and Madrid, Spain. Founded in 1818, it is the oldest university west of the Mississippi and the second oldest Jesuit university in the United States. Through teaching, research, health care and community service, Saint Louis University is the place where knowledge touches lives. Learn more about SLU at http://www.slu.edu.
Facts about Busch Stadium:
* Opened: May 12, 1966* Capacity: 49,676 (baseball only)* Ninety-six open arches surround the field just below the roof* Is actually the second Busch Stadium. Sportsman's Park, the Cardinals previous home was renamed Busch Stadium in 1953.
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