Saturday in St. Louis

For the second time this month, my wife and I took a quick trip to see a baseball game.  Earlier this month we went to Peoria.  Yesterday we made the drive to St. Louis.  I was able to get a few things accomplished in one trip, so it was well worth the drive.  

Our first stop was a huge flea market with over 200 vendors.  We walked through, but did not buy anything.  Just the spectacle of so much stuff was fun to see.  We had the most fun looking out toys from our childhood.  There were a few baseball related tables with bobbleheads and cards, but I was not in the buying mood yesterday.

Our second stop was the Cardinals Hall of Fame Museum.  Once a month, members are invited to a presentation.  This one was focused on Cardinals Authentics.  It was interesting to hear how balls and other equipment is authenticated each game.  I have stopped at the stadium store a few times and searched all the game used balls, but have never purchased one.  I am too cheap to pay $50 for a ball that was thrown in the dirt.  Depending on the player, some balls that were used for base hits are over $100.  

The Museum also has an former player signing autographs on Saturdays when there is a home game.  Former reliever Ray King was the guest yesterday.

King is not a big name in Cardinals history, but he is someone I did not have an autograph from.  Unlike quite a few other retired players, he has lost some weight since his playing days.  We were in and out of his line in 15 minutes.

After the signing, we waited about an hour and a half for the gates to open for the night game.  The give away was a Scott Rolen bobblehead.

Nice to see a fielding pose get used.  The majority of my bobbleheads picture the player hitting.  I also picked up another bobblehead before the game.  I met up with a member from a Facebook group and traded for this one.

I love the announcer bobbleheads because they come with a voice chip.  This one does not highlight a specific event, just Shannon and Rooney getting ready to call the first pitch of a game.  

The game itself went better than I expected.  Despite seeing Ohtani hit 113 mph home run, the Cardinals beat the Dodgers  5-2 behind 3 home runs of their own.  It was fun seeing the different bats and cleats players were using for Players weekend.  I will leave you with a clip of Cardinals closer Ryan Helsley coming in from the bullpen to pitch the 9th inning.

It is a really cool experience to see the lights go out, the stadium go red, and the fans go nuts when they hear Hell's Bells.