Historical September–October 1998 article. Dates, prices, services and contacts describe the source period; current availability has not been established.
On Aug. 29, a Saturday, I dashed over to super Schnuck’s in the late afternoon to pick up a few things.
As I approached the entrance, I noticed a woman at a table with a sign, “Free Cardinal Tickets with Purchase of Expressions Cards.” The tickets were for Sept. 8.
I almost let them pass, knowing I would be teaching a seminar on the 9th for 3 hours.
I also thought would anyone be free to go? But, with birthdays coming up, I bought some cards and waited for 15 minutes for my free tickets (the woman went on break).
As soon as I got home, I called several friends, coincidentally on the Times board, and said can you go?
The answers were a resounding yes. So, on the 8th, we journeyed on MetroLink to Busch Stadium.
When I got the tickets I had no idea this could be the big night but on the way down we all felt as if we had a rendezvous with history. And indeed we did.
The 62nd McGwire home run was wonderful but even more special was being part of a special, only in St. Louis, crowd. Every seat in the house was taken that night. Amidst the crowds, people were unfailingly polite.
We were all part of a very warm glow.
When Big Mac dedicated that special homer to the city of St. Louis and its fans, people could not have been happier. Leaving the park after the last of the ceremonies had ended, it was the same—no pushing, no shoving—polite, happy people everywhere. Frankly, it was fun to feel like a youngster again too!
In a recent column, Greg Freeman talked about McGwire’s home run pace restoring our esteem. He’s right.
This race has given us something positive and hopeful during a summer of much unpleasant news. And he’s right about St. Louisans, too often self-disparaging. Our city isn’t perfect but it certainly comes through in the clutch.
The motto of this tale is to be in the right place at the right time and to sometimes look on the bright side about our town and its residents.
Originally published in The Times of Skinker-DeBaliviere, September–October 1998.
Read this article in the original newspaper issue.
Original source: SD_Times1998_09.pdf, printed page(s) 2; PDF page(s) 2.
