#behindtheshow: Brewers vs. Cardinals

To attend a Cardinals game at Busch Stadium is as much St. Louis as the Arch. It’s an experience any St. Louisian would encourage you to have at some point in your life. From the sea of red to Clydesdales, it’s no wonder it’s been termed “Baseball Heaven”. But if we take a look deeper, there’s those people who go unrecognized, behind the scenes, that are crucial in the experience the average fan gets to have on gamedays. 

Today was a “Business Man’s Special” day game against the Milwaukee Brewers. First pitch was 12:45, so I chose to arrive at the stadium at 9:30am. We usually sit in the media room and work on captions and prep for the game, but I decided to look for a story.

I was curious to see the stadium empty, substitute the normal roars of the crowd for eery silence and solitude. It went from that to noticing all the people also prepping for today’s game. The SportsService vendors, the police personnel, ushers, bartenders, custodians, you name it, they’re there working hard to make the fans experience enjoyable. The average fan never stops to wonder who fills the ketchup dispensers, wraps the hot dogs in paper, creates the nachos that fans consume and sets up booths of your favorite Cardinals merchandise. These people likely aren’t paid enough to even afford tickets to a game (I know, I used to be one of these ushers), but they find fulfillment in making the day special for the fans. Here’s a small look behind the scenes of what it looks like before the gates open and organ plays.