Sportsman's Park/Busch Stadium/The First Stadium In St.Louis,Mo, St. Louis MO | Nearby Businesses

Tenants: St. Louis Browns (Baltimore Orioles), April 23, 1902 to September 27, 1953; St. Louis Cardinals, July 1, 1920 to May 8, 1966. Opened: April 23, 1902 First night game: May 24, 1940 Last game: May 8, 1966 Demolished: 1966 Capacity: 8,000 (1902); 18,000 (1909); 34,000 (1926); 30,500 (1953). Architect: n/a Builder: n/a Owner: St. Louis Browns (1902-1952); St. Louis Cardinals (1953-1966) Cost: $500,000 (1925 refurbishment) Location: Left field (NE), Sullivan Avenue; third base (NW), North Spring Avenue; first base (SW), 3623 Dodier Street; right field (SE), 2911 North Grand Avenue, later North Grand Boulevard. Same location as earlier Sportsman's Parks, but turned around so that home plate was in the west-southwest corner. Dimensions: Left field: 368 (1909), 340 (1921), 356 (1923), 355 (1926), 360 (1930), 351.1 (1931); left-center: 379; center field: 430 (1926), 450 (1930), 445 (1931), 420 (1938), 422 (1939); deepest corner just left of dead center: 426 (1938); deepest corner just right of dead center: 422 (1938); right-center: 354 (1942); right field: 335 (1909), 315 (1921), 320 (1926), 310 (1931), 332 (1938), 309.5 (1939); backstop: 75 (1942), 67 (1953). Fences: Left to center: 11.5 (concrete); 354 mark in right-center to right: 11.5 (1909), 33 (11.5 concrete below 21.5 wire, July 5, 1929), 11.5 (1955), 36.67 (11.5 concrete below 25.17 wire, 1956). Trivia: Renamed Busch Stadium in 1953, but still commonly referred to as Sportsman's Park. The local newspaper, the Globe-Democrat, had an ad on the right-center wall that showed the star of the previous game. Just to the right of this ad, the league standings for both leagues were listed. The Budweiser eagle would flap its wings after every Cardinal home run. It sat on top of the left-center scoreboard. During World War II there was a War Chest sign there. The Herbert Hoover Boys' Club, with a baseball diamond where the major league one used to be, now stands on the site of the stadium. Cardinals office was at 3623 Dodier; Browns office was at 2911 North Grand. There were pavilion seats in the power alley in right-center. A second deck, from first base to third, was added in 1909 and expanded to the foul poles in 1925. Bleachers were added to parts of the outfield in 1926. The flagpole stood in fair territory until it was removed in the 1950s. Bill Veeck's family lived in an apartment under the stands in the 1950s. When he bought the stadium from the Browns in 1953, Cardinals owner Gussie Busch almost named it Budweiser Stadium but was prevented by league pressure. A helicopter carried home plate to Busch Memorial Stadium after the last game at Sportsman's Park on May 8, 1966. Site of the 1940, 1948 and 1957 All-Star games.