ST. LOUIS — The Cardinals have been preparing for weeks for opening day, and it finally arrived Thursday.
With Adam Wainwright and Yadier Molina still playing, and Albert Pujols back, this Cardinals baseball season has a “classic” feel to it. It’s evident everywhere – from Cardinals ticket packages to merchandise to marketing.
In late March, Busch Stadium and Ballpark Village officials were still holding job fairs -- trying to fill mostly food service positions before the new season began. They even said they would continue hiring after the start of the season, and concession employees can earn north of $25 an hour after tips.
Cardinals Director of Facilities Operation Hosei Maruyama said, “Hiring is going very well. We’ve had several job fairs and we really appreciate the attention we got from that and it’s really helped out tremendously. Our usher staff or event staff, actually we’ve hired 120 people, so we’re in a good place for that. And we’re still hiring for the season, so if you go to cardinals.com/jobs, there’s still opportunities to join the team.”
Stephanie Spargur is the Cardinals retail director.
“Even last year, the buzz of Molina and Wainwright was happening,” she said. “So, we are bringing in some new products. We have a blanket that features the images of Molina and Wainwright, walking onto the field, together. We’re going to have plenty of player baseballs, the player t-shirts, jerseys, lapel pins. But we’ll be bringing in various different novelty items throughout the season, just to commemorate them and thank them.”
Umbrellas are allowed in the stadium this year, and the stadium is once again cashless, so don’t forget your credit card.
“In terms of our security staff, we’re back to 2019 levels, which is great," Marayuma said. "So, our security officers and police officers are back to what we were before the pandemic.”
Mackenzie Rosener is with Delaware North Sportservice.
“This is one of our new concepts – an Island Freeze,” Rosener said. “It’s a frozen drink station. There’s going to be four different flavors that change out – anything from a Blue Hawaiian, a Pina Colada, strawberry daiquiri, a Cardinal punch. And it’s going to be self-serve.”
Executive Sous Chef Norman Taylor says the new Momma Nona’s Italian Beef sandwiches are going to be a hit, along with Alberto’s Nachos. Also, this year in Busch Stadium they are offering mobile order and delivery to about 12,000 seats in the stadium. You don’t even have to get out of your chair.
Taylor showcased the stadium menu items.
“This is going to be the Momma Nona’s Italian Beef Sandwich,” he said. “It is replacing our long Philly cheesesteak. Our Philly cheesesteak is a good seller, but we’ve done a little better this year. We’re using fresh shaved ribeye to make these sandwiches.”
Maruyama discussed security outside of the stadium.
“This is something we planned for from start of last season,” he said. “The improvements you’ll see include on the Star Lot, which is to the southwest of Busch Stadium. We worked with Great Rivers Greenway to improve lighting there. There used to be seven light poles. Now there are 20, with 65 LED lights, which are great for energy and efficiency. Just the illumination of that parking lot will be a great experience and help with security and safety of our fans before and after the game.”
Tony Davis’ product, Pop Pop Hurray Gourmet Popcorn, will be making its debut appearance inside Busch Stadium.
“It’s amazing, being that we’re fairly new,” said Davis. “We’re a local Black-owned popcorn shop, and for Busch Stadium to be willing to advocate and hire us to be inside of the stadium, it’s amazing.”
Cardinals Manager of Theme Tickets Bethany White said, “This year, for the first time, our soccer night is turning into St. Louis SC night, so we have a really neat scarf that says ‘St. Louis City SC’ on one side, and on the other side it says ‘St. Louis Cardinals.’”
Officials said part of the benefit of working at Busch Stadium is you can keep your full-time, day job and spend some evenings at the ballpark.
Maruyama said the best way to apply is to go to cardinals.com/jobs. “All our positions, all year long, are posted there. There will be some that get added throughout the season.”
Megan Eberhart, Cardinals director of promotions, discussed some of the merchandise the team is offering.
“My favorite item for this upcoming season is this canvas print,” she said. It shows Yadi Molina and Adam Wainwright walking onto the field, together. We worked with a local artist named Cole Meyer and he painted this. It’s a much bigger version we digitized for this canvas print. So, this will be the giveaway on the final game of the regular season.”
The Cardinals also have several theme nights planned for 2033 – including Margaritaville, Grateful Dead Night, Pride Night, Blues Night and Sesame Street Day.
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