ST. LOUIS, Mo.--With all due respect to the 1996 Cardinals team that used the same phrase, Thursday was how “baseball ought to be”, especially on opening day in St. Louis. For the first time since 2019, Cardinals fans could pack Busch Stadium to capacity for a home opener. With COVID-19 attendance restrictions lifted and baseball's lockout of players over, Thursday was all about restoring, to a full audience, the baseball rituals which make the Cardinals a unique franchise in the game.

Meeting at the Musial statue; seeing the Clydesdales; watching players, past and present, parade around the warning track before the season's first pitch. Ozzie, Whitey, Willie, seeing Albert Pujols in a Cardinals uniform for the first time since 2011, and the start of what will be his last ride. Yadi's too. 

Fans flooded the Busch Stadium area early ahead of the 3:15 pm start against the Pirates, with a Ballpark Village pep rally among the events setting the stage.

Isaac and Ashley, both of Caseyville, Ill., were first in line at Gate 3, well before the doors opened at 12pm. Veterans of two opening day games, they were there early, like always, to see batting practice and get some good photos. What were the expectations with a full crowd on opening day for the first time since 2019?

“Loud, crowded, but it will be a lot of fun,” Isaac said.

“It’s just awesome man, the fans, everybody’s happy, everybody’s having a good time. It’s just a great atmosphere,” Rick Seppelt, of Lake St. Louis, said of his first Cardinals home opener after living in the region for 35 years. It was a family affair for the Seppelt family, as they were also there to celebrate his future son-in-law’s birthday.

A first chance to attend a Cardinals home opener is what drew Jeff Perkins all the way from Greenfield, Tenn. Perkins, his wife and friends made the three hour drive from Northwest Tennessee Wednesday night. 

“I’ve been looking forward to this ever since I knew I found out I was going to be able to come. It’s exciting, when I walk up to this stadium, I’m like an 8-year-old kid again and to be around all these folks and fans ready for baseball, it doesn’t get any better than that,” he said.