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Charlie Mager | LUTV
April 11, 2016; 1:30 p.m.

It’s that time of year again where St. Louis baseball fans gather downtown to celebrate the home opener of their beloved St. Louis Cardinals and the 10-year anniversary of the opening of Busch Stadium.

As usual, thousands of fans packed Busch and Ballpark Village across the street in anticipation of a successful 2016 campaign. Brendan Reeb, a merchandise clerk, loves the electrifying atmosphere of opening day.

“It’s like baseball heaven, it’s exciting! Everybody’s in a great mood, it puts you in a great mood, and it’s just great to be a part of it.”

The proud fans of 19 National League pennants and 11 world championships have witnessed a couple World Series winners already in the first 10 years of the ballpark’s existence.

Christian Summers, who has followed the Cardinals and lived in St. Louis his entire life, says that Game 6 of the 2011 World Series is his greatest memory of the Cardinals and exemplifies the team.

“If I had to pick my greatest memory, I’d have to say Game 6 of the World Series in ’11. When David Freese hit that ball off the wall to tie the game in the ninth inning, my friends and I just went crazy. Just another classic Cardinals memory.”

People were gathered outside of Busch and at Ballpark Village up to five hours before the first pitch. The crowd and euphoria on this Monday afternoon seemed like it was a victory parade.

Diane Wells of St. Charles loves Opening Day so much, that she thinks it should be considered a local holiday.

“I think it (Opening Day) deserves to be an open holiday because St. Louis isn’t America’s team, but it’s the state’s team. Having said that, I think it needs to be an open holiday so all the kids can come out of school and join in the festivities.”