As a kid from Saint Joseph, I was pretty much required to grow up a Kansas City Royals fan. It was not the most glamorous team to root for and that still has not changed. But I’ve always enjoyed going to baseball games and watching “America’s pastime” being performed live in front of me.

Once I came to MU, I had somewhat of a culture shock. There are a lot of Cardinals fans here in Columbia. This summer I had the chance to see both the Cardinals and Royals play at both stadiums. Busch and Kauffman are both great stadiums, and I had a blast at both. But I set out to find which one has the better overall baseball experience.

We’ll start in Kansas City. I went with some friends from home on College Night. Every Wednesday, if you show a valid college identification, you get outfield seats for $7. It’s simply a deal that I just can’t pass up. The moment we walked in, a guy in a Royals T-shirt approached us. We were asked to do the “slugger race” in between innings.

The “KC Slugger Suits” were ridiculously hot as we stood in the sweltering heat for our moment of fame. The inning that we got in the suits was the inning the Royals decided to go out and crack a couple homers to extend the inning. But once that crazy announcer told us to go, it was fast and furious.

I came out of the gate slow, but around turn three I came out like a rocket and took the title. I’m not sure if the $25 gift card to Hy-Vee was worth all that effort on my part, but the race was a good part of the game for me. The overall atmosphere was awesome and being able to pick out great seats when you arrive only 20 minutes before the game is a definite plus.

Later that summer I went to a Cardinals game with my family. Although the seats were more expensive, they were worth it. We arrived a little early to see some of batting practice. It was good we were early because finding parking is crazy. Searching for a lot felt like it took nine innings itself. Eventually we settled on $25 parking about seven blocks away.

Once we arrived at the stadium we saw it was packed, which, especially for a game against the lowly Astros, showed how passionate the Cardinals fans are. The whole experience of Busch was very impressive. Seeing all of the statues of the greats outside was awesome. The game was a little slow, but the Cardinals jumped in with some good offense to make it more exciting. Overall, the Busch experience was fantastic and I really enjoyed watching baseball there.

Depending on where your loyalty lies, you probably have an idea of where you want to watch baseball. I definitely love to go to Kauffman, but I could not help but be jealous of some of the things that Busch offered. I think the more casual fan will enjoy Kauffman and the more pure-hearted baseball fan will love Busch.

Ultimately, for me, I went down to a game at Busch where the Royals beat the Cardinals. That was probably what made it my ultimate stadium experience.