On the day the 2006 Cardinals played the first regular-season game in their new ballpark before a sellout crowd that included franchise luminaries such as Stan Musial, starter Mark Mulder took center stage with his hitting as well as his pitching.
On April 10, 2006, Mulder hit a two-run home run and earned the win in the Cardinals’ 6-4 victory over the Brewers at Busch Stadium III in downtown St. Louis.
After playing at Busch Memorial Stadium from 1966-2005, the Cardinals opened a ballpark that St. Louis Post-Dispatch columnist Bernie Miklasz described as a “splendid new bank vault” for a “revenue-rich franchise.”
Cardinals royalty
Among the 41,936 attendees were retired Cardinals standouts Musial, Lou Brock, Bob Gibson, Willie McGee, Red Schoendienst, Ozzie Smith and Bruce Sutter.
Musial, 85, stood arm in arm with Brock during the national anthem. After the pregame ceremonies, Brock helped Musial walk off the field. “You know why I’ve got this bad knee?” Musial asked Rick Hummel of the Post-Dispatch. “Too many triples. I should have hit more home runs like (Mark) McGwire.”
Gibson and McGee caught ceremonial first pitches from 2006 Cardinals Chris Carpenter and Albert Pujols.
Reflecting on the festivities, Cardinals manager Tony La Russa said, “If you didn’t feel something, then you don’t have a heartbeat.”
Wrecking crew
David Eckstein got the first Cardinals’ hit in the ballpark with a bunt single in the second inning. Pujols hit a solo home run in the third.
In the seventh, with the Cardinals ahead, 4-2, Brewers reliever Jose Capellan walked No. 8 batter Aaron Miles with two outs. Mulder, who had doubled and walked, was up next, and La Russa opted to let him face Capellan.
A left-handed batter, Mulder worked the count to 3-and-2 before hitting his first and only big-league home run, a two-run shot over the wall in right-center field for a 6-2 Cardinals lead.
Calling the game on television, Joe Buck declared, “What a day for the Cardinal lefty … This ball was crushed … A one-man wrecking crew here on April 10.” Video
Said Mulder to the Associated Press: “I was trying not to smile or laugh running around the bases. I wanted to.”
Mulder received a curtain call, then went out to finish the job.
He pitched a scoreless eighth, but in the ninth Mulder yielded a leadoff single to Geoff Jenkins and was relieved by Braden Looper.
Last-inning drama
The first batter Looper faced, Carlos Lee, grounded into a double play, but Bill Hall doubled and Rickie Weeks singled, scoring Hall and cutting the Cardinals’ lead to 6-3.
Jason Isringhausen replaced Looper, and after Weeks advanced to second on defensive indifference, Prince Fielder singled, scoring Weeks and getting the Brewers within two at 6-4.
Fielder moved to second on defensive indifference and Corey Koskie walked, increasing the tension. The drama finally ended when Gabe Gross, batting for reliever Danny Kolb, grounded out to Pujols at first. Boxscore
The night before, at Chicago, Isringhausen took the loss after yielding a grand slam to the Cubs’ Michael Barrett. Boxscore
“It was fun to get out there again,” Isringhausen said after his high-wire save against the Brewers. “When things are going bad, it seems like it snowballs, but things will be fine.”
Previously: Mark Mulder, Roger Clemens and the great duel at Busch II
RetroSimba 
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