NLCS NOTEBOOK

updated 2:12 a.m. ET Oct. 20, 2005

ST. LOUIS - Busch Stadium hosted its last game.

Forty seasons of baseball came to an end at the concrete relic when the Cardinals lost 5-1 to Houston on Wednesday in Game 6 of the NL championship series, sending the Astros to the World Series against the Chicago White Sox.

Demolition will begin within days as crews make way for completion of the new Busch Stadium, being built next to the old ballpark.

To those outside of St. Louis, Busch was known as one of the “cookie-cutter” ballparks built in the 1960s to house both baseball and football. To Cardinals fans, it has been a shrine, a place where more than 3 million traditionally gather each season.

As the Astros celebrated near the pitcher’s mound after the final out, Cardinals fans stood and cheered — perhaps to recognize the Astros, perhaps for the Cardinals, or perhaps as a tribute to the ballpark.

Many hugged. Some cried, among them 23-year-old Chris Tracy of Champaign, Ill.

“I’m just reliving all the memories,” he said.

Mike Turner of Newport, Ark., said he felt more pride than sadness.

“The fact that we lost, of course, I hate it, but it’s almost overridden by the feelings I have for the tradition of this team and this place,” Turner, 51, said.

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Most of the crowd stayed for a 10-minute video tribute. Flashes of longtime broadcaster Jack Buck, players such as Ozzie Smith and Bob Gibson, and stirring plays drew loud applause.

An hour after the game, hundreds gathered around the Cardinals dugout chanting “MVP! MVP!” Finally, Albert Pujols emerged, holding his young son.

The stadium opened May 12, 1966, with the Cardinals beating the Atlanta Braves. The Cardinals played six World Series in the stadium, winning two (1967 and 1982). They were 1,760-1,409 in the regular season, 35-18 in the postseason.

SO MUCH FOR MOMENTUM
Apparently momentum doesn’t mean nearly as much as starting pitching.

The Cardinals came into Game 6 on the heels of Pujols’ dramatic two-out, three-run homer in the ninth inning of a 5-4 victory in Game 5.

Rejuvenated, the 52,438 at Busch Stadium were delirious as the game began, cheering wildly for each Houston out in the first inning and giving Pujols a long standing ovation in his first at-bat, even as he struck out.

Slide show   NLCS images A visual tour of playoff series between the Astros and Cardinals

But if the Pujols homer let the air out of the balloon in Houston in Game 5, the Astros had a perfect answer in Roy Oswalt.

The NLCS MVP allowed just one run and three hits in seven innings for his second win of the series.

“He pitched outstanding, and as long as this game is played, when a pitcher out there is pitching that way, you’re not going to do much,” Cardinals manager Tony La Russa said.

The crowd tried to get back into it in the fifth when the Cardinals put their first two on, but the rally produced only one run on a sacrifice fly.

HE'S OUT
The Cardinals found themselves on the wrong end of another close call Wednesday.

Down 3-0 in the fifth, St. Louis had two on and none out when Abraham Nunez grounded hard to Oswalt, who fumbled the ball briefly and whose throw to second was off-target.

Shortstop Adam Everett lunged to catch the ball and made a sweeping tag at Yadier Molina. Replays showed the tag might have missed Molina, but second base umpire Greg Gibson called Molina out. La Russa argued, unsuccessfully.

Crew chief Tim McClelland said Oswalt’s errant throw put the umpire in a difficult spot.

“The problem you have is you get in position for a play and all of a sudden there’s an errant throw that takes us out of position,” McClelland said. “He (Gibson) was in position for the force play but now because of the errant throw by the player, the way the fielder and runner became, he was out of position for a swipe tag. He made the call best he could.”

McClelland said Gibson did not ask for help, but another umpire would have come forward if he had a view that clearly showed the call was wrong.

La Russa was thrown out of Game 4 for arguing over umpire Phil Cuzzi’s strike zone. Cuzzi then tossed Jim Edmonds in the middle of a crucial eighth-inning at-bat for arguing that a called strike was inside. Cuzzi was loudly booed when introduced before Wednesday’s game.

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