Let's Road Trip Cubs 2025: Trip #8 - Beer and Orange Juice

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The Cubs finish the month of June with their first trip to St. Louis and a journey to Houston. What awaits the club as they travel up and down the central time zone?

Image courtesy of © Jeff Curry-Imagn Images

St. Louis Cardinals - June 23-26
Busch Stadium - Capacity 44,383
2024 Attendance: 2,869,783 (Averaged 35,872, ranked 6th out of 15 NL parks, 7th overall)

In 2024, the Cardinals and Cubs ended with the same record, but on the road at Busch Stadium, the home team stayed supreme, with the Cubs dropping four of the six contests.  In general, Cubs fans shouldn't get their hopes up when their team travels to division rival St. Louis. In the nearly two decades since the latest iteration of Busch Stadium opened, the Cubs have only managed 66 victories while losing 89 games. If you wanted to look up a definition of "hostile environment," this road trip has proven so, at least where the divisional standings are concerned. Every year since 2017, there has been a defeat except for the 2023 season, which saw two of the road games taking place in London and the Cubs earning four victories and only losing two.

St. Louis’s baseball history can be traced back to 1882. Eleven World Series trophies later, the Cardinals remain elite among fan bases and maintain baseball cultural icon status. The current Busch Stadium is the third iteration, providing a scenic view of the downtown skyline and this noble heritage. Built in 2006, it sports a Ballpark Village neighborhood attraction and its own Hall of Fame Museum. Brewery tours, trips up to the top of the Arch, BBQ and BBQ and more BBQ, and time spent feasting on baseball in the heartland. What could be better?

The majestic views past the outfield concourse give the stadium its style points. The red seats and Clydesdales provide the ambiance, and the fans provide the support. The Cardinals have benefited from being the only game in town for a region that stretches from Oklahoma to Alabama, Indiana to Colorado. Their radio signal strength established a fan base, and their open wallet and excellent farm system have set them up to be contenders most seasons, so the last two seasons' strife is regarded as an anomaly, and their fan base is hungry for redemption. The Cubs are equally hungry to keep them in their place.

Next up, all aboard for Houston and Minute Maid Park!

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Houston Astros - June 27-29
Minute Maid Park - Capacity 41,168
2024 Attendance: 2,835,234 (Averaged 35,002, ranked 2nd of 15 AL teams and 8th overall)

In 2023, the Cubs traveled to Houston in May and came home empty, getting swept in a three-game series while coughing up 20 runs.  The Cubs have gone 58-56 in Houston since Enron Field opened in 2000, serving as a neutral site since the Astros were still battling in the National League.

The story of Houston baseball runs through the sporting world’s first fully enclosed and air-conditioned stadium, the Astrodome, which changed the game and almost all other games around the world.  The Astrodome gave us the first synthetic turf playing surface (hence why we call all the new stuff Astroturf, even if it isn’t!), the ability to play ball in any type of weather or geography, and the introduction of year-round civic and sports arenas within a city. 

Minute Maid Park carries history, scandal, success, and futility in one beautifully crafted, retro-fitted setting. The current ballpark was constructed around a former Union Station railway concourse and harkens to the culture and community that it serves.  Oil, agriculture, trains, Bar-B-Q, Mexican food, boom/bust economics, and espionage/waste disposal (couldn’t resist). The retractable roof might come into play in May, with an opportunity for outdoor baseball early and late in the season.  This element allows for a natural grass playing surface.

Originally named Enron Field in 2000, my kids’ third favorite orange juice stepped up to the plate for naming rights once Enron imploded.  Hopefully, the Minute Maid Train will fail to leave the station due to a lack of Astros homers, but recent history would argue to bet the “over.”

Minute Maid Park used to feature the legendary and questionable "Tal’s Hill” in centerfield.  The berm & flagpole served for quite a few highlights and lowlights for fielders, stretching the dimensions to 436ft.  The hill left the building after the 2016 season, replaced by a restaurant, standing-room seating, and a lower medical liability deductible.

The dimensions also came in with it to a reasonable 406ft.  Interestingly, berms or mounds in the field of play used to be a way to give a better view to standing room overflow fans ON THE FIELD!!!  Can you imagine?  Showing up to a game, discovering it was sold out, but being told to “Worry not!  Centerfield has some room for you!”  It sounds like an alternate reality.

Check out the Space Center in Houston and enjoy some beach and fishing time out in the Gulf of Mexico. Or if the weather's too warm and muggy for your liking, just get excited to watch high-quality baseball in a crazy cool stadium alongside a fan base that has doubled down on their team. 

From Houston, the Cubs travel home to face the Guardians for the first time this season, and there will be a re-match with the Cardinals. There's no time to rest just yet because June is ending with a flourish.

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