BANZ® at the Ballpark
From first pitch to last out, the sun doesn’t take innings off.
Series: BANZ in the Stands | Game Day with BANZ®
Author: Shari Murphy, BANZ® Carewear USA
Busch Stadium, first Cardinals game, and a totally different kind of hot
I finally made it to a Cardinals game at Busch Stadium in St. Louis, my first time ever. I’ve been to plenty of games at Kauffman Stadium back home, so I figured I had a good sense of what to expect. I did not. Busch has its own personality entirely: loud in bursts, wide open to the sun, and full of energy from first pitch.
What game day actually felt like
Most parents notice the same things once they’re in the seats:
- The stadium is loud in waves — a home run or a full count can send the whole place into a roar
- The sun doesn’t let up. A lot of Busch’s seating bowl is fully exposed, with very little shade
- The humidity sneaks up faster than the score does
- By the fourth inning, sunscreen and shade matter as much as snacks
The moment that caught me off guard
I expected the noise — Cardinals fans are loud, everyone warns you about that. What I didn’t expect was how much the heat and sun crept up on us. It wasn’t one dramatic moment so much as a slow realization somewhere around the fifth inning that our necks and shoulders were starting to feel it, and that a hat alone wasn’t going to cut it in that kind of humidity.
What’s actually happening with sun exposure at a day game
A few things worth knowing before a summer day game:
- Midwest summer UV can sit in the “very high” range for hours during a mid-afternoon game
- Reflected light off concrete and metal seating adds exposure beyond direct sun
- Sunscreen needs reapplying roughly every two hours, more often if you’re sweating
- Kids’ skin can burn in under 20 minutes of unprotected midday sun, even without one obvious “burn moment”
How we adapted
We started making small adjustments without even talking about it:
- Ducked into shaded concourse areas between innings
- Reapplied sunscreen at the stretch, not just before first pitch
- Kept water going the whole game, not just when someone asked for it
- Watched for the kids getting quiet or cranky — usually a heat sign before it’s a mood sign
What we bring now
- Sunscreen, and a reminder to actually reapply it
- Hats and sunglasses for the whole family
- A refillable water bottle
- A little grace for shorter attention spans once the sun gets high
The kids programs that made the day
Busch Stadium does a genuinely nice job with young fans, and this is where the day really stood out:
- A First Game button, plus a certificate and a photo op to mark it — a nice keepsake we didn’t expect
- A First Birthday button for anyone celebrating a birthday at their first-ever game
- Fredbird-shaped ice cream, a red, watermelon-flavored treat that was the best souvenir of the whole trip
Busch vs. Kauffman: a totally different vibe
Having Kauffman as my only reference point going in, Busch felt like a different sport entirely. Kauffman has that laid-back, fountains-in-the-outfield feel. Busch is downtown, loud, sun-drenched, and constantly in motion — a completely different kind of fun.
Bonus: the Arch
One perk of downtown baseball: the Gateway Arch is right there in the skyline. Between innings we kept catching it peeking over the stadium — an easy, free bonus to the day.
Before your next day game
Baseball is meant to be enjoyed in the sun — that’s part of the charm. But sun and heat sneak up on kids just like stadium noise does, and the fix is usually the same: small, boring habits, applied consistently. Sunscreen, shade breaks, water, a hat. None of it is complicated. It just has to actually happen.
👉 SHOP BANZ® NOW
More from Game Day with BANZ® →
BANZ® in the Stands: Noise, Sun, and What Actually Helps at a Game
Shari Murphy is COO of BANZ® Carewear USA, a 25-year-old children's hearing and sun protection brand trusted by 2M+ families across 6 continents. She joined BANZ® in 2006 as office manager and has grown with the brand for 20 years across marketing, business development, and operations. She has five children — ages 17 to 27 — all raised in BANZ products. Her youngest still wears the earmuffs she got at age 5.