Monday saw an unofficial holiday in St. Louis—Opening Day at Bush Stadium. The 9-year-old stadium saw its largest crowd with 47,492 people in attendance. The Cardinals didn’t disappoint all who braved the slight rain and chilly weather with a 5-3 victory over the Cincinnati Reds. This win ended a three-game losing-streak.

The gloomy drizzle did nothing to dampen the spirits of all the Cardinals fans that came out to support their team. Senior Ben Warneke, an employee at Bush Stadium, said the stands were packed. “[Opening Day] is definitely a huge deal here in St. Louis. We have a team that is successful year after year and that really draws a huge fan base. They won’t let a little rain ruin that for them,” Warneke said.

The start of the game was delayed 12 minutes after the inclement weather and pregame ceremonies. The pregame ceremonies featured the traditional grand entrance with players, coaches and Hall of Famers touring Busch Stadium on the back of convertibles and trucks. A team of Clydesdales was kept in the stable due to concerns that the field might be damaged.

The Cardinal’s wanted to give all the fans a good game to kick off their season at home—and they did. Catcher Yadier Molina smashed a ball deep into left center which brought in three runs, all in the first inning. Keep in mind that this is against the same team that allowed only two hits in seven scoreless innings just six days earlier.

Molina’s batting wasn’t the highlight of the game though. The spotlight was on 22-year-old rookie Michael Wacha. The hoopla of the Opening Day didn’t faze the rookie, however. Instead, he fed off of the energy. “There was a huge crowd and a lot of energy,” Wacha said in a postgame interview. “It’s a lot of fun pitching in front of your home crowd, 40,000-plus fans.”

Senior Haley Patton loves going to every Cardinal’s game that she can. Opening day is one of her favorite games to attend, though. “I had seats that were relatively close to the field and it was just an amazing game to be at,” Patton said.

Patton’s favorite part about Opening Day was the atmosphere. “Even though it was raining, the stadium was still packed. It was so much fun because everyone wasn’t bothered by the weather and they were all cheering like they would any other day,” Patton said.