There will be no more Christian symbols on the field at Busch Stadium — unless they’re on players in the form of jewelry, tattoos or gestures, anyway.
Towards the end of June, an offhand note in a St. Louis Post-Dispatch article mentioned that a cross had been appearing on the back of the mound at the Cardinals’ home park. Since the beginning of the season, Busch Stadium grounds crew had been drawing a No. 6 on the back of the mound to honor Cardinals great Stan Musial, who died in January. Along with the tribute, the cross showed up, too.
“They’ve been there every time for me,” pitcher Adam Wainwright said.
Over the weekend, however, St. Louis general manager John Mozeliak said that he was putting a stop to the practice. While it’s common for players to show their spirituality on the field or scrawl messages on the back of the mound, Mozeliak noted that it’s not team policy for employees to add religious symbols to the stadium.
“Once we learned of it,” Mozeliak told the Post-Dispatch. “I did contact the grounds crew and just asked that they don’t.
“It’s just not club policy to be putting religious symbols on the playing field or throughout the ballpark. I didn’t ask for the reason behind it. I just asked for it to stop.”
Simple sensitivity or political correctness run amok? You can decide for yourself.
Photo via Wikimedia Commons/Busch Stadium
