Cardinals pass 3 million mark

Associated Press

ST. LOUIS -- The St. Louis Cardinals on Monday announced they had surpassed 3 million in ticket sales for the seventh time in eight seasons and could set a franchise record for attendance in the final year at Busch Stadium.

With 60 games to go entering Monday night against the Pittsburgh Pirates, the Cardinals were ahead of the sales pace of 2000 when the team sold a record 3,333,073 tickets. The Cardinals estimated that between 35 and 40 of the remaining games would be sold out.

''To have already sold over 3 million tickets before the Memorial Day holiday weekend shows once again why Cardinals fans are considered the best in all of sports,'' team president Mark Lamping said. ''It's the perfect combination -- strong preseason sales, the team's great start, an attractive home schedule and the draw of the farewell at Busch Stadium.''

Last year, the Cardinals didn't surpass 3 million in sales until Sept. 5.

Interestingly, among the series with tickets still remaining are the World Series rematch with the Boston Red Sox June 6-8 and the final Busch series against the Cubs Sept. 5-7.

Notes: Former Cardinals pitcher Rick Ankiel, trying to resurrect his career as an outfielder, was activated from a back injury that had sidelined him since May 7, then demoted from Double-A Springfield to Class-A Quad Cities. Ankiel went 1-for-20 with Springfield ... Plate umpire Jerry Crawford left Monday's game after six innings due to back spasms. Phil Cuzzi, who began the game at second base, replaced him behind the plate.