Major League Baseball Roadtrip

[Robert Schaller]

Fascinating was the word I was going to use also! Thanks for the explanation. Bob

[Midwest Michael]

I wish I would have known all of that complex information about 15 years ago when my 7th grade math teacher assigned a similar problem. We were given a list of a dozen or so cities in the state and had to find the shortest route between all of them. I got an A on the assignment, but I never knew it was such a difficult problem!

[vipur]

Hi - I too am in the midst of a 30 ballpark roadtrip this summer - I've finished 9 and have 21 to go (I'm taking a planned one week break in SF this week before we start out on our 25 day, 20 park stretch - will finish the 30th park, SBC Park in SF, sometime in August - no hurry to end the trip!)

I'm in the process of moving from Philadelphia to San Francisco, so I kept Philly my hub for the northeast parks and spoked out to a handful of parks from there (Baltimore, Boston, NYY, NYM, Pitt, Philly, Washington) and i also flew saw the Marlins and D-Rays on a separate vacation trip to Florida a few weeks ago. In a week, I'm gonna start the last leg of the trip, hitting 20 parks in 25 days. (I will hit SBC Park, #30, in August).

In total, I'm looking at 11,000 miles of driving and about 9,000 miles of flying. Its certainly not the most efficient schedule in terms of driving time, but I hub/spoked from Philly cause i was already paying rent there, I minimized driving time between cities, I accomodated the schedules of 3 friends from grad school that are joining me for legs of the trip, and of course, worked within the constraints of my budget =) And the home/away schedules are very tough to work around.

I've got an Excel spreadsheet that I used to plan out my schedule (i pasted in schedules from all 30 teams by day... a lot easier than any other method I could find... ) Post your email address and I'll send it you (i cant attach it in this forum). One caveat - CONFIRM THE TIMINGS ON GAMES. I created this spreadsheet in March, and some of the night games have become day games, etc. due to TV scheduling, keeping contenders on TV, etc.

Enjoy the trip man! Its been a blast thus far. Thus far, Pittsburgh has been the biggest surprise, and watching the Nationals play was really fun - they play the game like it was meant to be played - run out every ground ball, etc.

Good luck with your trip - feel free to reply back here, I'll try to log in before I hit the road again. - Vip

PS. My schedule for the remaining games is as follows:

6/04 Seattle
6/06 Colorado
6/07 St. Louis
6/08 Milwaukee
6/09 Cincinnati
6/10 Chicago Cubs
6/13 Chicago WS
6/14 Detroit
6/15 Toronto
6/16 Cleveland
6/17 Minneapolis
6/18 Kansas City
6/19 Texas
6/20 Houston
6/22 Atlanta
6/24 Arizona
6/25 San Diego
6/26 Anaheim
6/27 Los Angeles
6/28 Oakland
TBD San Francisco

[Mark Sedenquist]

Vipur,

Thanks for the in-progress field report. We would love to hear more about the trip as you go. Pittsburgh is one of my favorite cities -- glad you enjoyed the discovery.

Although Chris' book Roadside Baseball is weighted towards historical information, you might find it a worthy companion on some of those 9000 flight miles!

Happy RoadTrippin'

Mark

[Robert Schaller]

Last night, I had the opportunity to witness the opening game for the Surprise Fightin' Falcons (against the Japan Samurai Bears) -- on the first day of play for the new Golden Baseball League.

Several years back, when the formation of the Arizona Diamondbacks was announced, one sad side note was that Phoenix's original "hometown" team had to leave -- the Phoenix Giants/later Firebirds. I love minor league ball -- it has a neighborhood feel to it that you just don't get in the big glitzy stadiums -- and you can actually afford to go. These young guys love to play ball, and it shows.

Last night's game was great -- there were some errors and slop here and there -- but all in all it was the same great ball game I used to see at Scottsdale Stadium when the Firebirds were playing. There were a couple of really fine double plays. My hot dog was HUGE (although the league's promise of cheaper ballpark food was empty rhetoric).

Anyway, I hope this ball league "makes it." They're a great family-friendly alternative to the major league games. I was reminded just why I loved baseball to begin with. Oh, and the home team WON! I think it is going to be a good summer. Bob

[vipur]

Golden Baseball League -

Awesome idea those guys have. Phenomenal that they have put together 8 teams, stadium agreements, and 90 game schedules in such a short time.

Dave Kaval (one of the co-founders) also happens to be a great guy - we used to work together. He's done the 30 ballpark tour and wrote a book about it (he and his buddy, Brad Null) - you can find their book on Amazon or B&N. Its a fun read.

And, I'd be lying to you if I told you his enthusiasm for baseball, and for the great roadtrip, wasn't a factor in my decision to do the 30 park trip.

Looking forward to someday roadtripping the Golden Baseball League!