Ballpark Travel

The idea of seeing all 190 active major and minor league ballparks feels like a daunting task and a life's work - chipping away here and there over many years. For the 2019 season, here are some recommendations to take a week or a weekend getaway to get just a little bit closer. This summer, the MLB All Star Game heads to Cleveland, OH - one of my favorite cities (seriously). In the summer time, there is a lot of baseball to take in surrounding the mid-summer classic. Flying round-trip to Cleveland (CLE), this trip would make visiting the All Star Game and 5 minor league ballparks feasible. Saturday, July 6 - 7:00PM - Lansing Lugnuts @ Lake County Captains Sunday, July 7 - 4:05PM - Williamsport Crosscutters @ Mahoning Valley Scrappers Monday, July 8 - Evening - MLB Home Run Derby Tuesday, July 9 - Evening - MLB All Star Game Wednesday, July 10 - No baseball games, NFL Hall of Fame / Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Thursday, July 11 - 7:05PM - Altoona Curve @ Erie Seawolves F...

The idea of seeing all 190 active major and minor league ballparks feels like a daunting task and a life's work - chipping away here and there over many years. For the 2019 season, here are some recommendations to take a week or a weekend getaway to get just a little bit closer. In June, there is an opportunity in the Carolina's to see 9 games in 7 days. You would be able to fly in and out of the Raleigh-Durham airport (RDU) and see a wide variety of ballparks from the Burlington Royals 3,500 seat rookie league park built in 1960 all the way up to the Charlotte Knights, Durham Bulls and Greenville Drive, all consistently considered among the best Minor League ballparks. Monday, June 24 - 7:00PM - Down East Wood Ducks @ Carolina Mudcats (Zebulon, NC) Tuesday, June 25 - 1:05PM - Charlotte Knights @ Durham Bulls Tuesday, June 25 - TBD - Kingsport Mets @ Burlington Royals Wednesday, June 26 - 12:00PM - WV Power @ Greensboro Grasshoppers Wednesday, June 26 - 7:00PM - My...

It's March and Spring Training is in full swing. Baseball has done a tremendous job with their exhibition season over the years creating travel destinations in Arizona and Florida for fans to enjoy baseball and amazing weather. Most travelers follow their team to their warm climate homes in either the Cactus League or Grapefruit League, but for those who are just happy to be in the ballpark or looking for a change of scenery, the experience could not be more different. Either way, you are going to enjoy yourself. Decide for yourself which is right for you considering the following travel factors: Baseball: Phoenix It's not that you are going to see different brands of baseball, what makes Phoenix so great is that the distance between Surprise (Northwest) and Mesa (Southeast) is a 50 minute drive meaning that any game on the schedule is in play every day. Many days, you can easily do a doubleheader and see two games in two stadiums on the same day. It happened 17 times in...

On Friday, April 28th, 2017, I joined an exclusive club that I have been pursuing for 16 baseball seasons – I have now visited all 30 active Major League Baseball stadiums and 3 more that either no longer exist or host a team – Yankee Stadium, Turner Field and Olympic Stadium. If you know me, you know that baseball defines who I am. I travel for work about 100 days every year and from March to October, I am acutely aware of what the closest team is and if they are playing a home game that night. I could care less who is playing or even who wins most of the time, I am happiest in a baseball stadium. I love baseball because it is one way I can relate with people. If I happened to meet someone from Denver, I could go on and on that Coors Field is in my top-5 ballparks and how much I love the variety of craft beer at the ballpark and going out on Blake Street after the game. Let the conversation begin. This journey has allowed me to learn how incredible and diverse our country is and wh...

Sports are the last great live spectacle. Going to see a concert or a play has its place, there are no other events that we can watch with unknown outcomes, that is the beauty of sports. We watch because there are new storylines every single night and we can find common ground with complete strangers over our favorite teams and players. I also think that sports serve as a diversion to many. Sports are an escape from the real world issues that trouble us – money, career, weight, injury or grief. Occasionally our issues enter the sports world in a very relatable way. Today – September 25 th , 2016 – was an unbelievable day and one that needs to be written about. In the same day, Major League Baseball began to mourn the loss of budding Miami Marlins star, 24 year old, Jose Fernandez and golf legend Arnold Palmer passed away at age 87. Those headlines may be what most people remember about this day, I think that it is important to identify the beauty that sports provided on this day...

I have been compelled to get back to writing to discuss the 500 Home Run club’s newest member, David Ortiz. The other day while listening to a popular talk radio show discuss his candidacy for the MLB Hall of Fame, there were some arguments on both sides of the issue. To me, there is no question that David Ortiz belongs in Cooperstown. His history of postseason heroics and overall offensive numbers put him in company with the already enshrined. More importantly, he is one of a shrinking number of athletes who is embraceable public figure and has given back and grown the game. If I were to have been able to weigh in on this radio show, these would have been my case for David Ortiz. Steroids One of two arguments against David Ortiz relates to steroids. In 2003 when performance enhancing drug use was widely used throughout baseball (and all sports), David Ortiz and many other baseball players participated in a test for Major League Baseball where no penalties for a positive...

First, I hope to keep a promise to myself and return to writing post-MBA about business, baseball and a few personal pieces. It has been a while, but I plan to wipe the dust off by writing about the Braves offensive struggles and some ideas how to improve during the season. I moved to Atlanta in 2008 to work for the Braves in a season where Chipper Jones was hitting over .400 well into the summer in what was one of the most impressive offensive seasons I have ever been able to closely watch. Since, Atlanta has lacked a dominant offensive player, which is their first problem and one that likely will not have a solution unless Freddie Freeman take the last step this season from one of the best first-basemen in the league to one of the best players in all of baseball. In order to do that, his power numbers will need to climb to 30+ and his ability to come up with a clutch hit needs to continue to be strong. When he signed the long term contract this past off-season my first thought is ...