2008 Roadtrip Recap

Our 10th annual baseball roadtrip is finally complete and we've had a chance to get back to some normalcy in our lives. We've also had a chance to review our trip.

In 17 days, we drove nearly 4,000 miles through 12 states. Our 14 games occurred on 12 consecutive days in 12 different ballparks and involved 18 different teams from 5 different baseball leagues, the American League, National League, Midwest League (A), Pacific Coast League (AAA) and American Association (Independent). We also visited 3 other baseball fields along the way: the Field of Dreams movie site in Dyersville, IA; Yankee Stadium in the Bronx, NY, for the MLB Homerun Derby; and Keyspan Park in Brooklyn, for the Take You Base charity run/walk in the fight against cancer.

Although not originally planned, we were able to create a couple day-night split double-headers (our favorites). The first was on July 2 with a game at Kane County (Geneva, IL) in the afternoon and another at Quad Cities (Davenport, IA) that night, and then on July 11 at Detroit (MI) in the afternoon and at Great Lakes (Midland, MI) later that evening.

We tried to make our trip as eco-friendly as could be (other than the 4,000 miles of driving). While jumping from hotel to hotel as our travels dictated, we tried to reduce waste by carrying along a bar of soap, instead of opening a new bar at every stop. We also confined our garbage disposal at each hotel to only 1 trash can, so additional garbage bags would not be uselessly wasted. As often as possible, we refilled our empty water bottles with tap water (except in Iowa, yucky water), instead of buy new bottles every time and wasting plastic. We will also be making a donation to http://www.carbonfund.org/ to offset our carbon footprint created by this trip, and our lives in general.

Many thanks to the following, in no particular order:

Curtis at 3rd & Long, for introducing us to the world of blogging, you can read his blog at http://diaryofthirdandlong.blogspot.com/.
http://www.baseballmaps.com/, for helping us find all of these great ballparks,
AAA, for providing maps, local informational guides, hotel discounts, etc,
Diners Drive-ins & Dives, for finding us some yummy food along the way,
Andy, for the driving tour of the twin cities, the great dinner with the family & housing us in MN,
Barb, for the walking tour of her estate,
Chris, for the personal tour at the House of David museum http://www.houseofdavidmuseum.org/,
Amy, for housing us in Cleveland,
Cindy, for recommending the Country Junction and their marvelous pies,

the Brooklyn Cyclones, for hosting the Take Your Base run/walk benefiting the American Cancer Society, still accepting donations at www.brooklyncyclones.com/community/takeyourbase/,
everyone who has already donated in support of our walk,

and last but certainly not least, all of the leagues, teams, players, entertainers, fans, etc, who were a part of another of our fantastic journeys.

We are eagerly awaiting next year's ballgame schedules to see where we will be travelling in 2009. But first, maybe a (relatively) local Labor Day weekend trip to hold us over. I guess we just can't get enough of the pulled pork sandwiches and helmet cup ice creams. If so, we'll keep on blogging.

Thanks for taking the time to follow along with our trip. Feel free to comment on the blog site or to us directly at sem1234@excite.com or todd23nyy@yahoo.com.

See our other trips at

http://toddandstephaniebaseballroadtrip2009.blogspot.com/
http://toddandstephaniebaseballroadtrip2010.blogspot.com/
http://toddandstephaniebaseballroadtrip2011.blogspot.com/

Stephanie and Todd

Monday, July 14, 2008 - New York, NY

Day 17 -

Extra tickets still available for the Homerun Derby in the old ballpark in the Bronx so we join Dave (and the blimp and many mascots).

Right around the corner, the new Yankee Stadium awaits opening day 2009.


All-Stars all over the field for the festivities.

And Josh Hamilton puts on an incredible display in the 1st round, by hitting a record 28 homeruns before reaching his 10 outs, including 13 in a row at one point and a few shots measured at over 500 feet, reaching the last rows of the bleachers, the upper deck and in the black, much to the delight of the fans and players alike.

Hamilton didn't even need to participate in the 2nd round, but still took 6 swings and hit 4 more HR's, so he and Justin Morneau move into the finals, where the scoreboard is cleared and they start over from scratch.

In the final round, Hamilton cannot keep up his torrid pace and hits only 3, losing to Morneau who hits 5.

Although he did not win the contest, Josh Hamilton stole the show in the 2008 Homerun Derby.

This conludes our 10th annual baseball roadtrip. We had another fantastic time, and we're already looking forward to see where next year's trip will take us. More recap and stats to be posted soon.

Sunday, July 13, 2008 - Cleveland, OH to New York, NY

Day 16 -

Almost home (that's the Empire State Building from a bumpy road, trust me).




Halfway across the country and back in 16 days, and just under 4,000 miles. And the Corolla (over 160,000 total miles now) keeps on rollin'.


Home at last.

Tomorrow, bonus baseball?

Saturday, July 12, 2008 - Cleveland, OH

Day 15 -

It's party time in Cleveland. Nathan's 4th (last month) and Sadie's 6th (last week).



Complete with an indoor parade (while the rain passed)...


indoor games, ...





water balloons, ...


and whipped cream pies.



And of course some clean up.


Even a visit from Spidey.


Tired boys.


Last day on the road. Headed home tomorrow.

Friday, July 11, 2008 - Midland, MI to Cleveland, OH

Day 13 -

The trip South through Michigan brought us through Ann Arbor (Dad's alma mater) and by the Big House.




A local legend Burger joint , http://www.blimpyburger.com/, thanks again to Guy from Diners, Drive-ins & Dives http://www.foodnetwork.com/food/show_dv.



More interesting food along the way, but we were still too full from Krazy Jim's.


Back in Cleveland, back at the Euc to see some great local blues rock music.

Mr. Stress on the harmonica, among the crowd.

Stephanie back at the old hangout http://www.myspace.com/the_euc.



Tomorrow, a birthday party for Sadie and Nathan!

Thursday, July 10, 2008 - Detroit to Midland, MI

Day 10 -

A late morning stop at the old Mariners' Church in Detroit (as immortalized in the song "The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald").






Detroit is weird. Rules on sidewalks.


Lions? We're looking for Tigers.


Wait, they have an afternoon game today? Let's go again.





Happy Holidays!





He must have seen what we've been eating for the past couple weeks.


The Twins tied it up in the top of the 9th, but we have to get to our last scheduled ballpark. The Twins would end up winning in the 11th inning.


On the way out, Stephanie found another Big Boy to play with.


Rush hour in downtown Detroit (4:30 pm), but where is everybody?




Welcome to Midland, MI, home of the Great Lakes Loons. A very eco-friendly ballpark, using solar energy to power the scoreboard and much of the stadium's power needs.




The entire field.


Lou E. Loon.


Now batting, #31, playing 2B, Preston Mattingly, son of Don Mattingly.



In Michigan, gotta have some cars motoring around the bases.


Almost 5,000 fans whose Loons lose 6-0, but happy roadtrippers.




Sadly, this is the last day of the baseball portion of our roadtrip. Time to head back to Cleveland tomorrow to see the family.

By the way, the Indians finally won tonight, ending their 10 game losing streak, the first game of which we heard on the radio on the first day of our trip. Go Tribe!