2008

From Ballpark Roadtrip

1 Itinerary
2 Crew
3 Extras
4 Notable Events
5 First Stop: Adelanto, CA

Itinerary

At this point there are 2 MLB stadiums in use that we haven't visited. The Nationals have moved out of RFK into Nationals Park and the Padres have left the Q for Petco Park. Since the Yanks and Mets have new dwellings on tap for 2009, it was obvious that we should try and make a trip to San Diego to Petco Park, as we have seen the Pads in Qualcomm but not in Petco. That would leave the Mets, Yanks and Nats for 2009 at which point we will have likely not only seen every team play at home (which we already have) but also have seen a game at every Major League Park in current operation.

We debated what "else" to do on the trip and decided to take in some Minor League Baseball games and then make a trip through the desert to Vegas, as we did after our trip in 2003. There are many MiLB teams in CA so it was very easy to put together an itinerary.

Day 1: Mike, Lumpy and Bill all fly together from NYC to LAX (A). Ed would fly down from Oakland. We'd grab the rental van and head for Adelanto (B) to see the High Desert Mavericks.

Day 2: Stop at casino on the way to Inland Empire (C) to see the 66ers, then return to casino after the game.

Day 3: Stop at another casino (D) on the way to the Lake Elsinore Storm game (E), resist temptation to stop at the casino on the way down to San Diego (F) for the night.

Day 4: Walk across the border at San Ysidro and spend the afternoon in Tijuana (G) and see Los Potros de Tijuana. Return to San Diego for the night.

Day 5: See the Padres at Petco Park, head to Vegas (H) right after the game.

Day 6: Assuming we don't sleep through the game, see the Vegas 51's. What originally was supposed to be a night game is now a 12:30 game so as to not interfere with the MLB Home Run Derby. Fingers crossed that we don't spontaneously combust...

Total Mileage = 579