Day 45: Washington

Today we watched the Chicago Cubs dismantle the Washington Nationals, 7-0 at the brand new Nationals Park in Washington, D.C. Carlos Zambrano pitched 7 shutout innings, and Derek Lee led the way with 3 RBI's as the Cubs cruised to an easy victory. I chose the Cubs (-1.5), so I regain the series lead, taking a 16-15 edge with tonight's victory.

We left Hilton Head, SC (where Ben lives now) at about 5:05am this morning, and arrived at his aunt and uncle's house shortly after 2:30pm. It was a relatively easy drive up I-95 without any stops from the highway patrol. Upon arrival, we had a wonderful steak meal waiting for us, which was quite delicious.

Having 4 tickets to the game tonight, Ben's Uncle Dirk joined us, along with our old Furman tennis buddy, and former Day 23 companion, Brian Crook. The new stadium was very nice, with some excellent views of the Capitol Building from the upper deck. In the media guide given to us as we entered the park, one of the page's called it, "The House that Zim Built" referring to Nationals 3B Ryan Zimmerman. Somehow it just doesn't have the same ring to it as the hallowed stadium in the Bronx.

During the game we managed to spot political commentator and baseball enthusaist George Will. Unfortunately, he did not bring out too many other Nationals' supporters, as the crowd was largely composed of Cubs fans. Even at the end of the game a majority of the fans stood up and cheered as if the home team was closing out the win.

Tomorrow, Ben and I head back home, as this will be our only trip this season. Look for the blog to pick back up in 2009 when the Yankees, Mets, and Twins open new stadiums. Until then, here are your statistical updates for the trip.

(Pictures will be added in the next day or two.)

1-end of day odometer: 55,013
2-miles traveled today: 616
3-miles traveled total: 18,935
4-states traveled in today: South Carolina, North Carolina, Virginia, Maryland, Washington, D.C.
bonus stat: Cubs catcher Geovany Soto was 0-5 with 5 strikes, 4 of which were the 2nd out of the inning.

Day 44: St. Louis

Today was our last day of the trip, as we got to see the St. Louis Cardinals host the Atlanta Braves at the new Busch Stadium. It was Ben's turn to pick, so he obviously went with the Cardinals and with the help of a Jim Edmonds 3-run homer, he takes the win. This means that after all the games we went to, Ben and I are officially tied at 15-15.

The game did not exactly go off without a hitch tonight, as a massive storm unexpectantly rolled through St. Louis just before the 7:10pm scheduled starting time. Extremely dark clouds came in quickly, and before too long we were unable to even see the other side of the stadium. Debris was being lifted straight up into the sky, rain was coming down very hard from all directions, and the tarp was even lifted off the infield despite being held down by the maintenence vehicles. After it was finished, the tarp had been torn almost the full length of the infield.



However, after 2 hours and 15 minutes, the game was finally underway. Our tickets were excellent, located in between home plate and 1st base, 17 rows back from the field. Thanks to Tim Sant for the tickets for tonight's game. Ben's parents joined us for the game, and as we have always said it is much more fun going to the game with other people we know, so thanks to them as well.



We left Oklahoma City at 7:30am, and despite a great deal of construction, we pulled into Ben's house in St. Louis at 3:10pm. Then after grabbing a quick bite to eat, and updating some statistical information, we made our way down to the ballpark, arriving at about 5:45.



Our journey is now complete, and while we certainly put a lot of time and energy into ourselves, we certainly could not have done any of this without the help of everyone who chipped in along the way. From providing housing, to tickets, to food, or just time on the phone to help pass the miles on the road, anyone who is reading this had a hand in helping us out during the last month and a half, and for that, WE THANK YOU! Most importanly though, we would like to thank our families, and especially our parents, who have had to hear more about this trip over the last 2 years than I'm sure they wanted to, and helped us out in so many more way than we could ever list in this blog. So, a VERY SPECIAL THANKS to you as well!

Over the course of the trip, we tried to keep track of as many stats and intersting information as possible, so here are the numbers we have compiled.

1-end of day odometer: 34,962
2-miles traveled today: 537
3-miles traveled total: 18,319
4-states traveled in today: Oklahoma, Missouri
bonus stat: teams are 30-0 when they score more runs than their opponent

misc. stats:
home team was 20-10
team that scored 1st was 19-11
team that scored last was 15-15
team that committed fewer errors was 12-7 (11 ties)
team that hit more home runs was 14-8 (8 ties)
team that had more hits was 25-2 (3 ties)
team that allowed fewer walks was 19-6 (5 ties)
team that struck out more batters was 14-14 (2 ties)
team that used fewer pitchers was 13-8 (9 ties)

cheapest beer (16 oz.): Phillies, Cubs = $5.75
most expensive beer (16 oz.): Yankees = $7.75
cheapest parking: Devil Rays = $0
most expensive parking: Yankees = $20
cheapest ticket: Rockies = $4
most expensive ticket: Yankees = $91

total gallons of gas purchased: 510.333
average price / gallon of gas: $2.93
miles / gallon of gas overall: 35.89

*we would rather not share the total amount that we spent on the trip, but we would like to brag a little bit about the following stat:
overall, we were 37% under our alloted budget, which did not include the money we spent in Las Vegas, and even with that we were still 21% under our alloted budget

Here are each of our respective lists of the baseball stadium. We made these without any knowledge of the other's list:
Scott - My list does not reflect how much fun I had at the stadium, but merely my impression of the stadium itself
1-Wrigley Field (Cubs)
2-Angel Stadium (Angels)
3-Fenway Park (Red Sox)
4-Ameriquest Field (Rangers)
5-PNC Park (Pirates)
6-Busch Stadium (Cardinals)
7-Safeco Field (Mariners)
8-AT&T Park (Giants)
9-Yankee Stadium (Yankees)
10-Citizen's Bank Park (Phillies)
11-Jacob's Field (Indians)
12-Comerica Park (Tigers)
13-Turner Field (Braves)
14-Miller Park (Brewers)
15-Camden Yards (Orioles)
16-Rogers CEntre (Blue Jays)
17-Dodgers Stadium (Dodgers)
18-Coors Field (Rockies)
19-Petco Park (Padres)
20-HHH Metrodome (Twins)
21-US Cellular Field (White Sox)
22-Chase Field (Diamondbacks)
23-Kauffman Stadium (Royals)
24-Dolphin Stadium (Marlins)
25-Shea Stadium (Mets)
26-RFK Stadium (Nationals)
27-Great American Ballpark (Reds)
28-Minute Maid Park (Astros)
29-McAfee Coliseum (Athletics)
30-Tropicana Field (Devil Rays)

Ben - Obviously, a lot of this is arbitrary but the important ones are the first six and the last seven. A great deal of this also depends on the experience I had at each park and could change if I went back there again.

1-Ameriquest Field in The Ballpark at Arlington
2-Busch Stadium (Bias opinion of course)
3-Wrigley Field
4-Yankee Stadium
5-Fenway Park
6-Oriole Park at Camden Yards
7-Angel Stadium
8-Coors Field
9-Miller Park
10-Safeco Field
11-Citizens Bank Park
12-The Metrodome
13-Chase Field
14-AT&T Park
15-Jacobs Field
16-PNC Park
17-U.S. Cellular Field
18-Comerica Park
19-PETCO Park
20-Turner Field
21-Kauffman Stadium
22-Dodger Stadium
23-Skydome
24-The Great American Ballpark
25-Minute Maid Park
26-McAfee Coliseum
27-Shea Stadium
28-RFK Stadium
29-Dolphin Stadium
30-Tropicana Field

***also note that we now have the MP3 file of our on-air radio broadcast in Baltimore. You can access it by clicking on the "Map and Itinerary" link, then clicking "Listen here to an MP3" on the right side of the screen. Hope you enjoy!

Day 43: Travel

Today was our 1st travel day in a while, and we used it to make our way from Phoenix, AZ to Oklahoma City, OK. During the drive we lost 2 hours in time zone change, drove through over 70 miles of construction with 45 mph speed limits, and had to encounter Texas’ night time speed limit of 65 mph. However, we pulled through and made the trek in about 15.5 hours.

We stopped for lunch just over the New Mexico state border at Subway, where we filled up for gas and then I took over the driving until dinner. Dinner was glorious, as we found our 1st Fazoli’s of the trip. For those who are unfamiliar with this restaurant chain, you are missing out on something great. It is Italian fast-food that is delicious and cheap. There used to be one about 1 mile from campus at Furman, but it closed after my sophomore year. So, anytime I get to enjoy some Fazoli’s it is a special meal.

Sorry about the large blob in the photo of New Mexico today. There was so much bird feces on the windshield that it was impossible to take pictures of the state welcome signs without including them in the photo. Just one of the little details from the road you can’t always plan for.



No exciting police stops from the road today, and the scenery was nothing too spectacular, aside from several huge mesas in western New Mexico. We are staying at a Quality Inn near Oklahoma City, OK, once again courtesy of frequent-stay points from my parents. Thanks!

Tomorrow is the last day of this spectacular road trip. We have been asked several times if we are ready for the trip to be over, as you might expect after 44 days and thousands of miles on the road. But, the honest answer is that neither of us wants the trip to be over. Sure, we are certainly a little tired from being on the road for so many days. However, I don’t think either one wants to stop traveling around the country and watching baseball games during the summer.

After the game tomorrow, hopefully we can pull together the plethora of statistical information that we have been keeping track of in order to give an even more in depth look into our travels.

Here are the statistical updates:
1-end of day odometer: 34,425
2-miles traveled today: 1,065
3-miles traveled total: 17,660
4-states traveled in today: Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, Oklahoma
bonus stat: in Amarillo, TX, The Big Texan offered their customers the chance at a free 72 oz. steak, the stipulation being that you had to eat the entire piece of meat in 1 hour

Day 42: Arizona

Tonight's guest blogger: Ben

Hello again from the desert. Even though the high today was 115, it was our most relaxing day in weeks. After waking up without an alarm, I took the car in for its final oil change and we took care of some banking issues. After a day of relaxation at the Garcia residents, we left for Chase Field at about 4:00 pm. We arrived at the stadium about an hour and forty five minutes before the game and saw quite a lot of batting practice. Once the game got started, things began to go my way. After two quick runs by the Dbacks, the Dodgers tied it up. However, Arizona began to pour it on, scoring 5 runs in the sixth innning, including a 418 foot blast by Eric Byrnes to win it 8-3. Scott took the Dodgers so I pull to within one game, 14-15 with just the St. Louis game remaining.

The Diamondbacks were one of the three organizations which sent us tickets in response to us contacting them about our trip. The seats were in the left field bleachers, second row. They were great seats and good for batting practice and home run balls. Unfortunately, we did not catch any but would like to thank the Diamondbacks for sending them to us.



Chase Field, formerly Bank One Ballpark (the BOB), was a nice place to watch a game. It was especially nice for the food lover, as it included restaurants from McDonald's to Cold Stone Creamery to Panda Express and even TGI Friday's. The overall feel of the park was nice but Scott did complain that the bleacher seats were extremely uncomfortable so I guess you cannot have everything.



We again have found ourselves with more than gracious hosts as we had eggs, sausage and cinnamon rolls for breakfast and great hamburgers and fries for lunch/dinner. It was a well needed day of relaxation before our 1,000 mile day tomorrow.

Here are the statistical updates:
1-end of day odometer: 33,360
2-miles traveled today: 87
3-miles traveled total: 16,595
4-states traveled in today: Arizona
bonus stat: home teams are 4-0 when they score in both the 2nd and 3rd innings

Day 41: San Diego

Today we made our way farther South in California as we watched the San Diego Padres play the Atlanta Braves in Petco Park. Our tickets were directly behind home plate in the upper deck, the 2nd row from the top of the stadium. The Braves caught fire for a 6-run 4th inning, capped by a Chipper Jones home run and won 10-5. Ben chose the Padres over the Braves, so I take my 2nd win in as many days and move to 15-13 overall on the trip.

We were again joined by my cousin, Maryel, who provided housing again via her aunt in Los Angeles. We left at 9:00am, and were parked in San Diego shortly after 11:00. After lunch at Burger King, we walked down to the stadium.



During the game, we saw our 1st ejections of the trip. 2 Padres coaches were tossed for arguing balls and strikes after some very questionable calls by the umpire. This culminated with manager Bruce Boche throwing his hat on the ground and then having the ump step on it. Then, 2 innings later, Jeff Francoeur was ejected for arguing as well, and manager Bobby Cox came storming out of the dugout and was quickly tossed. It was about time we saw some coaches go toe-to-toe with the umps on our trip.

On the drive from San Diego to Phoenix, we stopped to play catch in the desert. We eased our way into the desert, making sure no scorpions or snakes were in the area, and threw until one of us made an uncatchable throw. This took about 20 minutes before I zinged one over Ben's head and off into the sand. Continuing on the drive, we skirted by a nasty storm, that had constant lightning, and what would have been very heavy rain if it had been in our path.



Here are the statistical updates:
1-end of day odometer: 33,273
2-miles traveled today: 534
3-miles traveled total: 16,508
4-states traveled in today: California, Arizona
bonus stat: teams are 7-0 if their 3rd baseman hits in the no. 3 spot and has at least 1 RBI and does not ground out to the shortstop

PS - we are sorry that it has been so long for pictures to be posted, they will be up as soon as possible

Day 40: Los Angeles (AL)

Today we were back in Los Angeles as the Angels of Anaheim hosted the Tampa Bay Devil Rays at Angels Stadium. The Angels took advantage of the last place D-Rays, and went onto a 9-2 blowout with the help of a grand slam by Vladimir Guerrero. It was our 1st grand slam of the trip, so that was pretty exciting. It was my turn to pick, so I had the Angels and they now give me a 14-13 lead in picking games against Ben on the trip.

We were again joined by my cousin, Maryel, for the game in LA. There was 1 very nervous point prior to the game today when we pulled into the parking lot. A large sign said, "Event sold out today." We did not buy our tickets early to the game, since they were playing the lowly Devil Rays, but thankfully there were tickets still available at the ticket window. So, we are not sure why that sign would have been out before the game.



After getting into Maryel's at about 2:30 the night before, we went to a local restaurant for breakfast, and then got a tour of the Vandenberg AFB from Maryel. It was pretty neat to see the different facilities that are on base, which included a rocket launching pad that was unfortunately hidden by the fog.



After some Subway for lunch we headed down to the game. Our tickets were pretty close to behind home plate, in the third tier of seats. Angels stadium was really nice, with a fountain and rocks in center field that was cool.

Here are the statistical updates:
1-end of day odometer: 32,739
2-miles traveled today: 153
3-miles traveled total: 15,974
4-states traveled in today: California
bonus stat: this one come courtesy of the atlas in Maryel's car: the distance from Albuquerque to San Francisco and from Amarillo to San Diego is exactly the same at 1,111 miles

Day 39: San Francisco

Today we were back to baseball, as we drove to San Francisco to watch the Giants host the Philadelphia Phillies. Former St. Louis Cardinal, Matt Morris, out-pitched former Pittsburgh Pirate, Jon Lieber with the help of a Ray Durham home run in the 4th inning. Ben had chosen the Giants, so we are now even at 13-13 in picking games on the trip.

AT&T Park was a great ballpark, situated right on the edge of the San Francisco Bay. McCovey Cove actually was larger than I had expected, and was also closer to the stadium than I would have thought as well. Also, the weather in San Francisco was freezing cold. We might have been the only people in the stadium in short sleeves, as the temperature was certainly not above 55 degrees. Quite a contrast from the 110 degrees we had become accustomed to in Las Vegas.



We made the drive from Vegas to San Fran in about 8.5 hours, making our usual stop at Subway for lunch. Also along the way, we drove by one of the largest dairy farms that either of us had ever seen. Thousands of cattle could be seen standing out in the summer heat, standing around and munching on grass. It was perhaps one of the worst smelling experiences of the trip, and that is saying something since we have gone about 2 weeks now without doing any laundry.

Our 5 nights in Las Vegas with Moutray and Morgan were an absolute blast. Our room at the Luxor was quite spacious, and our only complaint would be having to pay for the internet. On the gaming side, we all put in quite a few hours at the poker tables, in particular the $2-$4 limit tables were our most fun, providing both entertaining banter and the soft play we were looking for. However, surprisingly enough we all showed profits at the roulette tables and slots as well. You just have to know when to stand up from the table, that is the key to beating Vegas.



Another glorious aspect about playing in a Vegas casino is the free drinks. Whether you want water, juice, soda, beer, or liquor, it is complimentary while you are playing any limit of any game. Quite a nice perk, especially since it is delivered right to your seat while you are playing. All things totaled, Ben and I are both able to say that we made 1 withdrawal from a casino ATM when we arrived on Sunday night, and had more money in our wallets when we left on Friday morning. I guess all of that poker playing is finally starting to pay off!



Here are the statistical updates:
1-end of day odometer: 32,586
2-miles traveled today: 877
3-miles traveled total: 15,821
4-states traveled in today:
bonus stat: home teams are 3-0 when Ben and I are shivering at the end of the game

Day 34-38: Los Angeles (NL), Las Vegas

Today we saw the Dodgers host the San Francisco Giants at Dodger Stadium in L.A. It was a good pitching matchup, with Aaron Sele out-dueling Jason Schmidt for a 3-1 victory for the Dodgers. I had LA today, so I finally put an end to Ben's comeback and take a 13-12 lead into the all-star break.

Dodgers Stadium was very big, and our seats were in the outfield bleachers. One rather strange thing though, was that if you sit in the outfield bleachers at Dodgers Stadium you are cut off from the rest of stadium. We could not walk all the way around, and also, there was no alcohol being served in the bleachers. This was probably a good thing with the rowdy crowds that are often out there. We had a great time at the game with my 2nd cousin, Maryel Harding, who joined us after providing a place to stay in Lompoc, CA. Also, it was her birthday, so Happy Birthday Maryel!



After the game, we made the 270 mile drive to the Luxor Hotel in Las Vegas. We are joined by a couple of friends from Furman, Moutray McLaren and Morgan Purvis who flew out for a week at the poker tables with us.

Unfortunately, most of the casino hotels do not have free internet in the hotels, so we will not be able to update the blog each night, so this will be the last post until late Thrusday night most likely. So, don't worry too much if you don't hear from us, but call us if you want some fun stories hopefully.



All statistical information will be updated with the next post.

Day 33: Oakland

And the comeback continues. After seeing our 24th game of the trip between the Oakland Athletics and the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, we are tied 12-12 in picking games. The game started out with Jered Weaver of the Angels continuing the shutdown of the A's. Yesterday, the Angels pitcher gave up a leadoff double and then retired the next 27 batters. Today, Weaver pitched 7 innings of shutout ball and the Angels bats came alive for six runs to help the Angels beat the A's 6-4. Ben chose the Angels today because Weaver entered the day 5-0 with a 1.35 era.

The drive today was another beautiful trip through the west as we headed south on I-5 through the mountains. We made a stop in Weed, CA to get gas and had a great view of snow covered Mt. Shasta which stands at 14,162 ft. While in Weed, we paid a painful $3.299 per gallon.



As we were walking up to buy tickets for the game, we encountered two ladies looking to sell two tickets. They were in the lower tier on the third base side 19 rows up. We paid them $20 total for the tickets and got to sit with these nice ladies for the whole game. They were a pleasure to meet and we gave them the blog address so hopefully they are reading this post.

Also, during the game we witnessed our second fan ejection of the trip. A young man in Angels attire decided to consume a few too many beverages of the adult variety and began to antagonize the fans around him. Eventually, after an obsenity-laced tirad, he was escorted from the McAfee Coliseum just as a the group of men sitting near us during the Boston game.

We would like to extend a warm thank you to the lady working the desk at the Best Value Inn last night. She had a vacancy after we had stopped at 4 other hotels which were all full. They had wireless internet and a continental breakfast.

Here are the statistical updates:
1-end of day odometor: 31,281
2-miles traveled today: 899
3-miles traveled total: 14,638
4-states traveled in today: Oregon, California
bonus stat: teams are 0-3 when their cleanup hitter has 2 or more walks

Day 32: Seattle

Today we made our way to the West Coast, as we watched the Seattle Mariners host the Detroit Tigers at Safeco Field. The Tigers, having the best record in baseball, would have seemed like an easy selection for me. However, I decided to get sneaky and take the Mariners (plus 1.5). This plan backfired when Tigers starter Jeremy Bonderman went 8.2 innings, allowing only 1 run, and the Tigers won 6-1. Ben’s improbable comeback continues, and he now trails 12-11 in picking games on the trip.

Safeco Field was a great ballpark. It has a retractable roof, which rolls across on wheels when it is needed, however it was open all night for our game. Our seats were in the center field bleachers, but we found ourselves watching the game from the standing area above the bull pens in left field. There was a very nice overhang that provided a nice view, and it was not very crowded.



For the third time on our trip, it was “Ladies’ Night” at the ballpark. As a result, Ben and I were ineligible for the baby blue visors that were being handed out to female fans as they entered the stadium. We have been more fortunate at some other parks though: in New York we received Budweiser bottle openers from the Yankees, in Baltimore we received beach towels from the Orioles, in Texas we received fleece blankets from the Rangers, and in Houston we received commerative pins from the Astros.

We left Boise, ID at about 10:08 MST, and arrived in Seattle, WA shortly before 5:30 PST. The drive through Oregon and Washington was beautiful, and we got a very good view of Mt. Rainer, which stands at over 14,000 feet. The top of many of the mountains we saw were still capped with snow, so that was pretty neat to see in the middle of July. Continuing with the geography theme, while we were driving out of the stadium, we noticed that the sun was still setting at 10:30pm. I guess it because Seattle is basically Southern Alaska, as even their radio broadcast advertisements in the stadium listed their Anchorage and Juneau affiliates.

After the game, we drove down to Salem where we are staying at Best Value Inn. Special thanks again to Ethan Asher and his family for hosting us last night. The steak dinner was delicious, even though we didn’t eat until nearly 11:00pm. At least we got the true, “Asther” experience.

Here are the statistical updates:
1-end of day odometer: 30,382
2-miles traveled today: 730
3-miles traveled total: 13,739
4-states traveled in today: Idaho, Oregon, Washington
bonus stat: teams are 8-0 when their no. 1, 2, and 3 hitters all score a run

Day 31: Travel

Today was another day on the road without a game, as we made our way from Denver to Boise, ID, where we are staying with fellow Furman tennis player Ethan Asher. We made the 800+ mile trek in just under 12 hours, and this included a lengthy lunch stop at Burger King, along with another stop for gas in Southern Idaho where we threw the baseball around for a little bit to get out of the seated position for a little while.

The scenery out here is simply beautiful. We drove through the Continental Divide in Wyoming, and were on the coast of the Great Salt Lake in Northern Utah during our drive today. Another nice aspect of today's trip was the speed limit being 75 mph all day long, which made the miles go by even quicker without the worry of a speeding ticket.



While in Idaho, we drove around the outskirts of what appeared to be a pretty nasty storm that was brewing. The winds were extremely strong, definitely having some affect on the vehicle. Also, very dark clouds were forming almost at ground level, so that made things look pretty dangerous as well. But, we were able to get by the storm before the worst hit, while still enjoying the great views.

Tomorrow we head to Seattle, another 500 miles down the road. Thanks again to Ben's Uncle Adam and Aunt Zhanna for letting us have a place to sleep in Denver, and for the delicious breakfast this morning.

Here are the statistical updates:
1-end of day odometer: 29,652
2-miles traveled today: 836
3-miles traveled total: 13,009
4-states traveled in today: Colorado, Wyoming, Utah, Idaho
bonus stat: instead of a statistical fact, we thought we would pass along some words of wisdom for today ... as the ancient carpenter says, "measure twice, cut once."

Day 30: Colorado

Today was our venture into the Mountain Time Zone, as we watched the Colorado Rockies play the San Francisco Giants at Coors Field in Denver, CO. Josh Fogg was on the hill for the Rockies, and worked 7 solid innings. The Rockies had a home run from Matt Holliday, and won by a score of 5-3. Variance has indeed caught up with me, as Ben went with the coin-flipping technique to pick the Rockies tonight, so he now trails only 12-10 in picking games on our trip.

Coors Field was a very neat ballpark. One cool feature was a purple ring around one of the higher rows in the upper deck seats. This marking signified exactly 1 mile in altitude above sea level. Our seats were only $4, as we sat in the Rock Pile about 550 feet away from home plate in center field. The view was great and we could clearly see balls and strikes being directly behind the pitcher.



On our way to the stadium, we had another encounter with the law. A policeman in charge of crosswalks stopped us halfway across an intersection to have the following conversation:
Policeman: "This is Denver, and here, you wait for your traffic signal or your policeman to wave you through an intersection."
Ben: Sorry, I thought you had already started to signal for us to cross.
Policeman: You got a bit of a head start on me. Next time, it will be a $60 citation, and I don't think you want to pay $60.
Unreal, there were literally no cars coming on the street and he had started to walk into the street when we took one step off the sidewalk, not to mention that a jogger had passed us and was half way into the street, but got no such attention from the police officer.

The drive from Kansas City to Denver was enthralling, the plains just kept on going, and the 600 miles passed relatively quickly, as we made the total trip in about 9 hours. This included a nice stop in Oakley, KS for Subway lunch. Then, shortly after crossing into Colorado, we stopped at a rest area with a nice grassy knoll on which we played catch for a while. It was our only physical activity of the day, and felt good despite the howling wind that we had to negotiate.

Here are the statistical updates:
1- end of day odometer: 28,816
2- miles traveled today: 667
3-miles traveled total: 12,173
4-states traveled in today: Missouri, Kansas, Colorado
bonus stat: entering the Rockies game, pitcher Josh Fogg was 0-27 at the plate, but his RBI single in the 5th ended the rut at the plate, putting his average at a cool .036 on the year.

Day 29: Kansas City

Today we celebrated the 4th of July in Kansas City as we watched the Royals host the Minnesota Twins at Kauffman Stadium. The Roayls played solid baseball, especially with their relief pitchers, who did not allow a runner past 2nd base in the final 4 innings. They also had timely hitting from David DeJesus and John Buck and were able to pull out a 7-2 victory. Figuring that the Royals were the worst team in baseball, I took the Twins, but they did not come through for me, so Ben's comeback continues and he now only trails 12-9 in picking games on the trip.

Kauffman Stadium was a unique, older ballpark. Situated right next to Arrowhead Stadium, where the Chiefs play, these 2 stadiums make up the Harry S. Truman sports complex. The parking around the stadium was plentiful, so much so that Ben and I played catch for a short while before entering the stadium. Another nice feature of the stadium was the waterfall in right-center field. In between innings, it would change color, and provided an overall nice backdrop in the outfield.



We left Dallas at 8:15 this morning, leaving the Brock residence after some cereal for breakfast. Thanks so much to Leigh and her family for allowing us to stay for 2 nights and for a couple of excellent meals. After stopping at the Big Cabin Truck Plaza in Big Cabin, OK for gas and food, we made it to Kansas City around 4:15. The Big Cabin is one of the nicer truck stops that either of us had seen, so be sure to check it out next time you're in Northeast Oklahoma.

For dinner, we stopped at our usual Subway for a quick meal. After the game, the Royals put on a fireworks display that was nice, but unfortuantely had to be stopped early because the winds were too gusty. This was too bad, because one of my favorite times of the year is the grand finale to the fireworks show on the 4th of July each summer. Hope everyone else had a great Independence Day as well!

Here are the statistical updates:
1-end of day odometer: 28,149
2-miles traveled today: 524
3-miles traveled total: 11,506
4-states traveled in today: Texas, Oklahoma, Missouri
bonus stat: when the home team scores in the eighth inning, they are 4-0 on the trip
*sorry for no pictures lately, they will be up as soon as possible, hopefully by Thursday night for sure

Day 28: Houston

Tonight's guest blogger: Ben

Tonight at Minute Maid Park in Houston, TX, Scott and I were treated to a special event. We got to see Roger Clemens pitch for the Astros against the Chicago Cubs. Although he labored through five innings throwing nearly 115 pitches, the Astros bats finally came alive for him and he was able to come away with the win. It was great getting the chance to see one of the all-time greats in action before he hangs it up. Since it was my choice tonight, I naturally took The Rocket and picked up another game on Scott to make the score 12-8 in his favor.

The ballpark tonight was definitely unique and fun to watch a ballgame in because all the fans are right on top of the field. However, the left field porch is a bit of a joke. Any long fly ball to left leaves the yard and is not the proper dimensions for a pro field if you ask me.



As we all know, baseball is a game of statistics. Without stats, the game would not be what it is or mean so much to so many people. However, the statistics that are flashed on the jumbotrons have gotten a bit out of control. Tonight, we were informed that Brad Ausmus of the Astros is tied for 667th on the all time hits list. I am sure knowing this enhances everyone's life a great deal just as it did ours so we figured we would share it.

This morning it was nice to sleep in. After a late wake up and a bit of a jog, Scott and I went swimming in the Brock's pool until Wimbledon came on. After having some great leftovers for lunch, we headed to Houston for the 7:05 game. We arrived at about 5:15 after stopping to get the oil changed. After the game we turned right around and drove the four hours back to Dallas to stay with the Brock family for one more night. Both of the drives were uneventful but if anyone is driving tomorrow for the holiday, watch out for the state troopers because they are out in force.

Here are the statistical updates:
1-end of day odometer: 27,625
2-miles traveled today: 507
3-miles traveled total: 10,982
4-states traveled in today: Texas
bonus stat: teams whose starting pitcher gets pulled before the fifth inning are 0-10 on our trip
bonus stat 2 (since everything is bigger in Texas we needed two bonus stats): the statue of Sam Houston along Interstate 45 is 67 feet tall

Day 27: Texas

Today we made our way to the Lone Star State as we saw the Texas Rangers host the Houston Astros at Ameriquest Field in Arlington. Kevin Millwood was on the mound for the Rangers, but he had to leave due to injury in the 3rd inning, and the Astros went on to score 7 runs in that frame, running away with a 9-5 victory. I chose the Rangers tonight, so Ben's comeback continues, and he now trails 12-7 overall in picking games on the trip.

Ameriquest Field was definitely one of the nicest ballparks we have seen on the trip so far. It was very well laid out, and easy to move around in, despite there being a big crowd at the game tonight. The Rangers also had some nice features to remember their great players from the past, including a large statue of Nolan Ryan, with a list of his accomplishments, in the area behind center field.



We drove down from St. Louis, leaving at 5:45am. I started out the drive for the first 5+ hours, and Ben took us the rest of the way until we arrived in Dallas at the Brock residence mid-afternoon. Driving through Oklahoma was very nice, mainly because the speed limit was 75 mph. It is nice to be able to get down the highway above 74 mph without having to worry about the highway patrol (see Day 22).

Once we arrived, we were treated to an excellent, Texas-style barbeque dinner with cheesy potatos, and baked beans. It was an delicious, filling meal, before we headed down to the stadium.

Before I wrap up tonight's post, I must brag a little bit about Ben and my own's navigational abilities. Tonight, returning from the ballpark, we did not have to use any technological or topographical aid to return the 30 or so miles to the house we are staying at. We simply relied on memory and natural ability, quite an accomplishment and I just thought we should give ourselves a pat on the back.

Here are the statistical updates:
1-end of day odometer: 27,118
2-miles traveled today: 709
3-miles traveled total: 10,475
4-states traveled in today: Missouri, Oklahoma, Texas
bonus stat: teams are 0-5 when their no. 6 hitter goes 0-4 during the game

Day 26: Leisure

Today was a nice relaxing day for us to take care of a few odds and ends, along with enjoy a brief period of rest before we head out West on the trip. After waking up, we watched a little bit of the matches from Wimbledon. Agassi played his last match at the "Big W" today, going down to Rafael Nadal in straight sets. What a career the man has had, and I'm sure he'll get quite the send-off during the U.S. Summer Hard Court season.

Then, Mr. Pauluhn helped us wash Ben's car, by helping us I mean he did most of the grunt work, while we helped out with some of the finishing touches. The juices from highway insects were pretty thick, but after an hour and a half the car was looking good as new.

Then, we got back inside just in time to see the penalty kicks in the World Cup game between England and Portugal. That was unbelievable, with Portugal winning 3-1. The pressure that is under each of those players is like nothing I can imagine. Literally, everyone in their nation is watching and expecting them to come through. The Brits were truly crushed, as they had thought this was their year to shine in the world's biggest sporting event.

Afterwards, we headed over to Ben's grandparents house to play some tennis. Ben and I hit for a little over an hour, and he took a set off of me by a score of 6-4. So, he is now 2-1 in sets against me on the trip. We cooled off by jumping in the pool. The previously mentioned successful St. Louis businessman (see Day 2), Kevin Lackey, also came over for the afternoon, and we had a good time catching up with him.

Dinner was excellent, as steaks were grilled along with baked potatoes and corn on the cob. It was a delicious dinner, so thanks to Ben's parents and grandparents for that feast. It's an early night for us, as we will be up early to head for Texas and our game in Arlington tomorrow night.

Here are the statistical updates:
1-end of day odometer: 26,409
2-miles traveled today: 0
3-miles traveled total: 9,766
4-states traveled in today: Missouri
bonus stat: Red and Yellow cards were not introduced into World Cup play until the 1970 event that was held in Mexico.

Day 25: Travel

Today was another travel day for us, as we have completed the Eastern part of our journey. Last night, following the Blue Jays game, we drove until we got to the border at Port Huron, MI and stayed at a Best Western. We woke up at 8:00am EST this morning, and watched a bit of Wimbledon, before getting on the road.



The drive to St. Louis was about 600 miles, and our only delay was about 45 minutes worth of traffic that we got caught in around Chicago. After that, it was smooth driving down I-55 until we made our way to Ben's house where we now have our only stretch of 2 consecutive days without seeing a game. It is probably a good thing, since the next 8 days will be the most grueling of the trip, making our way to Texas and then out West.



We stopped for lunch at Taco Bell, our 2nd appearance at the Mexican fast food chain. The service was pretty slow, however the tacos and bean burritos were excellent, and cheap as usual. The best part of the day though was the spaghetti dinner that was waiting for us, prepared by Mrs. Pauluhn. It was absolutely delicious!



We then had a few members of Ben's family stop by and make sure the trip was going well. Ben's Uncle Mike, who is a truck driver, answered many of our questions about life on the road, and we now feel even better prepared for the next 10,000 miles of the trip.

Here are the statistical updates:
1-end of day odometer: 26,409
2-miles traveled today: 629
3-miles traveled total: 9,766
4-states traveled in today: Michigan, Indiana, Illinois, Missouri
bonus stat: Taco Bell is currently running a special where you can get any combination of 10 hard/soft shell tacos or bean burritos for $7.90. The regular price for each item is only $0.79. Heck of a deal.
*All pictures and information is now completely up to date!

Day 24: Toronto

Welcome to Canada, eh? Today we crossed the border for the only time on our trip and watched the Blue Jays host the Washington Nationals at the Rogers Centre. The Jays had their #1 man, Roy Halladay, on the mound tonight, so Ben went with the Blue Jays (minus 1.5). Halladay was effective, and solid relief kept the Nats silent late, as the Blue Jays bats pounded out an 8-4 victory. Ben gets the win and now trails 12-6 in picking games against me on the trip.

We were on our own for buying tickets tonight, which meant the cheap seats were in order. We sat in the upper deck, directly behind home plate for $10 US per seat, not a bad deal at all. We sat by the world’s biggest Blue Jay fan in section 524b. A woman with a thick Caribbean accent was the consummate fan, and was adamant that I give her a high-5 anytime the Blue Jays made a good play. It was quite the experience.



The Rogers Centre was a very impressive complex. It had a very new feeling to it, despite it being the same building that was used when Toronto won their World Series titles in ’92 and ’93. The hotel rooms that overlook center field looked amazing, unfortunately, they were a little too pricey for our tight budget. Getting into the city and finding our way around was a little difficult, as my ever reliable map program, and Ben’s trusty street atlas had limited information on the roads in Canada. After a short while, both before and after the game, we were on the right track without too much delay.



Crossing the border was not as difficult as we anticipated. In fact, on our way into Canada, we were only asked the following questions: 1) Are you U.S. citizens? 2) Where are you from? 3) Where are you going? 4) Do you have any goods with you besides clothing? After we sufficiently answered those questions, we were free to continue on, just like any other toll booth. On the way back, it was also rather easy. Although, after informing the officer that we had 1 birth certificate and 2 social security cards to prove citizenship, he replied, "Your Social Security card isn't worth a darn!" and then proceeded to let us go without any more questioning.



We had to buy some gas while across the border as well, and since we did not have any Canadian currency with us, we ended up paying a little more than usual. They are glad to take American Dollars, but they still charge the same price as Canadian Dollars. So, the approximately $34 dollars that was charged to our debit card, took $34 American Dollars out of our account, but we only got $34 Canadian Dollars worth of gas. The conversion is about $1 US = $0.71 Canada.

The drive up from Baltimore was a mental grind, as we were on state roads or US highways, for about 90% of the drive, as opposed to the much preferred Dwight D. Eisenhower Interstate System. Dwight must have gotten his idea for the Interstate System after driving north on 219 through Pennsylvania and New York. After leaving at 8:06 from the Crook’s, we made our 1st stop for lunch in New York around 1:30 at Burger King. Ben and I both agreed that Burger King’s hamburgers seemed better than usual, so maybe Subway will have a bit of a challenger for the remainder of our journey. Then, the drive continued north until we our car was parked by 5:45pm.

Here are the statistical updates:
1-end of day odometer: 25,780
2-miles traveled today: 670
3-miles traveled total: 9,137
4-states/provinces traveled in today: Maryland, Pennsylvania, New York, Ontario, Michigan
bonus stat: teams are 4-0 on our trip when they score at least 1 run in both the 3rd and 6th innings

*pictures and all loose odds and ends should be fixed for the entire blog by tomorrow night...thanks for all the support everyone!

Day 23: Baltimore

Today we saw the Baltimore Orioles host the Philadelphia Phillies in beautiful Oriole Park at Camden Yards. The stadium was awesome, but what was even better was our experience during the game. We are staying in Baltimore with fellow Furman tennis player, Brian Crook, and his family. Brian's uncle, Bob Cecil, who works for the Orioles, was able to set us up with 3 tickets that were 3 rows behind home plate, the seats you see every game when you watch on television. The Orioles out-slugged the Phillies, taking a 12-5 victory. I picked the O's, and now have a 12-5 edge in picking games on our trip.



The highlight of the evening came during the 3rd inning rain delay, when the WBAL Radio Broadcast invited us to do a live interview with them. We were able to do a full segment, probably about 10 minutes worth of air time, where they asked us all sorts of details about the trip. Questions were raised from how we paid for the trip, where they were a bit surprised by our poker explanation, to logistics of making the schedule, to what places and amenities we had enjoyed the most. The situation could not have worked out better, as they were looking to fill time during the rain dealy, and seemed genuinely interested in our trip around the country. We hope to have the clip of while we were on air available from WBAL in the next few days, and will make it available if that happens. We would like to especially thank the Crook family for setting up this amazing opportunity for us.



After we finished the radio interview, we saw Jim Palmer, who does color commentary for the Orioles t.v. broadcast, standing in the hallway. After Katherine Dietrich, our radio tour guide, introduced us, we were able to get a picture with the Hall of Fame pitcher.



Also during the game, there were some festive fans sitting a few rows behind us, who did an excellent job of heckling the opposition. At one point, one of the drunken fans correctly called 6 consecutive pitchers, before the pitcher threw the ball, pretty impressive. They also started calling me "Roberto," and asked several intriguing questions about the trip that aren't quite blog-appropriate.



The day started out with Ben and me watching Wimbledon in the morning, waiting for Brian to get back from work. While we waited, we were treated to Dunkin Donuts courtesy of Mr. Crook. We then headed over to Chesnut Ridge Country Club for lunch and some tennis, which turned out to last the whole afternoon. After an hour or so, we called Brian's Dad to be our 4th for some doubles. The 1st matchup was Brian and me vs. Ben and Mr. Crook. Brian won the toss, deferred to the elder statesmen, and never looked back, winning 6-3. Then, Ben and I took on Brian and his Dad, winning 6-4 again. The results of these matches only confirm my superiority as a doubles specialist.



Before the game, we headed downtown for an excellent dinner at Bo Brooks, a crab house that was delicious. It was the 1st time eating crab for both Ben and myself, and we enjoyed the entire process. Thanks again to the Crooks for providing wonderful meals and housing for our 2 nights in Baltimore.

Here are the statistical updates:
1-end of day odometer: 25,110
2-miles traveled today: 0
3-miles traveled total: 8,467
4-states traveled in today: Maryland
bonus stat: teams are 4-0 on our trip when their no. 2 hitter scores 2 or more runs

Day 22: Travel

Today's guest blogger: Ben

Sorry for the missed guest blog yesterday but us being a couple of road weary people are finding it harder to keep track of what day it is. We left Coral Springs, FL at exactly 5:30 this morning, spent the rest of the day on Interstate 95 and arrived at the Crook residence in Baltimore, MD at 10:10. This was our longest driving day so far and if the rest of the trip goes as planned, will be our longest of the summer.



This may sound like an uneventful day however, the South Carolina highway patrol found a way to make it noteworthy. We were passing through Sumter, South Carolina about 8 hours into our trip today when a police car pulled up behind us. Scott was driving at the time and the cop rode our bumper for about three miles before finally turning on his lights. We pulled into the grass and the officer came up to my window on the passenger side. He asked for license and registration and naturally I could not find my registration paper. At this time he noticed the Red Bull in our cupholders and began acting suspicious of our travels. He asked Scott to step out of the vehicle for some questions while I stayed in the car. He proceeded to grill Scott about his life history at which time Scott told him about our trip. He came to the window and asked me the same questions as Scott to see if our story was legit.



He then went back to Scott and asked him if he had any drugs in the car. Heroine, meth, or marijuana just to name a few. He then came back to my window to tell me he issued Scott a warning for doing 74 in a 70. That's right, 74 in a 70. By this time I had found the registration sheet and gave it to him so I avoided a warning for this. To top it all off, the officer waited behind us to pull onto the highway at which time Scott, still rattled by the whole incident, killed the engine trying to pull out of the grass into traffic.

That is about all that happened today seeing as though we spent 16 and 1/2 hours in the car. We did find gas for under 2.70 all day so that was some good news (I guess).

Here are the statistical updates:
1-end of day odometor: 25,110
2-miles traveled today: 1,101
3-miles traveled total: 8,467
4-states traveled in today: Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, Virginia, Washington D.C., Maryland

Day 21: Florida

Today we saw the Florida Marlins host the Tampa Bay Devil Rays at the massive Dolphin Stadium, which was filled to about 10% capacity. The "Fish," fueled by a 5-run, 2-out rally in the 5th inning, kept my D-Rays down by a final score of 8-5. It was Ben's turn to pick tonight, and he had the Marlins. Both teams are so bad that we each wanted to give the other a 1.5 run spread, but decided that straight up was the proper spread. The comeback is officially on now, as Ben has won 2 straight and is only down 11-5 in picking games on the trip.

The attendance, or lack thereof, was really quite sad, considering that this organization has won 2 World Series in the last 10 years. There were quite literally ZERO people in the upper deck, and no more than 3,000 people in the stadium as a whole. The vendors at Dolphin Stadium were very entertaining however, as they could be heard throughout the stadium. At times, it seemed as though they were trying to entertain more than they were trying to sell their product.



Also, a quick word to Josh Johnson, Marlins pitcher from tonight. Make sure you know how many outs there are before you pitch the ball. In the 3rd inning, a ball was hit sharply back to him with 1 out and a man on 1st. Johnson calmly tossed the ball to 1st and began to walk off the field, as if that was the 3rd out of the inning. Come on man, get your head in the game.

During our recent days on the road, the check engine light came on again, despite the car continuing to run smoothly. Ben woke up early this morning to take it into the local Mazda dealer, where it was determined that the car had a "faulty gas cap" that needed to be replaced under warranty. All was not lost though, as the shop had free "Pac-Man" for Ben to take part in while he waited. Hopefully the car won't have any more problems that require Ben waking up early and visiting the nearest dealership.

After he returned, we spent some time in the pool with Christopher and Emily, who are both becoming quite excellent swimmers. Then, Ben and I went to a local park and hit for about an hour in the humid summer heat. Before leaving, Tammy cooked an excellent feast, including marinated steak, corn on the cob, baked potatoes, and assorted fruits. It was absolutely delicious.




Special thanks to Barbara Messana for getting us 4 tickets to the game tonight. They were great seats, 16 rows back right at 1st base. My brother Al joined us for the game, along with my nephew Christopher, who was taking in his 1st Major League game. Welcome to the show kid!

Here are the statistical updates:
1-end of day odometer: 24,009
2-miles traveled today: 82
3-miles traveled total: 7,366
4-states traveled in today: Florida
bonus stat: teams are 5-0 on the trip when their no. 3 hitter walks or gets hit by a pitch in the 1st inning

Day 20: Tampa Bay

Well, we went from the "House that Ruth Built" to the "House that Needs to be Re-Built" as the Tampa Bay Devil Rays hosted the Atlanta Braves at Tropicana Field today. Both pitchers were excellent, but Chuck James was the victor for the Braves, going 8 innings and allowing only 1 run. Since I hadn't lost with them yet on the trip, I had picked the Devil Rays, but their 4-1 loss ended my winning streak, so Ben only trails 11-4 on picking games on the trip.



One of the very nice things about the D-Rays game though, was that the stadium had free parking. They are the only organization to offer that, which was a very nice perk. Actually, that allowed us to purchase some food in the stadium, so I had a foot long hot dog that was absolutely amazing, while Ben enjoyed a 1/2 lb. burger from Checker's.



We left Jacksonville at 8 this morning, and after about 3 and 1/2 hours, made it to the stadium for the game. Afterwards, it was about 4 hours to Coral springs, where we are staying with my brother Al, and his family. Special thanks to the Henderson family for giving us a place to stay last night, and also for the lively baseball conversation.

We also had our 1st casualty of the trip, as a small, black bird flew into the lower left side of the windshield while we were doing about 75 mph on the highway. I was sleeping, and the loud thump certainly made me jump. Ben looked in the rear view mirror and saw it bounce along the side of the road after ricocheting off the windshield and caromming onto an adjacent slab of concrete.



Driving to Coral Springs was a bit of an adventure, as a strong rain storm prevented us from going top speed through Alligator Alley in the Everglades. Other than the frequent tolls in South Florida, we have decided that Florida has some of the best interstate systems on the East Coast. They have a consistent 70 mph speed limit, mostly flat and straight roads, and very little construction compared to the other highways East of the Mississippi.

Here are the statistical updates:
1-end of day odometer: 23,927
2-miles traveled today: 515
3-miles traveled total: 7,284
4-states traveled in today: Florida
bonus stat: if the visiting team scores at least 1 run in the 7th inning, they are 4-0 on our trip
*Pictures are now up for Days 16-20!

Day 19: Travel

Today was our 1st real long day on the road of this journey, as we traveled from our hotel in Southern New Jersey down to Jacksonville, FL. We were off by 6:29am, and Ben drove the 1st 6+ hours until we arrived in Raleigh, NC for lunch with his Aunt Lynn and sons Zack and Jacob. We had delicious grilled chicken sandwiches, and were back on the road after an hour or so. I then took over the wheel for the next 4+ hours before we stopped for dinner at Wendy's. Another couple hours down the road and we had made it to the Henderson's house in Jax.

All told, the drive from New York City took about 15 hrs. on the road. This was not the result of speeding, as we don't drive more than about 10 mph over the limit for any extended period. Simply, we do not make any stops during our drives, going from a full tank until it is close to empty or we see a gas price we cannot pass up.

The one noteworthy aspect of the drive today was going by the extravagent "Pedro's South of the Border," located just on the South Carolina side of the NC/SC border. This place had everything, from a small amusement park, to all kinds of eating areas, to what was advertised as the "World's #1 Miniature Golf Course." Something to take a closer look at on a future road trip for sure.

I wish we had some more exciting stories to tell today, but when you sit in a car from 6:30am until 9:30pm there isn't too much to talk about. We each slept for a couple of hours, and the rest of the time was spent listening to music on our still napkin-secured iPod player, and making phone calls to various friends to help pass the time.

Here are the statistical updates:
1-end of day odometer: 23,412
2-miles traveled today: 912
3-miles traveled total: 6,769
4-states traveled in today: New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland, Washington D.C., Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Florida
bonus stat: Jimmy Carter's boyhood home is located Plains, GA and has a dirt tennis court in the backyard.
*pictures of the last few days will be updated tomorrow night hopefully

Day 18: New York (AL)

Today we were able to see another one of the “Old Classic” ballparks, as the New York Yankees hosted the Florida Marlins. The Yankees came out fast, scoring 3 runs in the 1st inning with the help of 3 Florida errors. Then after allowing a run in the 8th, the Yankees brought in closer Mariano Rivera, who entered the field to my favorite song, Sandman by Metallica, to seal the deal. It was Ben’s turn to pick tonight, and one might think he had a sure thing by picking the Yankees (minus 1.5), but the Marlins covered the spread despite losing 6-5. So, I take an 11-3 lead in picking games on the trip.

Yankee Stadium lived up to its reputation, and it was awesome getting to see a game there, even though I generally find myself rooting against the Yankees. The history in the stadium, and especially Monument Park out in center field was great. Our seats were in the 200 level, between home plate and 1st base, and were covered by the upper deck hanging over, which was nice when rain came in the 7th and 8th innings. My roommate at school, and Furman tennis player Ryan Friend joined us for the game tonight, and we had an absolute blast catching up on things and talking about sports.



Speaking of the rain late in the game, at one point Yankee’s pitcher Kyle Farnsworth appeared to slip after throwing a pitch. The grounds crew immediately came out after the umpire had inspected the area around the pitching mound and home plate, and they were dried off within 3 minutes. It was strange because it was not like a rain delay where all of the players leave the field. Instead, everyone stood around while the grounds crew quickly got things back into playing condition.

Sine Day 3 of the trip, Ben had been talking about purchasing some sunglasses. He never got around to it, but after parking our car, deep in the Bronx, we saw a man selling sunglasses at a make-shift hut for $3. That was simply too good of a deal to pass up, so he bought them, this time without having to use any of his street-proven haggling abilities. Hopefully they last for more than a day or two.




Ben and I woke up around 9:30 this morning after a great night’s sleep. We then headed to Islip High School and played tennis for about an hour. I was also able to get some laundry done at Gramme’s house today. To answer some of the questions about us wearing the same clothes: we only wear those old authentic jerseys for the picture in front of each stadium and during the game itself, so its not like we are parading around in them all day long. We each have big duffel bags full of t-shirts and shorts that keep us looking and smelling clean.

Special thanks to Gramme for letting us stay at her house last night and providing several meals, including an excellent trip to Applebee’s on Thursday with Aunt Colleen, Uncle Dave, and David. We had a great time visiting and chatting. Also thanks to Aunt Colleen and Uncle Dave for allowing us to use their computer and internet to post last night’s blog.



We now begin our drive South, and have driven 125 miles from Yankee Stadium to spend the night at a Holiday Inn Express, courtesy of Gramme. Thanks for everything!

Here are the statistical updates:
1-end of day odometer: 22,500
2-miles traveled today: 170
3-miles traveled total: 5,857
4-states traveled in today: New York, New Jersey
bonus stat: when the no. 8 hitter for a team hits a home run, his team is 0-4 on our trip

Day 17: New York (NL)

Today we were in New York City to watch the Mets take on the Cincinnati Reds. Pedro Martinez was on the mound for the Mets, which is always a treat. He had a solid outing, going 6 innings and striking out 8. 3rd baseman David Wright paced the Mets offense with 2 home-runs, as the Mets were victorious by a score of 6-2. It was my choice to pick, and I had the Mets (minus 1.5), so they covered and I move to 10-3 in picking games on the trip.

Normally, at this point we thank the people we stayed with the previous night. So, we would like to give special thanks to the Flying J Travel Plazas in Brookville, PA and Mill Hall, PA. For only $4.95, we had high-speed internet access and a place to park our car and sleep for the night. These 2 locations were about 100 miles apart, so we spent a little over an hour at each location. This crazy schedule was due us going from a night game in Cleveland to a day game in New York.



This next paragraph is in honor of my doubles partner and Furman tennis standout, Andy Juc. Andy, our Eastern European representative on the team, thinks Lastings Milledge is the best baseball player in the majors. Early this year, he tried to tell us about him while he was still in the minor leages, and everyone on our team thought he was crazy. However, Juc kept us posted daily on his minor league progress, and now that Milledge is in the Big Leagues, it was only fitting that we got to see him play for the Mets. Today, he went 2-4 with 2 singles, and showed that he definitely "has all the tools" to become a superstar.



We had to pick-up our tickets, courteousy of Michael Needham, from the will call, which had a parking pass with them. We tried to pull the car off to the side of the road while Ben ran to get the tickets. While he was doing that, I stayed with the car and a policeman promptly came with sirens and said over the loudspeaker, "move the car." Since I am not adept with the stick-shift, Ben had to come sprinting the half-mile back to move the car. After a great deal of walking around to every kind of ticket booth at Shea, we finally located our tickets and enjoyed a great game.

Another contest that occurs in some of the stadiums is a race between 4 items. Today, it was cars, and once again, Ben picked the winner. He is now 3 for 3 in these contests with a 25% chance of picking the winner. Choosing 3 in a row is a 1 in 64 chance, not too shabby.

We made our way to Dunkin Donuts close to 9:00 this morning, after having driven throught most of the night. Our conclusion is that most of the northeast runs on the products served here, and we took part in the excellent breakfast food. They might start to rival Subway for most food stops along the trip.

Here are the statistical updates:
1-end of day odometer: 22,330
2-miles traveled today: 374
3-miles traveled total: 5,687
4-states traveled in today: Ohio, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York
bonus stat: in every 9-inning game that we have seen, a home run has been hit

Day 16: Cleveland

We have survived the Perfect Storm and are posting from a wi-fi hot spot at the Flying J in Brookville, PA. Tonight, we saw the Cleveland Indians host the Chicago Cubs at Jacobs Field. The Cubbies put up an 8 spot in the 3rd inning, and won 9-2 after the game was called following the 7th inning. A Major League game is considered official, once it has reached the 5th inning, so we were able to see an official game despite the inclement weather. Ben chose the Indians tonight, so I take a 9-3 lead in the series of picking games on the trip.

The top half of the 3rd inning was out of this world tonight. 5 bloop singles, 2 fielder’s choices where the official score was that the fielder did not make a choice, 1 double, and 1 sacrifice fly gave the Cubs a 9-1 lead. C.C. Sabathia was charged with all 9 runs in his 2 1/3 innings of work. The fielder’s choice plays really cannot be explained as anything other than bizarre. The official rule book says that for a play to occur, the fielder must make a play towards one of the bases where a force out it is occurring. On back to back plays however, the Indians players simply fielded the ground ball and did not make complete the play, truly unbelievable.



We left Syracuse at 11:02am, and after a relatively easy drive, were able to park near the stadium and purchase our tickets by 5:30. Right across from the Indians stadium is the monstrous poster of LeBron James which hangs on the side of a downtown building. This picture is awesome, 10 stories high and about twice as wide, it shows King James about to dunk in mid-flight, with the phrase, “We are all witnesses.” It was definitely one of the coolest things I’ve seen.



After waiting for an hour and a half for the game to be officially called, we left the parking garage at 10:55pm, as the 1st pitch at Shea tomorrow afternoon is at 1:05pm. Then, the Perfect Storm which had ended the game remained over us for the 1st 2 hours of the drive. It was some of the worst weather we have ever driven through, torrential downpours limited us to going between 45-50mph. Also, the lightning was almost constant, and some of the brightest I have ever experienced. Thankfully, through some good driving by Ben, and a little bit of help from above, we made it through.



Early yesterday, the check engine light had come on while we were driving from Boston to Syracuse. We were slightly concerned, and looked up where the nearest Mazda dealership was. After getting our 1st oil change, Ben took it in this morning, and we were lucky to find that the only things that needed to be replaced were an emissions valve and hose, both of which were still covered under warranty. We also had the tires rotated, and the car is, “running like a dream,” according to Ben.

Here are the statistical updates:
1-end of day odometer: 21,956
2-miles traveled today: 528
3-miles traveled total: 5,313
4-states traveled in today: New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania
bonus stat: teams who use exactly 2 pitchers in a game are 3-0 on our trip

Day 15: Cooperstown

Today was a travel day for us, and we decided to take advantage of the chance to stop by Cooperstown, NY and visit the Baseball Hall of Fame. The museum was amazing, and definitely a must-see for any baseball fan. The most impressive section by far was the Hall of Champions, where each player has a bronze bust and brief paragraph written up about his career. The 1st class was inducted in 1936, and Ty Cobb received the most votes of the 5 who were inducted (Babe Ruth, Honus Wagner, Christy mathewson, Walter Johnson). Roberto Clemente was elected in 1973, voted in before the mandatory 5-year waiting period because of the special cirumstances of his life.



The Hall of Fame also had several other interesting sections. A timeline chronicled the game from its origins in the post-Civil War 19th century all the way up to the most recent World Series. All the great teams and players throughout history had a display that displayed their accomplishments. On the 3rd floor, the game's unique aspects were showcased. The evolution of baseball parks was a major exhibit, along with a section about team's mascots.



There was also a section for great fans throughout history, and part of an exhibit detailed one man's journey to see a game in all 30 ballparks in 37 days. But, he flew to some of his games, so maybe we can get in there for driving to all of the games.

We left Boston at 9:00am, and got to Cooperstown at around 1:00. After looking around for almost 2 hours, we were on our way to our stayover at the Comfort Inn in Syracuse, the 1st hotel of the trip. However, we are lucky enough to be staying for free thanks to the "Frequent Trip Points" that my parents have aquired over the years. Thanks Mom and Dad!



Special thanks to Susan Zuck for letting us spend the night in Boston. We had a great time and are very appreciative.

Here are the statistical updates:
1-end of day odometer: 21,428
2-miles traveled today: 352
3-miles traveled total: 4,785
4-states traveled in today: Massachusetts, New York
bonus stat: between the years 1988-1993, Dennis Eckersley had 458 strikeouts and only 51 walks, giving him a strikeout to walk ratio of 8.98:1

Day 14: Boston

Tonight's Guest Blogger: Ben

Everyone told us that seeing a game in Fenway was an experience. However, we did not anticipate experiencing the whole city before finding our way to the stadium. The game was another good one with the Red Sox prevailing 6-3. There were home runs by Manny Ramirez of the Red Sox as well as Jose Vidro and Jose Guillen of the Nats. Naturally the game was a sell out and we sat in the bleachers. This was a great experience and one any baseball fan should try and get (minus the kids of course). Scott had the choice of teams tonight, and he went with the Red Sox (minus 1.5 runs), and gets the win, moving him to 8-3 in picking games on the trip. Variance is bound to catch up with this luck eventually.

Before going into the details of today, allow me to reflect for a minute. One of the best things about this trip is being able to hear the national anthem 3 out of every 4 days. We have been treated to this song by children's choirs, adult choirs, soloists, sign-language persons and military personell (D.C. and Cincinnati). It still gives me chills every time and this is truly one of the best parts of the trip so far.



Scott got on the metro in D.C. this morning at 5:14 and I left to pick him up at 5:30. We were out of the city by 6:00 and think we made record time to Boston. Seeing as though we had to pass through Baltimore, Philly, New York, Providence and Boston, it is a miracle we didn't hit traffic. We arrived at Susan Zuck's house at about 1:30 and had a nice talk with her. After she went back to work, we went to the local high school and hit some tennis balls and threw the baseball.

Heading down to the stadium is where things became interesting. We got through some rough traffic going into town due to a stalled car and then proceeded to get absolutely lost. We got to the point where we were just turning and hoping for the best and eventually, after about 45 minutes, we popped out right next to the parking garage we were looking for. We then proceeded to turn what is usually a 15 minute walk into about 35 minutes of slow jogging. We got to the stadium with 20 minutes to spare and enjoyed a great ballgame.



Sitting in the bleachers was quite the experience. The Red Sox are so concerned about crowd control out there that they do not even have beer vendors walking around. Yet this did not deter a group of young men from being obnoxious enough to warrant being escorted from the stands. It was funny for the rest of us and provided some extra bang for our ticket buck.



Special thanks to my Uncle Dirk and Aunt Anita for allowing me to stay at their house. Not that they had much of a choice seeing as though they are out of town. Also, we would like to thank them for lunch meat and fruit and rice krispy treats that I took from the cabinet. They were very good. Also, thanks to Katey for showing us a good time around the monuments of D.C., and suggesting a great place for dinner in Johnny Rocket's. All in all it was a ton of traveling but a great day.

Here are the statistical updates:
1-end of day odometer: 21,076
2-miles traveled today: 541
3- miles traveled total: 4,433
states traveled in today: Washington, D.C., Maryland, Delaware, New Jersey, New York, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Massachusettes

Day 13: Washington

First of all, we would like to wish Happy Father's Day to all those father's out there, especially our own.

Today we sat in a raucous crowd at RFK Stadium in Washington, D.C. as the Washington Nationals hosted the New York Yankees. It was a great game, and the Yankees took a 2-1 lead late on an Alex Rodriguez double off the wall. However, Ryan Zimmerman hit a 2-run walk-off home run in the bottom of the 9th to give the Nats a thrilling victory. Ben, even though he did not want them to win, had chosen the Yankees, so I took the win and move to 7-3 in picking games against him on the trip.

It was another classic game, and we have now seen a walk-off home-run in 4 out of the 10 games we have attended, unbelievable. The crowd at RFK was very good, over 45,000 for a sellout, and there were almost as many Yankees fans as Nationals fans. Both sides would go back and forth with their chants, often having both take place at the same time. The overall atmosphere was electric.



My girlfriend, Katey, was able to join us for the game, as we had complimentary tickets from Joe Benkowski that were great seats, just to the 1st base side of home plate on the lower level. Katey has a knack for picking games, and with the Nationals trailing 2-1 in the bottom of the 9th, I said to her, "I thought you said the Nationals are going to win." She replied, "They are, just watch." Zimmerman went deep on the next pitch, proving for the 2nd day in a row, that blind squirrels do find nuts!



If you are planning on trying to scalp tickets outside of RFK, I would not recommend doing so just outside the METRO stop at the stadium. While waiting for Katey to arrive, we saw one of the most physically imposing policemen come and calmly explain to all of the scalpers that if they continued to “solicit, buy, and sell tickets, they would be put in jail.” Ben then made the very accurate comment, “I’m glad that guy is on the good side of the law.” Another funny conversation that we overheard between 2 scalpers went something like this.
Scalper 1: “Hey man, let me take some of those tickets down to the next block to try and sell. How much you want me to get for them?
Scalper 2: “I don’t know dawg, just get enough for a pound of weed or something.”
Glad to see that they are using the profits they make for productive purposes.

While walking into the stadium, we were stopping to get some water, and Ben asked the street vendor how much a bag of peanuts cost. She said, “$3.” Ben mumbled, “That figures, and started to walk away.” As I was paying for the water, the vendor said, “Will you pay $2.00?” and Ben said yes. So, in a sense, Ben out-haggled a professional haggler, classic Pauluhn as many of you know.

We left Newark, DE this morning, and had to fill up with gas over $3.00 for the 1st time on the trip, a bit of a disappointing experience. After about 2 hours, we found free parking about 20 blocks from the stadium and made the long walk. Following the game, we walked back in the scorching heat and strolled around Capitol Hill, and also saw the Washington Monument and Union Station. Then we grabbed dinner at Johnny Rocket’s, an excellent 1950s style hamburger joint that was delicious.



We have now finished 10 games, or 1/3 of the total games we will see. However, we have only driven about 1/5 of the total distance we have to cover, so things will be picking up from that aspect starting tomorrow, with the drive to Boston.

Special thanks to my Aunt Carolyn and Uncle Hubie for letting us stay at their house in Newark, DE last night. The home cooking was delicious and we had a very nice stay.

Here are the statistical updates:
1-end of day odometer: 20,535
2-miles traveled today: 141
3-miles traveled total: 3,892
4-states traveled in today: Delaware, Maryland, Washington, D.C.
bonus stat: in the interleague games we have seen on the trip, pitchers are 0-10 with 9 strikeouts while at-bat

Day 12: Philadelphia

Today we were in Philadelphia to see the Phillies take on the Tampa Bay Devil Rays at Citizen's Bank Park. It was the 2nd time that we had seen the Devil Rays play, and they had the same pitcher on the mound tonight as they did against Detroit last week, Scott Kazmir. Since I won when I had the D-Rays before, I figured I had to go with them again since Scott K. was on the mound. Tampa played a fundamentally sound game, and had home runs from Rocco Baldelli, Carl Crawford, and Jorge Cantu to power their way to a 7-2 victory. Overall, I now have a 6-3 lead on picking games against Ben on the trip.

Special thanks to Mr. Stazak for getting us tickets to the Phillies game tonight. Our seats were almost directly behind home plate, about 25 rows back. It was a great vantage point, and one we had not experienced yet in any of our previous games.



We left Pittsburgh at 9:00am this morning, and drove on the PA Turnpike until we headed towards Newark, DE, via Amish Town. It was very interesting to drive through and see them working out in the fields and on the roads in their horse & buggies. If you are traveling this way in the future, be wary of the intersection of E. Main St. and N. Decatur Rd. in Strausburg, PA. The Amish enjoy very long traffic light-cycles, and the crowds they attract ended up costing us 45 minutes on the drive through southeastern Pennsylvania.

My Aunt Carolyn and Uncle Hubie were awaiting our arrival with an excellent meal including pork chops, potatoes, and spinach. Rumor has it the spinach was good. We then had some lively conversation before heading down to the ballpark at 4:30.



Without question, the Philly Fanatic is the best mascot we have seen on the trip so far. He has no shame and the organization gives him free reign to entertain the crowd in any way, and he certainly does a good job. He was almost as entertaining as the doctor who sat beside us and gave us a detailed play-by-play account of each play that was about to take place. Although, he did predict the home run that Jorge Cantu hit in the 8th inning, 1 pitch before it happened. I suppose, even blind squirrels find nuts.

Along those lines, the fans in Philadelphia were very negative from the beginning of the game. They seemed rather hopeless about the game throughout, and had special animosity for 3rd baseman David Bell, who was booed loudly before he came up to bat in the 1st inning. It didn't help things however when he struck out his 1st 2 at bats.



One nice perk about the ballpark in Philadelphia was the complimentary shuttle that was offered from the parking lot to the stadium entrance. Not everyone received a ride, but the driver would randomnly stop at your car as you were getting out and offer a ride in the golf cart to the turnstyles. We were lucky enough to experience this, and learned a little bit about the facts of the stadium as well.

We had an excellent time in Pittsburgh, and wanted to thank Jackie for letting us stay with her. Despite me having to "help" her out with cooking the hot dogs, she was a wonderful host and it was great to hang out for a few days.

Here are the statistical updates:
1-end of day odometer: 20,394
2-miles traveled today: 380
3-miles traveled total: 3,751
4-states traveled in today: Pennsylvania, Maryland, Delaware
bonus stat: the home team is 4-0 on our trip when the game takes place on an even numbered date

Day 11: Tennis

We had our 1st off day in the last week today, so we decided to spend the day back at my old stomping grounds, Glen Creek Tennis Club. Ben and I hit for about an hour and a half on the clay in the morning, including playing a set that I won 7-5, must be the home court advantage. We are now 1 set apiece on our trip. Later in the afternoon we moved inside to hit for another hour, and Ben won the tie-breakers we played in there. I guess it makes sense, I beat Ben outdoors on clay, and he beats me on indoor hard courts, go figure.

For lunch today, we grabbed Subway again. For those investors out there, it might not be a bad idea to pick up some Subway stock. I realize that insider information is not supposed to be used in trading, but 2 young men will be visiting these chains on a somewhat daily basis over the next month or so.

For dinner, my coach, Mark Pemu, invited us over to his house to grill chicken and steak. The meal was excellent, despite Mark admitting that he, "wasn't sure what he was doing," while cooking on the grill. Also special thanks to Mark's wife, Kath, for helping to prepare the food. Afterwards, we just relaxed at Mark's house, along with Hank and Jackie, watching the Tennis Channel and sharing stories from the past. I certainly had a lot of good memories at "The Crick," and it was great to see everyone while I was in town.



Ben's car crossed the 20,000 mile barrier today. The driving part of the trip has been relatively good so far, but as you can see from our itinerary, we really have not made it to the real long drives that will be taking place later on in the adventure.

For those of you living in downtown Pittsburgh that are in the car market, do not buy a stick-shift, stick to an automatic. We got ourselves into a bit of a pickle when Ben attempted to parallel park his car in between 2 others, going back up a very steep hill. After coming extremely close to hitting the other vehicles, we decided it would be a better idea to just park an extra block away that had no other cars that would be in danger.

Here are the statistical updates:
1-end of day odometer: 20,014
2-miles traveled today: 31
3-miles traveled total: 3,371
4-states traveled in today: Pennsylvania
bonus stat: The Grant Building downtown, has a red light on top of it that flashes the word "Pittsburgh" in morse code.

Day 10: Pittsburgh

Today, we were treated to an entertaining game between the St. Louis Cardinals and Pittsburgh Pirates at PNC Park. Despite 3 solo home-runs from the Pirates, the Cardinals managed to pull it out 6-5, with timely hitting from So Taguchi and Chris Duncan, and a solid defense that turned 3 double plays to keep the Pirates off the board late. Ben gave me 2.5 runs though, so the Pirates covered and I move to 5-3 on the trip in picking games against Ben. Such a large spread is not likely to happen again on this trip.

We had a friend at the game with us, as Jackie Hughes, with whom we are staying, cheered on the Pirates with me. Also, Jackie's Dad, Hank, was able to get our names to appear up on the JumboTron, with a message saying, "Welcome Scott Kahler and Ben Pauluhn: 30 ballparks in 44 days." That was really cool, so thanks very much Hank!



A Pirate tradition at some point during the game, is the pirgoie race. I took Cheezy Chester, while Ben had Sauerkraut Sal. Sal took the victory, so Ben, after winning the sausage race in Milwaukee also, moves to 2-0 in the silly races that some stadiums have. Ben picking both of those winners is a 1/16 shot, unbelievable, hopefully variance will catch up with him soon.

Also during the game, Ben's Mom called to find out where our seats were (down the right field line in the upper deck), as she was watching the game on the local broadcast in St. Louis. During the less-than 2 minute conversation, we managed to find our way onto the St. Louis broadcast, and were able to wave to the camera while Ben was still on the phone. What are the odds of that?



For those wondering why we did not have a bonus stat yesterday, it was because the Reds continued the bonus stat from the day before, scoring a run in their last inning at bat.

Today was also our 1st day with 0 miles of driving, as we were able to walk through downtown to the ballpark. After the game, Ben and I hit on the Duquesne tennis court (that's right, singular) for about an hour, which was our 1st physical exercise in a few days, so that felt pretty good.

Meals today included hot dogs and macaroni and cheese, cooked wonderfully by Jackie, and Subway club hoagies later in the evening. We forgot to mention in yesterday's post our gratitude to the Riordan Family in Chicago, for hosting us on 2 seperate nights. We had a lot of fun getting to know them, and especially enjoyed the fabulously cooked meals.



As I'm sure you have noticed, we were able to upload pictures to this, and all of our previous posts, so make sure you check them out. Hopefully we will be able to continue this with all of the following posts. Also, make sure you look at the "Map and Itinerary" link to see specifics on the rest of the trip overall. Thanks Al, for setting all of that up for us!

Here are the statistical update:
1-end of day odometer: 19,983
2-miles traveled today: 0
3-miles traveled total: 3,340
4-states traveled in today: Pennsylvania
bonus stat: teams with exactly 9 hits in a game, are 3-0 on our trip

Day 9: Cincinnati

First, a quick addition from the Day 8: Chicago (NL) post. The 7th inning stretch in Wrigley Field traditionally has one of the best renditions of "Take Me Out to the Ball Game" in the Major Leagues. Last night was no exception, as Notre Dame football coach, Charlie Weiss, led the crowd in singing the classic song. Everyone was on their feet, singing at the top of their lungs, and it truly was an amazing experience to see in person.

Another 20 hour day, another extra-inning, walk-off home-run affair. The Great American Ballpark was the scene of a classic pitcher's duel as the Cincinnati Reds defeated the Milwaukee Brewers 3-0 in 11 innings. Elizardo Ramirez led the way for the Reds, with 8 shutout innings and 10 strikeouts. Adam Dunn's 3-run homer in the 11th sealed the deal, and since I had the Reds today, I take a 4-3 in the contest for picking games with Ben.



The Reds were not the only winner when Adam Dunn hit his home-run today. At the beginning of the game, a local pizza establishment had a contest where a kid got to spin a wheel, and whichever Red came up, if that player hit a home-run that day, the kid would win free pizza for a year. So Dunn's home-run gave some Cincinnati youngster a year's supply of pizza.

Our seats today were courtesy of the Cincinnati Reds themselves, as we sent letters to all 30 teams prior to our trip. We had nice seats, in the upper deck, but directly behind home plate, the 1st time we have sat from that vantage point all trip. Our vantage point also enabled us to have a good view of a spectacular catch by rightfielder Ryan Freel in the top of the 8th inning. He lept and slammed into the wall, before crashing to the ground, all while still holding onto the ball. After just seeing the end of Baseball Tonight on ESPN, we found out that his catch was the #1 "Web Gem" of the night.



We left Chicago at 5:30am CST, and made it to Cincy about an hour and a half before the game. We grabbed lunch at "The Red Squirrel Double Decker," a very nice sandwhich shop downtown. We found our way onto the highway, after taking a quick jaunt into Kentucky, and after navigating through some rush hour traffic, were on our way to Pittsburgh. After grabbing dinner at Taco Bell, my 1st time eating at this fine fast-food establishment, we made it to Jackie's apartment on the Duquesne University campus at 9:38 EST.

Here are the statistical updates:
1-end of day odometer: 19,983
2-miles traveled today: 611
3-miles traveled total: 3,340
4-states traveled in today: Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Kentucky (oops!), Ohio, West Virginia, Pennsylvania

Day 8: Chicago (NL)

Seeing a game from the Friendly Confines of Wrigley Field is nice, seeing it from a luxury box is even nicer. We were fortunate enough to have seats in the Chase Suite for the game tonight between the Chicago Cubs and Houston Astros. The Astros dominated from start to finish, winning 9-2. They scored in every odd inning of the game, while Andy Pettitte pictched 7 solid innings for the visitors. I took the Cubs, since Ben cannot cheer for them, so he gets the win and we are even at 3-3 in picking games.



The Chase Suite was an incredible experience. Upon walking in, there was a large-screen plasma television, along with another smaller t.v., and several heated containers of food. Our choices included hotdogs, chicken wings, brautwurst, BBQ, and quesadillas, accompanied by plates of fresh fruits and vegetables, and bowls of popcorn and potato chips. In the refridgerator, there was as much free soda and beer as we wanted. A special thanks to Nancy Yawitz for inviting us to the game.



We left Detroit this morning at around 8:00am, and after struggling through some morning traffic, made it to Chicago around 1:00. This included my 1st turn behind the wheel, which was relatively uneventful considering my lack of experience driving a stick-shift. The only hitch came when I was accelerating on the on-ramp and managed to go from 2nd gear to 5th gear in one motion. After picking up the tickets from the Chase Building downtown, we headed to the Riordan's for some Thai food as our afternoon meal.

The Cubs website recommended that we use public transportation to get to Wrigley, so we rode the METRA train down to Union Station before getting on the subway which took us right to the ballpark. It was interesting to get the local taste of the public transit system, and was relatively easy to use overall. Still, we managed to miss our last exit by 1 stop, and had to get a ride back to the Riordan house courtesy of Rachel.



While walking in bewteen stops on the public transit system, we stopped at Dunkin Donuts for a quick snack. You would think it would be relatively quiet at 11:15pm, but shortly after entering a quarrel ensued between the worker and a customer who insisted, "You charged me more for less! Do you think I can't add!?!?!" At which point the non-English speaking worker replied, "unknown phrase with heavy accent at the top of his lungs."

Here are the statistical updates:
1-end of day odometer: 19, 372
2-miles traveled today: 348
3-miles traveled total: 2,729
4-states traveled in today: Michigan, Indiana, Illinois
bonus stat: the home team has scored a run in their last inning at bat in every game we have seen so far

Day 7: Detroit

Tonight's Guest blogger: Ben. Scott usually writes and I proofread, but every seventh day, it is my turn.

Another day in paradise. A 13 inning game between the Detroit Tigers and the Tampa Bay Devil Rays was more than we could have asked for. The Tigers tied the game in the bottom of the ninth with a 2 run rally and then won it in the bottom of the thirteenth 4-3 with a reached on error, sac fly and then a game winning hit. The seats were twelfth row on the first base side and many thanks to Katey Stazak's aunt Doris for those. We have now been treated to 3 extra inning affairs in the first 5 games. For those keeping score at home, Scott wins this one to move up 3-2. I had the Tigers (because of Ty Cobb of course) but gave him a 1 and 1/2 run margin because of the disparity between the clubs.



I was thrilled today to have my picture taken in my Ty Cobb jersey next to the Ty Cobb statue in left center field. Along those lines, Comerica was a nice park with huge statues of tigers outside.

Mr. Stazak, good recommendation on the Coney's Island. We went to the American Coney's island before the game and had the hot dogs. It was a cool place and a treat to eat somewhere with that much local flavor. In addition, if anyone is going to a game in Detroit, there is free parking at the Greektown Casino just a short walk from the park.



The drive today was relatively uneventful but we did pass through Battle Creek, MI which is the cereal capital of the world. In addition, I begin to wonder why Illinois and Michigan have more than one lane on any highway becasue there is so much construction that there is only one open anyway. We received word today, however, that the driving had not been going as smoothly as we thought. Apparently, on the first leg of the trip, while still in Atlanta, I ran a red light. The big brother cameras got me and I received a $70 ticket in the mail today.

We have received some great feedback about this blog so far but many people have been asking about pictures. We can post them and we will as soon as we get a wireless connection so that we can upload them from Scott's laptop. In the meantime, today has been another 20 hour day and thanks for reading.

Here are the statistical updates:
1-end of day odometer: 19,024
2-miles traveled today: 394
3-miles traveled total: 2,381
4-states traveled in today: Illinois, Indiana, Michigan
Bonus Stat: In extra inning games, the home team is 3-0.

Day 6: Chicago (AL)

It is not often that the home team scores 6 runs in the bottom of the 9th inning and loses, but that is what we saw in Chicago today as the White Sox late rally fell short in their 10-8 loss to the Indians. The Indians were beneficiaries of great pitching by Jake Westbrook, who allowed only 2 runs over 8 innings, and great hitting with 4 home runs. I had picked the defending World Series Champions, so Ben gets the win and we are even at 2-2 in our head-to-head picks.



We left Minnesota at 8:47am and arrived in Chicago a little after 2:30. The drive was once again uneventful, although we did manage to go through quite a few of the toll boothes that Illinois has to offer, ranging from $0.30 to $1.00. The Riordan Family was awaiting our arrival, and we had an excellent ham dinner before heading down to the ballpark at 4:30. After driving some 60 blocks too far, due to some misinformation, we managed to get to the ballpark around 6:00 thanks to some helpful McDonald's patrons. We then had the privledge of paying $18 for parking in the stadium lot.

Another travel note to those who have iPod adaptors for their cars: placing a napkin between the iPod itself and its holder will eliminate the subtle rattling that can drive you crazy over the course of a few hours on the road.

Rafael Nadal defeated Roger Federer in the French Open finals today, so both Ben and I were wrong with our selections. Perhaps the result will be a little different in a few weeks when Wimbledon gets started.

Here are the statistical updates:
1-end of day odometer: 18,630
2-miles traveled today: 458
3-miles traveled total: 1,987
4-states traveled in today: Minnesota, Wisconsin, Illionis
bonus stat: teams who hit the most home runs are 3-0, with one game being a wash

Day 5: Leisure

Our last day in Minnesota has come to an end after a day of leisure with the Phippen Family. Ben, Brennan, and I played tennis for a couple of hours, and threw the baseball around for a while after that. Then, a family ping-pong tournament took place, and Brennan avenged his previous loss to his Mom in the semi-finals, and went on to defeat Ben in the finals.

Afterwards, we went out to an excellent dinner at Pier 500 in nearby Hudson, Wisconsin. We finished off the evening by going out for ice cream at Selma's just down the road.

Some of you who have been reading this blog may think we are off to a bit of a slow start on the travel side of things for this road trip, having only 3 games in the 1st 5 days, but things will really start to pick up now as we have 7 games in the next 8 days starting tomorrow in Chicago.

As many of you know, the men's French Open final is tomorrow between Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal. I am officially going to pick Federer, despite his 1-4 head to head record against Nadal, including 2 clay court losses in the past month and a half. I just don't see Roger losing in the finals of a Grand Slam, especially as he looks to become only the 3rd player in history to win 4 Grand Slam tournaments in a row (Don Budge and Rod Laver). Ben is also going with Federer, so we will see how things play out in the morning. Since we will be in route to the "Windy City," feel free to call our cell phones throughout the match to provide updates.

Special thanks goes out to the Phippen Family for letting us stay at their house here in Lakeland, MN for the last 3 nights. We've had a great time playing all sorts of sports and games, and have really appreciated the delicious meals.

Also, Happy 55th Birthday Dad!!!

Here are the statistical updates:
1-end of day odometer: 18,172
2-miles traveled today: 15
3-miles traveled total: 1,529
4-states traveled in today: Minnesota, Wisconsin

Day 4: Minnesota

After another extra inning, walk-off home run affair, Ben has his 1st win of the trip as the Twins beat the Baltimore Orioles courtesy of Justin Morneau's 2-run bomb in the bottom of the 12th inning. The game was another classic, with the Twins tying it by scoring 2 runs in the 8th after trailing for most of the game. The Orioles threatened in the top of the 12th when Javy Lopez was thrown out at home by 3rd baseman Brandon Fahey, then Morneau put a swift end to things with 2 outs in the bottom of the 12th.

Special thanks go to Mike Harris of Faribault Mills for the front row tickets and joining us at the game for an awesome evening of baseball and conversation. Also, thanks go to Paul, the bat boy for the Minnesota Twins who gave us 2 game balls and 2 game bats at the end of his 16 hr. work day at the stadium.




The atmosphere in the Metrodome was great, especially with the players being so close which resulted in some good photographs of Javy Lopez that I'm sure Katey will enjoy. We got to the stadium about an hour before the game in order to watch batting practice down on the field.



We started the day out by watching the men's semifinals of the French Open, then spent the rest of the afternoon playing games with the Phippen family. This included Brennan losing to his Mom in ping-pong 22-20. Ben and I split our 2 meetings of table tennis today. For breakfast we had waffles and sausage links, and for dinner we had some delicious sloppy joe's before leaving for the ball park.

Here are the statistical updates:
1-end of day odometer: 18,157
2-miles traveled today: 57
3-miles traveled total: 1,514
4-states traveled in today: Minnesota
bonus stat: teams who score the 1st run of the game are 0-3 on our trip

Day 3: Milwaukee

As the old baseball adage goes, "you see it all the time, a player makes a great play in the field and it carries over to his at bat the next inning." We saw this exactly, as Bill Hall hit a walk-off home run in the bottom of the 10th inning after turning a sparkling double play to end the top half of the 10th. The Brewers trailed the entire game, before tying it in the bottom of the 9th when Padres shortstop Khalil Green committed an error. As a result, I move to 2-0 on the season in picking games against Ben.

The atmosphere in Miller Park was excellent. We sat in the bleachers by the left field foul pole, and 3 things were abundant: beer, tattoos, and mullets. Apparently, Thursday afternoons are "Skip Work and Get Drunk Day" in Milwaukee. Also, the security guards were on their toes, kicking people out of sections that they did not have tickets for, including us, and continuing to do this until the very end of the game. Also, during the famous sausage race, Ben's pick of the hot dog was victorious over my pick of the Italian sausage.

The weather conditions for the game could not have been better, close to 80 and sunny. However, day games in open stadiums and lots of sunshine are really hot. We got cooked siting in the bleachers, but hopefully there won't be too much sun burn in the morning.

On a lighter note, the video selection for the JumboTron going into the bottom of the 9th inning was a clip from the "Cow Bell" skit on Saturday Night Live. Will Ferrell demanding his cow bell get more recognition, Jimmy Fallon not being able to keep a straight face in the background, and Christopher Watkin playing legendary music producer Bruce Dickinson is priceless, and it worked as Trevor Hoffman had a rare blown save and the Brewers were able to rally for victory.

This morning, we left St. Louis at 5:51am, and arrived at Miller Park right around noon. The drive was uneventful, and without any stops. We packed sandwiches for lunch, and after the game we stopped at Quiznos for dinner. The drive from Milwaukee to Minnesota was also quite nice. The scenery throughout Wisconsin was beautiful, with lots of thick, healthy forrests along much of the drive. We arrived at the Phippen's house, and after some good conversation and even better card games with the family, we are finally headed for bed.

Here are the statistical updates:
1-end of day odometer: 18,100
2-miles traveled today: 721
3-miles traveled total: 1,457
4-states traveled in today: Missouri, Illinois, Wisconsin, Minnesota

Hank, to answer your question: As far as rainouts go, we just hope it doesn't happen, and will make adjustments if necessary.

Day 2: Travel

First off, some corrections/additions to the Day 1: Atlanta blog. The odometer at the end of Day 1 was 16,795. Also, we forgot to mention that the game in Atlanta was Disco Night, so that created some interesting costumes in the crowd. We would also like to again thank the Stazaks for the complimentary tickets and the Gillis for providing housing in Atlanta.



We left Atlanta at 6:08am, in hopes of getting to St. Louis in time to hit some tennis balls and relax for the afternoon. Ben won the set 7-5, so starts off with a 1-0 lead in that department of the trip. We also managed to throw the baseball around some, and Ben's curve ball is coming into form, I'm still working on mine, but my "heater" is feeling pretty good.

Then we had dinner at the Pauluhn's, and we were graced with the presence of my former doubles partner, and successful St. Louis businessman, Kevin Lackey. Dinner was excellent, with pork steaks, salad, potatoes, and brownies for dessert.

The 8 hour drive to St. Louis was relatively uneventful, despite getting off to a somewhat rocky start. I woke up with some stomach problems, so we picked up some Pepto Bismol at the gas station. Hopefully some Pepto corporate executives get a chance to read the blog, because they need to make some serious design changes to their travel sized packets. I honestly could not open the packet for a solid 5 minutes, despite the help of nail clippers. Also, the amount of casino advertisements throughout Tennessee, Kentucky, and Illinois were impressive, but one took 1st prize without question. Casino Aztar advertised on a regular basis for over 100 miles, letting everyone know they were the place for gaming in Evanston, IL.

Here are the statistical updates:
1-end of day odometer: 17,379
2-miles traveled today: 614
3-miles traveled total: 736
4-states traveled in today: Georgia, Tennessee, Kentucky, Illinois, Missouri

Day 1: Atlanta

Day 1 has come to an end as we are back at the Gilli house following a 5-3 win for the Braves over the Washington Nationals. Throughout the trip, Ben and I will each be picking a team during each game. Tonight, I had the Braves, so I start the 30 game stretch up 1-0. It was a well played game overall, with Braves pitcher Horacio Ramirez going 8 strong innings to pick up the win. Home runs by Andruw Jones and Adam LaRoche helped seal the deal for the Braves offensively.

As for the travels of the day, we departed Greenville just before 12:30, and arrived in Atlanta shortly after 2:30. We spent the afternoon in the Gilli's pool, before Mr. Gilli cooked us an excellent chicken dinner. At 5:30 we were off for the stadium, picking up former Furman tennis player John Beckett along the way.

Unknown to Ben, Chris, or myself, Beckett has recently started going by, "The Authority," so make sure to address him properly if you see him in the near future. After fighting some pretty bad traffic, we made it to the stadium at about 7:15.



While walking in from the parking lot, Ben got some attention from one of the parking lot attendants. The following is a direct quote. "Yo man where'd you get that jersey!?!?! I'm from the "D"! That thing is tight! What is that? A 1907? That is straight!" This, of course, in reference to Ben's authentic Ty Cobb Detroit Tigers jersey from 1907. Unfortunately, my authentic Roberto Clemente Pittsburgh Pirates jersey from 1971 didn't get any love.

When we left Greenville, the odometer on Ben's car read 16,643. Currently, it is 16,765. Tomorrow we will be waking up early to drive to St. Louis. We have no game tomorrow, but will be dropping off the rest of Ben's college belongings at his house before heading out for Milwaukee on Thursday for an afternoon game.

Final Preparations

Hey Everyone,

Tomorrow, 6-6-06, Ben and I will be embarking on the road trip of a lifetime. We will be traveling to all 30 Major League Baseball stadiums over the course of 44 days. Day 1 begins as the Atlanta Braves host the Washington Nationals at 7:35.

I am not sure how often I will have internet access during this adventure, but I will be updating this as often as possible.