The older you get, the more depressing winter becomes. Even Christmas isn't what it used to be, so the "blahs" start earlier. So what I do to get through that? I start planning our baseball roadtrips for the following year. The steps are easy:
1) Figure out when and where we want to try and go next year. Adding the minors to my list a few years ago has made this especially fun.
2) Picking 2-3 new MLB cities to go to. The MLB parks left to see is dwindling, but in some ways more difficult (ie expensive).
3) Scanning through dozens of minor league teams' schedules. Trying to make sure as many teams as possible are at home in a certain radius is the key. My Christmas comes as a team I've been waiting to release their schedule finally does.
4) Looking at giveaways. This is not really that huge to me, the only thing I tend to care about is a hat giveaway, with an occasional bobblehead thrown in. The other problem is teams tend to release that schedule right before the season, long after the choices for us have been made. It's fun to see what other teams are doing, however.
So the rough outline for 2010 has been established. Here's the possibilities:
MLB Parks: With only 6 left, we are not going crazy in this department next year. The new Yankee Stadium is on the docket after my one-year ban. This will probably include a stop by one of the minor league parks I haven't gotten yet, the candidates being Long Island, Newark and Sussex. There will most likely be only one other MLB park for '10, with either Seattle or Minnesota as the choice. It will come down to which plane ticket is cheaper. Plenty of good MiLB to hit in either region with the St Paul Saints in Minnesota and Tacoma and Yakima in Seattle.
Local/regional trip: One of the good things about the DC area is the choice in baseball in a fairly close proximity. No less than 10 teams in a 2-3 hour drive. The 2nd annual P-Nats tour will occur the first weekend in June, with a stop in 3 states and DC, 4 different Nats affiliates, and 1 Flying Squirrel. Richmond, Hagerstown, Wilmington and DC, here we come!
Longer road trips: In some ways, these have become my favorite aspect of the baseball season, as they are fairly inexpensive and you get to see so much of the surrounding areas. Last year's North Carolina and Midwest trips were huge amounts of fun while continually clicking off more ballparks. For 2010, I have a New England trip planned as we go to visit Staci's parents in Maine. So many teams to choose from on the 750 mile journey, including Lowell, Pawtucket, and Portland. We will also be looking at an Upstate New York trip as well, as this is a quick 6-hour drive to dozens of teams, including Binghamton, Oneonta, and Tri-Cities.
2010 is going to be a great year in many ways, and plotting the baseball season is one small but important aspect of that.
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