Welcome to 2014!

Well, well, well...here we are again for another season of Baseball Road Trips. For the sixth year in a row, it is my honor and pleasure to take all of you on this journey across the world of baseball to truly capture the experiences that define lives. 2013 certainly was a roaring season that set a high standard, but I'm sure that 2014 will exceed that bar and make a new measure.

Just to give our new readers some background, I started blogging about my Baseball Road Trips back in 2009. I had been visiting ballparks before that, so counting those, I have visited 51 different professional ballparks in 50 different cities in 18 states and provinces in 3 different countries. When I first started, I was fixated on trying to see as many games as I could in one season. However, as I have gotten older and wiser, my desire is to fully engulf the experiences of the cities and the ballparks, learn the cultures of the regions I visit, and better understand the social pulse of the communities I tourist. Sure, the main premise of this blog is baseball, but it really is about the foundations that allow for baseball to thrive.

For this year, I'm going to implement some new things that I have never done before in any of my previous blogs. If you notice, the blogs consistently change as I become a more seasoned traveler.

First, since I am now a Southern California resident, I have become a partial-season ticket holder for both the Inland Empire 66ers and LA Angels. As such, I'm going to be going to a lot of those games and I'll be using this blog, partly, as a forum for beat writing on those two teams and the Angels organization, as a whole (the 66ers are the Single-A affiliates of the Angels).

Lastly, I'm really going to be a "local" when it comes to Baseball Road Trips. Yes, the exotic trips across the country always make for great travel and blogging, but here in Southern California, there is so much baseball I haven't seen within a few hours of me, and I really want to take advantage of all of that. I have tentatively planned five Dodgers games, two Padres games, and a trip to up the San Joaquin Valley and into the High Desert for some California League games. Phoenix is only about four hours from me, so I'll make a trip out there in March for Spring Training and for a D-Backs game at Chase Field in June.

However, you can't have a Baseball Road Trip season without some sort of trip outside of the comfort zone. It has seemed for the past few years, I've always talked about making a trip out to Salt Lake City for a trip to see ballparks there. I have made a pledge to myself that I will do that trip.

But, enough with the planning, I like to hit the ground running! And by that, I mean in 48 hours as I drive down to Petco Park for the Padres Fan Fest. I went to the Mariners Fan Fest last year, so I'm really looking forward to seeing something new and exciting. I'll do a lot of comparisons and contrasts between the two events, but I just really want to have fun.

As always, I use social media profusely during my travels as Facebook, Twitter and FourSquare are always broadcasting my activities. I also update this blog on the road and frequently throughout the season, so I hope all of you are as excited for this season as I am!

Always take on a 3-0 pitch ;)