2015 is officially here! I hope all of you are as excited about this year as I am. Do you want to know something totally incredible? This will be my ninth season of doing Baseball Road Trips! After an incredible 2014, it's hard to believe that the year I have planned is going to be even better. While the calendar may only say January, my Baseball Road Trips for the year are beginning earlier than ever, and I have baseball planned for nearly every single weekend from now until the end of October. It will be a season for the ages, and all of you are invited to come along!
I like to think that this upcoming season is the embracing of things I discovered in 2014, while at the same trying to explore every corner of Southern California when it comes to baseball. As with all my Baseball Road Trips, I try and develop a holistic experience that involves not just baseball, but also other community-driven activities. I plan on utilizing the Metrolink train and my bike a lot, but also spreading my wings and flying to some destinations as well.
Since I'm starting my season earlier than ever, I have decided to break up the 2015 campaign into four separate "phases" that will allow me to organize the more than 70 games I have planned. I also like to think of the phases continually building up in complication and adventure, culminating with a grand conclusion.
The first phase is the "Pre-Season" which will be a short two-week affair. Starting this Sunday with a trip out to Palm Springs, I'll catch two California Winter League games at Palm Springs Stadium. Next weekend, I'll ride the train into LA and go to Dodgers Fan Fest up at Chavez Ravine. I'm bringing my bike on both of these trips, and they should prep me for later in the season for when I'm actively riding.
As the calendar turns into February, the "College" phase begins. Here, my road trips become more exotic in locale as I will certainly be touching almost every corner of Southern California seeing the amateur game on campus. My focal point of operation will be UC Riverside as their ballpark is only about ten minutes from where I work, so I'll try and catch games on weeknights there. In addition to the games at UC Riverside, I have trips planned down to Long Beach, over to Malibu, in Redlands, LA, and Fullerton. I'm pretty excited to see the schedule line up for this phase as I will be able to see my alma mater Oregon Ducks play one game in Riverside and two games in LA down at Dedeaux Field on the campus of USC. The culmination of the "College" phase has to be the SEC-Big 12 tilt between #1-ranked Vanderbilt and #2-ranked TCU from Dodger Stadium.
When Spring comes around, the "Professional" phase kicks in. This phase will go from March all the way until the end of September. The official kickoff for that phase comes in late March as I travel east to Phoenix for my annual trip to Spring Training and Cactus League 2015. Unlike in past years, I am going to follow one team for three straight days as the Angels will play the Indians in Goodyear, and have a home-and-home with the defending World Champion Giants in Tempe and Scottsdale.
I have tentatively planned two extended Baseball Road Trips, in addition to the Cactus League 2015. The first will take me up to Modesto and down to Fresno for some action in the San Joaquin Valley. While I have been to Fresno before, seeing Modesto will be a new park for me, and it will mean that I have seen a game in every California League park. That will be a train and bike trip, and doing some riding in those two cities will certainly be an experience.
Later on in the summer will see me depart from my norm and do things a little different. I'll ride the train from here to El Paso, TX and see the Triple-A team there. After spending the night, I'll hop on a Southwest flight to Phoenix and see the DBacks play at Chase Field which, interestingly enough, I have not been to.
I'll be renewing my season tickets for the 66ers, as well. I would like to see anywhere between 15-20 games over at San Manuel Stadium in San Bernardino. In addition, I have planned out three separate "66ers Road Trips" to see my hometown team play at rival California League parks in Lake Elsinore, Lancaster, and Adelanto. The team has come out with some fun promotions, and I already have tickets to Opening Day as I scored them in a drawing a few weeks ago. It's hard to imagine a summer not being able to collect some cool giveaways and messing with Bernie the mascot. Oh yeah, some decent baseball too, with a hopeful playoff run again.
As for season tickets for the Angels, I found that it's cheaper for me to get individual tickets for the games off of StubHub than subscribe to a season ticket plan. I'm still going to make it to ten Angels games down in Anaheim, all the while putting the bike on the Metrolink and reinvigorating my Sunday adventures down in Orange County. I'm really going to try and milk that whole day of experiences and make as many mental notes as I can. That whole trip really was such a great thing, and I got really comfortable with it. To be honest, there have been times during this off-season that I have longed for just doing that trip.
The Dodgers will see me visit Dodger Stadium five times during the season. Just like the Angels, I'll bring my bike on the Metrolink and make an adventure out of the experience. I'm going to do my downtown loop around the skyscrapers and LA traffic, hoof it up the big hill, munch on Dodger Dogs in the nosebleeds, have fun coasting down that very same hill like a madman, and making regular visits to the breweries in LA.
San Diego will host me three times this season as I hit up one exhibition and two regular season games for the Padres at Petco Park. When it comes to the exhibition game, Padres Fan Fest precedes the game as it pits the Padres against the visiting Mexican League team from Tijuana. I'll definitely be taking my bike with me as I want to do some more exploring of the bike routes in and around the city. However, you can probably bet that I'll do the Silver Strand ride again up into Coronado. That was just too much fun last year to NOT do it again. Maybe this time I can bring along my bodyboard and so a little wave action on the beach there...
"Post Season" phase is still up in the air. I will most likely make a return trip to Phoenix for the Arizona Fall League, as is the same for Mexicali. There's also postseason implications for all my vested teams into September and October, so we'll see what happens with that.
Well, that's what I have planned...for now! As you can see, it is going to be an incredible ride, and I am so very excited to embark on it. Just being able to start in January and moving all the way through to, probably, November is just plain tantalizing.
This blog will be constantly updated during the season. I'm VERY active on Facebook, Twitter, and FourSquare also. I love nothing better than to use these forums to update all of you on all of my travels and the adventures. Heck, maybe some of you will be inspired to join me on a few of them! I thank all of you from the bottom of my heart for reading! Let's get this show on the road!
Always take on a 3-0 pitch ;)
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