OConnell Kevin - The Ultimate Baseball Road Trip: A Fans Guide to Major League Stadiums, 2nd Edition

W ell, they did it again. For a second time the good folks Lyons Press decided it a reasonable investment to send us on the greatest sports road trip ever known to man, woman, or child. And believe us, were the last ones youll hear complaining. Truth is, we thought they were a bit crazy the first time around. You know, back in the summer of 2003 when they sent ustwo eager but undiscovered writersinto the American Summer to find baseball Nirvana. We got to live out our dream of traveling the entire country to see a game in every big league park. And get thisthey paid for it!

Is America a great country, or what?

Before you start reading about our second journey through the emerald cathedrals of the Major Leagues and before you begin to plan your own epic baseball adventure, we thought wed tell you a bit more about ourselves and what we were trying to accomplish in writing The Ultimate Baseball Road Trip 2.0. We also thought wed pause to reflect on some of the ways the game and the fans who enjoy it have changed in the years since the books original publication.

Firstly, though, while its nice to think that the second edition of the book will attract a bevy of new readers, we feel as though we owe a special debt of gratitude to our returning readers. A decade ago when we managed to convince Lyons to fund our fantasy tour of the bigs, we were just two guys fresh out of grad school with a shared passion for the game and a mutual sense of wanderlust. We had never embarked upon anything close to the magnitude of the trip or subsequent book wed proposed to write. Like many of our readers, wed always dreamed of a summer spent pursuing a singular kind of blissone that seemed as close to the heart of the American Spirit as apple pie, blue jeans, and Fourth of July fireworks. We imagined scurrying after batting practice homers, raising cups of suds with newfound friends, and waking up the next morning and doing it all again. And more than just that, we imagined a future in which we would help others plot their own hardball odysseys. But we never imagined the sort of overflowing reader response our first book would garner.

The letters and e-mails started filling our mailboxes about a month after The Ultimate Baseball Road Trip hit the bookstore shelves in 2004. They came from college kids, fathers, grandfathers, wives, and mothers. They included pictures of glowing faces set against ballpark backdrops far and wide. They reflected the same joy wed come to know during our own trip. Just as wed been eager to share the story of our trip with readers, now they were sharing their magical moments with us. The veritable deluge gave us goosebumps. Some of the e-mails described multi-generational family pilgrimages. Others recalled the lengths to which fans had gone to carry out their excursions on shoestring budgets. One was from a young bride who told us about how she and her new husband had used the book to make their honeymoon all it could be. Another was from an elderly gentleman in England, who had always been fascinated by American culture but had never been to a big league park; now, he said, he felt as though he had, thanks to the vicarious trip hed taken by reading our book. Another was from an American soldier deployed in Iraq, who was planning a trip with one of his buddies for the summer after their deployment ended. As soon as they got home, he said, they planned to rent a van and see all thirty yards. Talking about the trip and charting its course was helping them pass the time.

We were amazed and humbled. Our book was playing a meaningful role in real peoples lives.

And so, a tad older and hopefully a bit wiser, we set out again into the great expanse of Americana, in search of that perfect night where the air is warm and dry, the ballpark seats are close and cheap, the hot dogs snap with spice, the beer is cold, and the game plays out before us with all the drama and passion of a Shakespearian tragedy.

Kevin: This time around, I knew better than to let you drive.

Josh: And I knew better than to let you buy a tray full of beers at the end of the seventh inning.

Now then, let us offer an important disclaimer. First and foremost, we are baseball fans. The book is written from our perspective as two fans, eager to share our observations, experiences, and suggestions with fellow devotees. Yes, we are baseball writers, whatever that means, but we are not beholden to any official or approved points of view. Why does this matter to you? Well, lets just say that while the American ballpark trail presents a path full of magic, majesty, and amazing memories just waiting to be discovered, it isnt perfect. Some of the stadium seats are too pricey or too far from the infield. Some of the foods they shovel at you arent worth slopping at pigs. Some of the neighborhoods in which the parks reside do little to enhance the game-day experience (were thinking of you, Anaheim!). And we feel you need to know all of this. Were not striving to write a puff piece for the MLB Chamber of Commerce. Theyre doing just fine without our help. Were offering a frank review of the games parks. Well call the statue of Stan the Man outside Busch Stadium what it is: a grotesque distortion of one of the greatest players of all time and a man who in real life, actually looks quite humanoid. Well spare no punches in calling the much-ballyhooed Dodger Dog a bland disappointment, especially when corners are cut in its preparation. Well pan the upper level at Miller Park for housinghowever ironicallya sea of Uecker Seats. Our goal is to give an honest review of the MLB parks so that you can be as savvy a consumer as possible.

Josh: So, were kind of like that Rick Steves guy, only for ballparks?