When I took my first baseball road trip last year, I never realized how much more I would appreciate America's pastime. This was on the "Dew List" (my bucket list) and I heard fantastic stories involving friends or friends of friends that did this while never knowing where their next meal would be or where they would be sleeping next.
I am actually glad that I waited this long to embark on this trip. We were at a stage in our life where all could afford reasonable lodging and food. And with the advent of social media, I was able to share my experiences. Plus there was Baseball Road Trip website that made planning this way too easy. Guys, I would easily recommend this for a get together for old buddies as the schedule is clear cut. This is a great equalizer to the 'let me get back to you about the trip' as you are either in or not on those days. And believe me, if you wanted to go, you made it happen.
We traveled to Miller Park, Wrigley Field and US Cellular Field in a 4 day trip and watched the Brewers, Nationals, Cubs, Cardinals, White Sox and Mariners play. The games were great but what was most memorable were the enormity of these baseball cathedrals. The trip not only renewed my passion with Major League baseball but I had a greater appreciation of what these teams mean to their fans. Whether it was tailgating with brats outside Miller Park to seeing a sea of red Cardinals jerseys in Wrigley, I saw first hand what baseball means to people outside of Boston and New York.
This year, one of my compadres from the trip entered the lottery and won the opportunity to purchase Major League Baseball All Star Tickets in Phoenix, Arizona. I convinced him to purchase eight and was excited about continuing a tradition that started just last year. Unfortunately the commitment to my other love, Fusion String Ensemble was already in works. Needless to say, I will be missing out on seeing my very first All Star game.
So left without a Major League Baseball Road Trip this year, I decided to check out schedules for the Pawtucket Red Sox (AAA) [wikipedia], Portland Sea Dogs (AA) [wikipedia] and Lowell Spinners (Short Season A) [wikipedia] and make a Red Sox Local Affiliates Baseball Road Trip this summer. The other affiliates that would have to wait included Salem (VA) Red Sox (Advanced A) [wikipedia], Greenville (SC) Drive (A) [wikipedia], Gulf Coast League (GCL) Red Sox (Rookie) and Dominican Summer League (DSL) Red Sox (Rookie).
(Red Sox Minor League Affiliates: http://mlb.mlb.com/mlb/minorleagues/affiliates/index.jsp?c_id=bos )
The local affiliates would be feasible without the small time frame (unless I really wanted but as of now, I may embark on a 3 game 4 day tour) and I would have the opportunity to include my young son on part of this adventure.
I had already purchased the Brewer Pack from the Boston Red Sox during my annual morning ritual before our Holiday party. The Right Field Roof Box is my favorite place to watch the game for the price in my opinion. With construction less five years old, the area boasts short concession & bathroom lines, new restroom facilities and quick access to the nearby Budweiser bar in right field.
With Fenway secured, I went to the websites of Pawtucket, Portland and Lowell to track my itinerary and this is what I found.
Pawtucket's schedule was provided on a PDF. The schedule in color but way oversized for the PDF so it was missing games. I even tried to change paper size and rotating it 90 degrees but no luck.
Portland's schedule was the best by far of the affiliates. All games were viewable and formatted perfectly in Landscape.
Lowell's schedule was unable to provide a full schedule so I was regulated to printing out each month separately. June | July | August | September
Here are the remaining Sox affiliate schedules.
Salem's schedule was in full color but was pixelated when printed. Side note: I did find a channel on ustream.tv that provided a live webcam of their games on the internet.
Greenville's calendar was so small and pixelated that it was rendered unreadable. Although I slightly amused of an ad on PDF of a local hospital with the Pillsbury dough boy dressed up in a nurse outfit and baseball glove catching a fly ball.
Gulf Coast League's & Dominican Summer League schedules are embedded text in the browser for you to print.
Once I integrate the Pawtucket, Portland and Lowell schedules I will be able to lock in dates.
To be continued.
