Midwest over Labor Day Again

I started this quest this past year right before Labor Day and made a Labor Day weekend trip. I’d like to repeat that in 2014. I have six stadiums for this trip, although I doubt I’ll go to all six in 2014. I should leave a few stadiums for the Boston trip in 2015.

Friday, August 29: Detroit @ Chicago, U.S. Cellular Field
Saturday, August 30: Yankees @ Toronto, Rogers Centre, 1:07 PM
Sunday, August 31: Cincinnati @ Pittsburgh, PNC Park, 1:35 PM
Monday, September 1: Pittsburgh @ St. Louis, Busch Stadium, 1:15 PM
Tuesday, September 2: White Sox @ Minnesota, Target Field, 7:10 PM
Wednesday, September 3: Texas @ Kansas City, Kauffman Stadium

This trip includes Pittsburgh, which was also in my April trip. I don’t think I’m going to hit that stadium then, as I can start in DC and end in Philadelphia, taking only the train to get from stadium to stadium. Since I’d cut this trip to 3-4 stadiums, I could move around the stadiums to different days.

I’ll start the trip in Chicago, a hub city that has plenty of flights from Los Angeles, many of which are non-stop. This may be tricky, as it requires flying from city to city and some of these cities may have limited flights to others or be very expensive.

So what do you say? Are you in?

Atlanta, Tampa, and Miami

I’ve given you three trips to 11 stadiums. I'll go to Angel Stadium some time during the season, as it’s a short drive. So that’ll put us at 12 stadiums and 19 overall. I don’t know if I’ll hit any of the remaining 11, but I do have two possible trips to go to as many as 9 of them. Unfortunately, Chase Field in Phoenix and Fenway Park in Boston aren’t on my list of possibilities for 2014. Neither the Diamondbacks nor the Red Sox are home at a time convenient with other nearby teams. That’d mean saving them for 2015, which has always been part of my plan. I’ll likely leave a few other stadiums so I can make trips out of them.

If I make the weekend trip to the Southeast it’ll be either Friday-Sunday 8/15-8/17 or 9/19-9/21, late enough in the season that I can make that call mid-season.

Friday, August 15: Oakland @ Atlanta, Turner Field
Saturday, August 16: Yankees @ Tampa, Tropicana Field
Sunday, August 17: Arizona @ Miami, Marlins Park, 1:10 PM

It’s important to start the trip in Atlanta. First, it’s a shorter distance from Los Angeles, making it easier to fly into on a Friday and still be able to attend a game. Secondarily, it’s a Delta hub, so there’ll also be non-stop flights. Again that means it should be easy to arrive well before the game. Unfortunately, the choices on flights back to LA after a Sunday afternoon game in Miami might be limited. I do have family in Miami that I might visit. So I can stay an extra day or two.