Just finished our 30th ball park.

Took us three seasons. First season was the central divisions, second year was the east (minus Atlanta) and this year was the west.

We almost missed Houston because of the hurricane and our game got moved to Tampa but got to see the first game they were back in town.

Finished Saturday in Atlanta. Good game but the feelings were very bittersweet. Glad we did it all but sad that it was over.

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Permalink Reply by gerry(40) on September 28, 2017 at 12:17pm

What's been your best memory from a game this year?

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Permalink Reply by Josh C (30) on September 28, 2017 at 1:00pm

Probably being in Houston for their first game back. The celebration of the first responders and military. The remembrance of the people who were lost and the excitement of better things to come.

For actual game play then the Braves coming from behind in the bottom of the eighth to take the lead and win the game. Most of our other game either weren't close or were just average games to sit in the summer sun and enjoy.

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Permalink Reply by Eric Sather (25/31) on October 2, 2017 at 3:23pm

Congrats on finishing 30! Cool to be in Houston for the first game back. I'm curious about your itinerary. Was it pretty much 3 long road trips, or over the course of the seasons? Hitting all 30 stadiums in 1 year seems a little hard to fit in, at least for me. But 3 sets of 10 sounds like something that could be fun! - Eric

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Permalink Reply by Josh C (30) on October 2, 2017 at 7:32pm

We live in Ohio so the central division we did as some single day trips. St. Louis and KC we did as a trip and cubs, milwaukee and minnesota we did as a trip. The rest was just done on sundays through out the season.

The east we did as a two visit even though we could of done it as a single trip. We did Phily and Yankees over a weekend and the rest in a week. One of us could only get a week off work so this worked better.

West started with a flight to denver that was only $25 on frontier watched the game and then flew to Phoenix also $25 flight. Watched the game and then drove over to California and that was easy. Then drove up to Seattle watched the game and drove home that was $65 flight.

The rental car was cheap because we took a car from Phoenix to Seattle which is the opposite of what most people do and they need cars back up North so we got a car for on $9 a day for eight days.

For Texas we got a flight for $20 down and $20 back.

West and East can be some big road trips done easy with another person. On the east trip we even got a chance to visit seven Hall of Fames since I planned almost everything down to the minute. Lots of driving but lots of fun too.

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Permalink Reply by Eric Sather (25/31) on October 2, 2017 at 10:10pm

Wow! You found some great deals, and sounds like some good planning down to the details! Love those Halls of Fame added in too. Thanks for sharing some of the itinerary. Helps when dreaming about the possibilities! If you are sad that it's over, you can always take it to the next level, like seeing your favorite team in all 30 stadiums. Happy chasing!

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Permalink Reply by Jim Vojcsik on October 7, 2017 at 1:38am

Josh,

Congratulations on completing your quest. After my group of friends did it in 2012, I wondered if there would be a let-down, but instead, the beat goes on. There will always be new parks to visit. Oakland wants to build a new stadium so they can keep the A's. In the mean time, my friends and I will start going to Spring Training games in the FL Grapefruit League next year.

I just published a book about our quest, which took over 20 years.If you want to read about it, visit my blog site. I just posted a new blog on this site yesterday with a link to an article on my blog site, "Rain Delays, Slug Fests and Steaks at Teds" about a trip with three friends to Sun Trust Park in Atlanta this past summer. Check it out and we can compare notes.

Jim Vojcsik

www.hittingthemall.wordpress.com

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Permalink Reply by Tova (18) on October 20, 2017 at 9:38am

Congratulations on finishing!

The Texas Rangers were approved to build a new stadium in 2020. Of course Oakland is looking to build a new one as well. So two more to add!

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Permalink Reply by Josh C (30) on October 26, 2017 at 5:09pm

Yeah we will probably pick up Texas in a couple of years when we do NBA and NHL visits. Oakland needs a new stadium so bad. We watched a great game but the park was so uncomfortable and outdated.