In any normal offseason, the amount of time between the last pitch thrown in October to the pitchers & catchers reporting date in February feels like an eternity. During the harsh Wisconsin winters, it seems like we can go weeks or even months without seeing a sunny day or even a patch of grass. However, in this particular offseason, Erik and I have both kept occupied with planning for our upcoming weddings in April and June respectively. It's been a welcome distraction from the piles of ice and snow covering Miller Park, and has certainly made the time fly by much faster than usual. That's why I can hardly believe that the season starts in only 70 days - and even less for our Tour 2016 season. For this year's trip, Erik and I are flying to Montreal, Quebec to watch a couple exhibition games at Olympic Stadium.
This will be the 3rd year in a row that the Blue Jays end their exhibition season at the former Expos' home and this series has been at the top of our Tour must-see list since its inception. With the Blue Jays coming within 2 wins of the World Series last year and talk of a new team in Montreal gaining more traction than ever, we couldn't have chosen a better time to take this trip - the energy at the Big O will definitely be palpable. We have tickets to both games, one on Friday evening and the other Saturday afternoon. It doesn't leave us a whole lot of time to explore the rest of the city, but Montreal is definitely a check off of the travel bucket list and I'm excited to see what we can. I'll be brushing up on my French and the lyrics to our Canadian version of "Kokomo" in the coming weeks.
Because my wedding is a mere 2 weeks after this trip, honestly it hasn't been in the front of my mind as a normal ball trip would be. But after finalizing flights and hotel accommodations in the last few weeks I am really starting to get excited. Erik & I haven't planned a trip together just the 2 of us in 4 seasons, so it means a lot to me that we get to spend this weekend together as one last bachelor hurrah before we take another giant leap into adulthood. Who knows where our lives will go from here and if/when we will be starting families, but we are always going to have this trip to remember the fantastic year of 2016.
touch with baseball when his childhood heroes Robin Yount, Paul Molitor, and Jim Gantner retired but the Great Home Run Chase of 1998 reignited his passion. As a student at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, Erik became involved with the campus chapter of Habitat for Humanity. With this group Erik traveled to Portland, OR and Baltimore, MD to work on construction projects and help the group raise $25,000 to partially sponsor a house in Milwaukee. Also at UWM, Erik met Peter Nagel. The two attended their first Brewers game together during Opening Weekend 2003. Despite their failure to ignite the coals at their first tailgate, the two had a blast and were soon making weekly trips to the ballpark. Erik has gone on to several colleges and changed careers several times, and has moved all the way out to New Hampshire, but has always stayed true to his baseball roots by holding part-time stadium usher jobs. To this day he looks back fondly on his incredible cross-country journey.