Praying for baseball to start is not how I wanted to kick off the blog in 2022, but here we are. Today should have been Pitchers & Catchers Report Day, one of the most joyous days on the calendar, but instead we are in the midst of what is now the 2nd longest work stoppage in MLB history, behind only the 1994-95 strike. I was optimistic that it would not come to this, my thought process being that baseball as a sport could not stomach a 3rd consecutive financially strenuous season following the 2020-21 seasons severely impacted by COVID-19. A sport that is already waning in popularity with major structural issues to solve couldn't possibly be dumb enough to self-inflict a wound from which it may never recover, right? It should speak volumes to my indifference and confidence level that I'm actually wearing a hockey jersey as a I write this. Even moreso than the PED crisis have I ever been this disgusted and ashamed by the greed and incompetence in the sport I love. Or rather, the people that hold the sport in the balance. I am exactly the type of fan that baseball can not afford to lose and I am praying that both sides can see the damage they are doing to the sport with this lockout, and for now all I can do right now is what I do every year around this time, particularly the last 2 years - cautiously prepare for the summer.
That being said, it should come as no shock that Erik and I are going to do all that we can to make a 3rd attempt at going to the new Rangers stadium. If there is a "nice" part of the lockout is that we really even haven't begun to plan a trip other than take note of the dates the Rangers are home - which at this pace is soon to change anyways. It's kept me from getting my hopes up from the other elephant still always lurking in the room - the pandemic. If there was no lockout and if you asked us today, I'm sure we would feel comfortable with an April trip. But who knows if Omicron was even the last variant. This might just be a trip we throw together last minute and hope it works out. I do feel more confident this year than last that we will be seeing ball of some kind - for Christ sake, Erik has not been to a ballgame in almost 3 years at this point, the poor guy! We've discussed the AFL and Cape Cod League as safer backup options both in terms of sparse attendance, and trips that would be unaffected by the lockout.
And speaking of ballgames not affected by the lockout, I also feel pretty confident that I will be notching my 150th ballpark this year. There is a new team starting up in nearby Oconomowoc that I'll for sure be getting to, and I am going to Michigan with my daughter this July for our 2nd annual Daddy-Daughter ball trip. As a family we've got two years worth of pandemic-cancelled travel that we're making up for this year, and I can only pray that MLB will be a part of that.
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.