Athletics Threaten to Leave Oakland if City Does Not Approve Howard Terminal Plan

I was planning on writing a post today about the first minor league games played last week in 20 months, but breaking news just now is that MLB is "suggesting" (pressuring) the A's to explore relocating their team if Oakland does not approve their latest ballpark proposal.  I say "breaking news," but any ballpark or baseball enthusiast knows the saga of the Athletics by now and their never-ending quest to get out of the Coliseum.  Their original Cisco Field plans in nearby Fremont date all the way back to 2006, which pre-dates even The Tour.  The latest site - Howard Terminal - has had some preliminary environmental studies commissioned and reviewed and has been the most promising to date, but even that site is on its 3rd iteration in 4 years.  This just continues to drag on as the city refuses to vote or commit to funding any sort of infrastructure improvements, despite the fact that the A's are footing the entire stadium bill.

This certainly isn't the first team to blackmail their municipality into approving a new stadium, nor will it be the last, but this is definitely a unique situation compared to most.  Most teams that do this (including my hometown Brewers and NBA Bucks) are after some sort of stadium financial or tax incentive, but in the case of the A's, the heart of the issue is whether Oakland wants to take on the massive project of converting an active industrial seaport that is difficult to access into a live/work entertainment hub like so many other contemporary stadiums have.  I understand that there are going to be environmental and logistical challenges with this site, but given the relatively low amount of money involved with this compared to most stadium deals, and the fact that the city has already lost an NBA and NFL franchise in the last few years, it really seems like a no-brainer to approve this.  However, there are some advocates, the most vocal of which being the East Oakland Stadium Alliance, that want to see the A's just build in the parking lot next door to their current stadium (similar to what the Brewers and Mets did), which does make some sense given the site is already set up for transit and the team owns half of the land.  But the A's are getting to the point where the Coliseum is so bad and so beyond its functional life that they simply do not have the time to explore even one more site - simply put, it's Howard Terminal, or they move.

Today's announcement represents a last-ditch effort by A's to rectify this situation before their latest lease ends in 2024 and before MLB starts to take a more active hand in coercing the situation.  Rob Manfred has made it well known that he plans to expand the league to 32 teams but will not do so until the Oakland and Tampa stadium situations are resolved, so this has been sort of an irritating rash during his entire tenure as commissioner.  I know I speak for Erik when I say that we are rooting for this project to move forward...but also would not be sad if we got to go to maybe Portland or Las Vegas instead of Oakland.

STANDINGS AND UPCOMING SERIES AS OF 5/11/21:

Brewers 19-16, -2.0; 3 v. Cardinals, 3 v. Braves, 2 @ Royals, 3 @ Reds

Twins 12-20, -7.0; 3 @ White Sox, 3 v. Athletics, 3 v. White Sox, 2 @ Angels, 3 @ Indians

2021 GAMES ATTENDED:

Erik - 0

Peter - 0

The Bally Sports Experience (or lack thereof)

At this point, the news of Fox Sports rebranding as Bally Sports and subsequently dropping all streaming services is pretty old news, so I don't think I need to hash out all the details here.  I myself have YouTube TV, so I have been following a lot of games on the radio and the MLB App this year.  But honestly, that is how I have followed most Brewers games since I've become a dad, so it hasn't been a major tragedy for me yet.  I might get more bang for the buck from the $20 MLB Radio subscription than any non-media member in America.  For a standard 7:10 start time, I'll have the game on the radio as we're getting my daughter ready for bed, and then continue following on the app as the wife and I watch TV, and as soon as I notice her drift off to sleep on the couch, I switch back to the radio.  So in reality, not having the games on TV really just deprives me out of a couple innings a night.  The bigger void for me still remains the lack of physically attending games, and I'm hoping to get to some once the baby is a few months old and virus immunity rates are higher later in the summer.

The dropping of the RSN's from streaming services has brought to the forefront an overarching pricing and structural issue with these providers, and it will be interesting to see how Bally's either re-introduces itself to that platform in 2022, or just in general what the TV and live sports experience looks like in the future.  It was only a matter of time before the streaming service model started to become unsustainable, and this is only the first drop in the bucket.  The draw for Bally's to get into this space was to create an all-inclusive experience that includes in-game betting and being able to stream sports anywhere through their own proprietary app, and it sounds like that is the direction they are still moving.  Anyone who subscribes to a streaming service has already noticed the glut of networks introducing their own apps and services - NBC Peacock, Paramount, HBO, etc. - and Bally's will just be one more player in this.  The pandemic has certainly accelerated a lot of technological and customer experiences changes in this past year, including this move to "a la carte" viewing.

STANDINGS AND UPCOMING SERIES AS OF 4/26/21:

Brewers 13-8; 3 v. Marlins, 4 v. Dodgers, 4 @ Phillies, 3 @ Marlins

Twins 7-13; 3 @ Indians, 3 v. Royals, 4 v. Rangers, 3 @ Tigers

2021 GAMES ATTENDED:

Erik - 0

Peter - 0

Way-Too-Soon Reactions to Brewers Start to Season

Now is generally the time of year where I post something outlandish about how the Brewers season will go based on only a couple weeks worth of games, not unlike just about other member of the baseball media.  There is always a year where a guy like Jason Kendall hits over .400 in the first month and you wonder if he could be an all-star or MVP, and there are years like this year where arguably our most promising hitter, Keston Hiura, is hitting barely over .100 and people are ready to write him off for dead.  With that spirit of early-season excitement and hyperbole in mind, here are my immediate reactions to how the season is going to play out for the Brewers based on the first 10% of their schedule:

1.  Brandon Woodruff and Corbin Burnes will both be Top-10 in Cy Young voting.

This might not seem too radical or a stretch based on what these two have done not only this year, but going back all the way back to 2018 (save for a blip for Burnes in 2019 that we won't talk about).  They've just continued to improve and now headline a rotation the likes of which I have not seen in my lifetime - a largely homegrown rotation, developed by the Brewers, that is leading the National League in most major pitching categories.  Our last great rotation was 2011, but was comprised almost entirely of free agents and trades.  Recently the Brewers ended a turn through the rotation where the five starters yielded only 1 earned run in over 28 innings pitched.  At some point all five of these starters will hiccup, but the more interesting part to me will be if we are still hot in August, are players going to start being shut down or limited due to the shortened season last year?

2.  Keston Hiura will return to form, but not this year.  He will end up splitting time with Kolten Wong, Daniel Vogelbach, and others for the rest of the season.

Let me just start by saying I am a huge Keston Hiura fan and I wish him the best.  When Ryan Braun quasi-retired, he was the guy whose jersey I bought to replace his.  He's got some of the quickest hands I've seen and when he's right, he takes the ball the other way like a 10-year veteran.  That being said, I think even the casual fan can see the gaping hole in his swing.  Simple geometry and physics will tell you that swinging 45 degrees up at a ball that is coming in downward at 95 miles per hour, while also trying to time a leg kick that comes up to your chest is extremely difficult to get right.  He is second only to Javier Baez for swing-and-miss rate at pitches in the strike zone dating back to the start of 2020.  I think he will have no choice but to overhaul his swing and his timing mechanisms, and maybe sacrifice a little bit on the power and launch angle to help him become the complete hitter he was a couple of years ago as a rookie.  But that is incredibly difficult to do during a season unless he is sent down to AAA.  So I see this year being another "3 true outcomes" year for Hiura - walk, strikeout, or homerun - but he will be back with a vengeance in 2022.  The Brewers are not a team that can afford to give up on a top prospect until they have exhausted all avenues.  You need look no further than Lucas Erceg converting to a 2-way player to believe that.

3.  Jackie Bradley, Jr. will have the most games played in the outfield this season.

Stop if you've heard this before: David Stearns signs a player that seems to make no sense or may not have a fit on the team at the time, and ends up being a key contributor.  Stearns and Manager Craig Counsell have always had the philosophy of signing the best available players and worrying about position and playing time later.  Jackie Bradley Jr. definitely fits into that category.  While most Brewers fans reacted sharply to "why are we spending all that money on a 4th outfielder," I think most baseball pundits outside of the Brewers saw this as a steal.  With Lorenzo Cain now 35 years old and coming back to baseball after 18 months off, and Christian Yelich's balking back, we are now seeing the value of having a gold-glove outfielder available to rotate in.  He's seen the lion share of the playing time so far this year along with Avisail Garcia, and although he probably has the least productive bat on paper than any of our outfield options - including Tyrone Taylor who deserves a shot as well - his defense, speed, and reliability are going to keep him in the lineup consistently, especially in the late innings.

STANDINGS AND UPCOMING SERIES AS OF 4/19/21:

Brewers 8-7; 3 @ Padres, 3 @ Cubs

Twins 6-8; 3 @ Athletics, 3 v. Pirates

2021 GAMES ATTENDED:

Erik - 0

Peter - 0

Brewers Opening Weekend 2021

The Brewers attempted with Opening Day 2021 to turn the page from a year we'd like to all soon move past, as the home ballpark was open to fans this past Thursday for the first time in over 18 months.  Besides fans being allowed into the ballpark (albeit at 25% capacity), the other noticeable change from last year was the elephant in the room that I have not yet addressed on this blog - the ballpark name change.  As of January 1st 2021, the ballpark that I grew up in and have known intimately for 20 years is now knows as American Family Field.  I live not too far from the ballpark now and have noticed the the signage getting replaced here and there over the last few months in preparation for Opening Day, and honestly I'm a big fan of the logo.  People can say "It will always be Miller Park to me" all they want, but I don't think anybody can objectively deny that the old logo and graphics were horribly outdated.  The new refresh using the American Family Insurance logo blended with Brewers colors and an outline of the roof looks stunning on top of the ballpark driving past on I-94, especially at night when it's lit.  American Family even went so far as to update Bernie's Chalet as they are really trying to ingratiate themselves to the Milwaukee community.  Like I mentioned, the name change has been a polarizing issue in town, and I get it that people hate change and getting rid of tradition, especially in baseball - and I would be the first to admit that I'm generally in that category.  But we're not exactly talking about Wrigley Field becoming Caterpillar Field.  This is a relatively young park that simply had a corporate naming rights deal expire that I think people will get used to in a year or two, just like every other stadium name change.  "AmFam Field" even rolls off the tongue.  If 87-year-old and 50-year veteran of the Brewers, Bob Uecker, can get through an entire broadcast without slipping up on the name change, I think we can all manage just fine.  If it is still too much to handle, feel free to move to West Milwaukee where the entire city refuses to accept the change and is not changing the name of "Miller Park Way."

Another change for this year that was not insignificant to me is that I was not there!  2021 marked my first Opening Day I did not attend (in which fans were allowed) since 2007, and that year I was finishing my Masters' Thesis en route to the summer ball tour, so I think I had a good excuse that year.  It was a really difficult decision for me to not to go this year, much harder than I thought it would be.  As Spring Training rolled along I thought I would be fine with it, but when the day actually got here, it really hit me hard that I would not get to be at the ballpark, missing that familiar waft of sausage smoke as you enter the parking lot at 9 AM.  Instead, I smelled coffee and tacos as I went to a little taqueria near my house to watch the game.  On the bright side, I will say that I feel much better now about attending a game in 2021 than I did 3 months ago.  My wife and I have each already received one dose of the vaccine, and I think by mid-summer we will be itching to get out of the house with our newborn so long as virus and vaccine protocols continue improving.  So, I am going to return to keeping my "ballgames attended" tally on the blog after a one-year hiatus, but don't expect that number to even creep into double digits this year.

As for the on the field product, it was a pretty disappointing showing all around.  I wasn't expecting the team to hit that much as I don't think anybody is.  They made the playoffs last year despite their worst team batting average in franchise history, and this year's success is predicated on comeback seasons of about half of the roster, including Travis Shaw who is back now at third base.  But what was surprising was the pitching.  By and large the pitching is expected to carry us this year, but outside of the masterful performances of Corbin Burnes and Josh Hader, even that was a little shaky.  Keston Hiura is also still adjusting to moving to first base, and Lorenzo Cain is still getting his nearly 35-year-old body back into playing shape after opting out last season.  It's hard to gauge a season after 3 games against a really good interleague opponent, but it's hard not to have at least a knee-jerk reaction knowing how poorly things went last year.  Hopefully 9 games against the Cubs and 3 against the Pirates in the month of April will right the ship.  This weekend definitely made me yearn a little bit for the teams of the 1990s and 2000s of my childhood, who might have been horrible but at least they could rake.  It's a lot harder to listen to a 2-0 loss than it is a 10-8 loss.

STANDINGS AND UPCOMING SERIES AS OF 4/5/21:

Brewers 1-2; 3 @ Cubs, 3 @ Cardinals, 3 v. Cubs, 3 v. Pirates

Twins 2-1; 3 @ Tigers, 3 v. Mariners, 4 v. Red Sox, 3 @ Angels

2021 GAMES ATTENDED:

Erik - 0

Peter - 0

MiLB to Become Testing Ground for Experimental Rule Changes

(image courtesy of Fox Sports)

As if Rob Manfred hasn't done enough damage to baseball and the minor leagues this year, a new set of experimental rule changes is being implemented across various minor league levels this year as a test if these can eventually be applicable to the Major Leagues.  We have seen this to a lesser extent in the past and this is not uncommon for various rules here and there to be tested in this fashion, for instance the introduction of pitch clocks in the minor leagues.  The Atlantic League has also historically served as a partner league with MLB to test new ideas, mostly notably robo-umps and defensive positioning requirements.  For the most part these ideas are either so minor that they don't make much of an impact, or they are so wacky that they never get implemented.  This time, however, it's different.  With the impending expiration of the current CBA and all sides looking to stake their footing for what by all indications will be a brutal negotiation process, throwing the wrench of a new set of rules into the mix will almost certainly complicate matters even further by adding more bargaining chips.  My sense is that Manfred and MLB will be pushing for these rules to become permanent at the big league level, in some form, during the next CBA agreement.  And this doesn't even include the Universal DH, which could be a whole other post in itself.

The rule changes include:

1. Bases growing from 15x15 to 18x18 inches at AAA level.  The thought is that wider bases reduces the risk of injury and shortens the distances between bases just enough to increase steal attempts and infield hits.

2. All infielders are required to keep both feet within the infield dirt boundaries when the pitch is thrown at AA level, with a potential for expanding this to include a provision for two infielders to be planted on each side of 2nd base in the second half of the season.  This is part of Manfred's long-standing desire to eliminate shifts to increase batting averages.

3. Pitchers will be required to step off the rubber to attempt a pick-off and are limited to two pickoff attempts per plate appearance at all A levels.  Again, similar to increasing base sizes, the thought is this will increase action and improve stolen base chances.

4. A 15-second pitch clock will be implemented at Low-A West only.

5. An automatic strike zone or "robo-ump" will be implemented at Low-A Southeast only.

The rules are purposely scattered throughout the various levels so that there is only one "variable" in a controlled setting to get a better understanding of the rule changes by itself.

I'm having a hard time with these rules changes and to be honest I'm not sure what I think.  And it'll be hard to really get a grasp on how these really impact the game until they are at the major league level - I don't really foresee myself seeing a lot of games this year, particularly not minor league games.  The one I have the most problem with is dictating where a player can stand on the field.  I firmly believe there shouldn't be any rules that affect strategy and that should be up to the individual teams.  If they have data that says all 7 fielders should stand in center field, then they should have the right to do that, and hitters can adjust.  It don't view it as any differently than having a player cherry pick or bolt towards the opposing basket once a shot is thrown in basketball.  If you want to keep a guy under the opposing hoop to get easy baskets and forfeit that defender, that's not necessarily an unfair advantage to either team and it's your choice to have that strategy no matter how weird it looks.  It's easy for me to say this as someone who peaked at riding the pine in JV baseball, but learning to hit the ball to all fields solves the defensive positioning problem more than a rule should dictate.  I also worry about the robo-ump coupled with the bases increasing in size really de-values the catching position.  A stricter enforcement of the current strike zone I think is a more reasonable solution than just getting rid of the umpire entirely.  Human error and interaction is what makes sports fun, if I want to watch robots play a sport then I will watch BattleBots.

It's a major understatement to say it will be interesting what baseball looks like in a couple of years.  Anything and everything we know about the game will be on the table in the labor negotiations and its future is certainly at a crossroads.  At the end of the day, if it brings more fans to the sport and increases in-game action as is supposedly intended, then I will try my best to get on board and stop acting like an old man about all the change.  But as my wife and Erik can tell you, I do not handle change very well.

2 days until Opening Day!

UPCOMING SERIES:

Brewers - 3 v. Twins

Twins - 3 @ Brewers

MiLB Overhaul Complete

The year-long saga of overhauling the entire minor league baseball system officially came to a head last week as the new league structures and "improvements" were released by Major League Baseball.  All of the historical league names that have decades, and in some cases more than a century, of history, have been replaced with unimaginative geographic names and divisions.  For instance, the Pacific Coast League and International League have been replaced with Triple-A West and Triple-A East respectively, but within those leagues, there are further geographic subdivisions that further convolute and confuse things.  An example of this is the Albuquerque Isotopes play in the eastern division of the Triple-A West league.  I give this about 2 years before leagues and divisions either change to something generically patriotic or naming rights are sold, sort of like the NBA G-League.  This is all done under the guise of reducing travel time for affiliates and having affiliates be on average much closer to the parent clubs, but in reality there is a lot more to unpack from this process and what MLB's true motivations are.

Like most everything else with Commissioner Manfred and the owners, this reorganization is almost entirely about money and control.  There are definitely some nice side effects to this realignment, such as mandated improved player facilities, increased player salaries, stability in local communities, and the aforementioned geographic reasons, but the true driving factor for these changes is to give MLB complete ownership and operation of the minor leagues.  The business model of MiLB and MLB operating as two separate entities for over 100 years has given way to MLB controlling and owning every aspect of the minor leagues, and thus managing the minor leagues as they would any other for-profit business.  This was done almost completely unilaterally by MLB; they simply waited out the clock for their latest professional agreement to expire on September 30th of last year, and then proceeded to set their own terms.  The teams that MLB wanted to retain were offered new "licensing agreements" and if those teams didn't like it, then they would just find somebody else who did.  In the end, most teams didn't have a lot of choice.  It was either agree to MLB's terms and have a "partner" that would now control every aspect of their club, or struggle to make it financially in a competitive and cutthroat summer collegiate or independent league market, during a pandemic no less.  Many clubs were not even given that choice, and there are some teams like the Burlington Bees or Clinton Lumberkings that were left scrambling to find new leagues after 100+ years as a minor league affiliate, with little to no warning.  Two of the teams that Erik and I visited on our Appy League trip in 2019 are now playing in an MLB-sponsored summer collegiate league under different names, and many of the teams I have seen over the years no longer exist.  This reorganization may be a huge relief to the teams that made the cut, but for the 40+ teams left out in the cold, it was a huge blow to their local communities and economies.  I title this article as an MiLB "overhaul," but "takeover" is probably a more appropriate word.

I think this is something we will look back on in 10 years and realize it was the right move.  The geographic alignments make sense and it also makes sense to cut out a lot of the unnecessary rounds of the draft and levels of development.  Besides that, I think some of these teams will be invited back when the league expands to 32 teams anyways.  But that doesn't mean that the way this was handled was the right way.  Rob Manfred has a long standing reputation of operating baseball as any other business and has no regard for maintaining any aspect of tradition in lieu of efficiency and profitability.  He knows that making the 30 MLB owners money hand over fist is going to keep him in power for years to come, but at some point he will have to come to reckon with and understand the long-term effects his assault on the game will have on fans and its popularity, which ultimately effects what he holds most dear - the bottom line.

PS - Happy Pitchers & Catchers Day!

Tour 2021

This is normally the time of year when I am the most excited for the baseball season.  Winter is in its coldest and darkest days and I'm eager to be outside.  Spring training schedules are typically set by now and reporting dates are right around the corner.  And in most years by this time, Erik and I have a framework for our trip for the year.  But we are now 10 months into a pandemic that seems to be plateauing but still with no end in sight.  Commissioner Manfred and the 30 MLB teams might be saying all the right things and planning on playing a full season, but even if by some miracle that ends up being true, a day at the ballpark in 2021 still stands to be far from what we would consider "normal."  I recently heard somebody put this into words perfectly: 2021 will be the same as 2020, only with hope.  Not to diminish the excitement or significance of this in any way, but on top of all that, my wife and I are expecting our second child in May.  So for all of these reasons, I can't say with any certainty what Erik and I will be doing this year, if anything.

We remain committed to attempting some sort of trip as we have not seen each other in person in over a year, but we might have to get creative on what it actually is and it's all going to depend on the vaccination rollouts.  I can't imagine going two entire seasons without baseball, but we both have to be safe about it as well.  The absolute best case scenario and #1 goal is to do our planned trip from last year which was the new Rangers ballpark, and if that happened it would probably be late summer when we are both hopefully immunized.  If the vaccinations for us slide out into fall, our backup plans we have discussed could be going back to Cooperstown, or to the Arizona Fall League to actually watch live baseball!

I've come to terms with the fact that attending a game at what will soon be known as American Family Field is increasingly unlikely for me this year.  It's really sad, both because I love the Brewers, and because we bought a house literally within walking distance of the ballpark in Fall 2019.  It's depressing that we could be potentially spending two full summers in this house without going to the ballpark.  But I do feel confident that I will get to a ballgame in some form somewhere this year.  I would feel comfortable in the open air berms of a Northwoods League or minor league game, or the aforementioned AFL late in the year.  So I do still hope to add some new ballparks to my list in some capacity.  It will be weird being in a crowd again whenever that is, but I also didn't realize how much I missed human interaction until this all started.

Stay tuned, but until then, 69 days to [maybe] Opening Day!

MLB Elevates Negro Leagues to Major League status

It would be a gross understatement to say that 2020 has been a year we'd all like to soon forget, and for purposes of this blog, the sport of baseball is not exempt from that.  First and foremost, Erik and I had our Tour 2020 trip cancelled and I did not see a single game in person this year for maybe the first time since I was in kindergarten.  I would also argue that MLB and the players union handled the pandemic worse than any other sport.  Justin Turner showing zero regard for human life and running onto the field like an idiot to celebrate with teammates while knowingly being infected with Covid pretty much sums up the season in one moment.  The long-rumored MiLB overhaul and trimming was also finally announced a few weeks ago.  Even though this was anticipated, it was still a sting to over 40 minor league communities throughout the country, and I certainly plan on writing a post on it after all of the dust settles.  But to close out this disaster of a year, I choose to reflect on the one positive story to happen in baseball this year: Major League Baseball elevating the Negro Leagues to Major League status.

I will admit that my immediate reaction - and I'm sure a lot of baseball and statistics fans reacted the same way - was what will happen to all of our hallowed records?  Would Josh Gibson's fabled 800-homer career move him past Barry Bonds as the homerun king?  Would there be a player that would finally approach the long standing games played or single season batting average records?  Where would this put Satchel Page among the all-time greatest pitchers?  Selfishly my first reaction was to yet again be angry with Rob Manfred unnecessarily throwing a wrench in baseball tradition.  But after I thought about it some more, it is so clear and obvious that this is not only the right thing to do, but long overdue, and I was more than a little ashamed with myself.  If MLB can include statistics from the Federal League and several other 19th century leagues, then there is no reason that the Negro Leagues should not be included.  It was not any of these players fault that they were relegated to the Negro Leagues instead of deservedly playing in the "major leagues."  Simply because of the color of their skin, we will never know where some of the all-time great Negro Leaguers would stack up against their white peers had they played together, but they can now at least be compared statistically.

As a part of this announcement, all of the stats from what historians have determined to be the major-league Negro equivalent leagues and games, which amounts to a total of six leagues between the years of 1920-1948, will now be included with MLB historical statistics.  This announcement also coincides with MLB's planned 100th Anniversary celebration and recognition of the Negro Leagues, which is probably not a coincidence.  For those of you hoping that Hank Aaron or Josh Gibson would now surpass Barry Bonds as the career homerun leader, Aaron played for the Indianapolis Clowns in 1952 which is after the 1948 cutoff date, and only 238 of Gibson's homeruns were deemed to be "official."  The vast majority of his homeruns, which some legends put at over 800 or even 1,000 in total, were hit in exhibition or "barnstorming" type games.  The Negro Leagues were also considerably shorter seasons than Major League seasons, which has a dramatic effect on career total accumulations and is just another unfortunate reality of all this.

As Buster Olney says to close out every Baseball Tonight podcast, "hate and inequality based on skin color is something we must fight against every day."  Nothing can ever undo the injustices of a century ago, 50 years ago, or even today, but there are always steps we can take in the right direction towards a positive change, and this move by MLB is one of them.

2020 MLB Postseason

When the 2020 season schedule was finally announced and along with it an expansion to 16 of 30 teams advancing to the playoffs, I remember my immediate reaction was that it was likely a sub-.500 team would make the postseason this year.  Sure enough, the Astros and Brewers both made the field of 16 with 29-31 records, and in this oddest of years they will always be remembered as the worst teams to make the playoffs of all-time.  That being said, it is 2020 and anything can happen.  Even a team like the Brewers - who had one of their 5 worst offensive seasons in club history, did not have a winning record for one day all season, and who has one healthy competent starter remaining - has a chance to win in a 3-game Wild Card series.  It will basically be Brandon Woodruff and Devon Williams against one of the greatest teams ever assembled starting on Wednesday night, when they fly to Los Angeles to take on the Dodgers.

It also seems only fitting that in a year where almost nothing is predictable, that I had my most successful year of preseason playoff picks by guessing 14 of the 16 teams correctly.

PLAYOFFS START 9/29/2020

NL Wild Card Round:

#8 Brewers v. #1 Dodgers

#7 Reds v. #2 Braves

#6 Marlins v. #3 Cubs

#5 Cardinals v. #4 Padres

AL Wild Card Round:

#8 Blue Jays v. #1 Rays

#7 White Sox v. #2 Athletics

#6 Astros v. # 3 Twins

#5 Yankees v. #4 Indians

World Series Prediction:  Twins defeat Padres in 7

Rooting for:  Twins v. Brewers

Preseason Predictions:

#1 Dodgers

#2 Braves

#3 Cubs

#4 Mets

#5 Reds

#6 Padres

#7 Nationals

#8 Brewers

#1 Yankees

#2 Twins

#3 Athletics

#4 Rays

#5 White Sox

#6 Astros

#7 Indians

#8 Blue Jays

Dodgers over Athletics

Usually this is one of my final posts of the year in which I also report how many total ballgames Erik and I attended.  Sadly, that number is a big fat zero for both of us this year.  We are both really hoping that fans are allowed into stadiums next year, and particularly that we can make it to Texas next year to see the new Rangers park.  But we are now 6 months into this pandemic with things seemingly getting worse and not better, so who knows where our country will be next April.  In fact, even as I write this, I learned today that my daughter may have been exposed to Covid and we will all have to get tested.  There are still things more important than baseball, but if this weird season has taught me anything, it's that I needed the distraction far more than I realized.

Ballpark Rankings Update

Happy Opening Day!!!  I never thought I would be saying that in this dumpster fire of a year, but here we are, about 3 hours away from first pitch on the season.  Seeing as there is nearly a zero chance I make it to any games this year, I thought today was as good a time as any to present my updated ballpark rankings.  My ballpark count now stands at 146 total, which includes 39 new ballparks attended since my last update in 2012.  For purposes of these rankings, I am only including ballparks I have been to, and I have not factored in any renovations that I have not yet seen in person (for instance I have not been to Wrigley Field since all of the renovations have been completed).  And hopefully this is the first and last time you will ever see me post stadium rankings with less than 30 MLB stadiums - damn Coronavirus!  I hate to plug a website whose editor is a huge asshole, but if you are interested in seeing a more comprehensive list, you can visit Ballpark Digest as their annual rankings are currently ongoing.

MLB - subjective rankings [previous ranking]
1.  PNC Park, Pittsburgh [1]
2.  Target Field, Minneapolis [2]
3.  T-Mobile Park, Seattle [3]
4.  Fenway Park, Boston [4]
5.  Camden Yards, Baltimore [5]
6.  Truist Park, Atlanta [NR]
7.  Comerica Park, Detroit [6]
8.  Citi Field, New York [7]
9.  Oracle Park, San Francisco [8]
10.  Coors Field, Denver [9]
11.  Kauffman Stadium, Kansas City [13]
12.  Progressive Field, Cleveland [11]
13.  Great American Ballpark, Cincinnati [10]
14.  Citizens Bank Park, Philadelphia [12]
15.  Miller Park, Milwaukee [14]
16.  PETCO Park, San Diego [15]
17.  Nationals Park, Washington [16]
18.  Rogers Centre, Toronto [17]
19.  Minute Maid Park, Houston [18]
20.  Marlins Park, Miami [20]
21.  Yankee Stadium II, New York [21]
22.  Wrigley Field, Chicago [25]
23.  Chase Field, Phoenix [23]
24.  Guaranteed Rate Field, Chicago [24]
25.  Dodger Stadium, Los Angeles [26]
26.  Busch Stadium III, St. Louis [27]
27.  Angel Stadium, Anaheim [28]
28.  Tropicana Field, Tampa [29]
29.  RingCentral Coliseum, Oakland [30]

MLB - objective rankings (based on 1-10 system in 14 categories)
1.  PNC Park (8.00) [7.93]
2.  Progressive Field (7.71) [7.64]
3.  Camden Yards (7.43)
4.  Target Field (7.36) [7.36]
5.  Truist Park (7.14)
6.  Coors Field (7.14)
7.  Miller Park (7.07) [7.00]
8.  Comerica Park (6.86)
9.  Oracle Park (6.86)
10.  Minute Maid Park (6.79)
11.  T-Mobile Park (6.71)
12.  Fenway Park (6.71)
13.  Citizens Bank Park (6.71)
14.  PETCO Park (6.57)
15.  Nationals Park (6.36)
16.  Busch Stadium III (6.36)
17.  Wrigley Field (6.21) [6.64]
18.  Kauffman Stadium (6.14) [5.29]
19.  Great American Ballpark (6.14) [5.29]
20.  Angel Stadium (6.07)
21.  Rogers Centre (6.00)
22.  Citi Field (5.86)
23.  Chase Field (5.86)
24.  Guaranteed Rate Field (5.64) [5.64]
25.  Yankee Stadium II (5.57)
26.  Tropicana Field (5.21)
27.  Marlins Park (4.71)
28.  Dodger Stadium (4.57) [4.57]
29.  RingCentral Coliseum (3.79)

Spring Training / GCL / AZL / AFL Top 5 (league)
1.  Camelback Ranch (Cactus) [1]
2.  Salt River Fields at Talking Stick (Cactus) [2]
3.  Hohokam Stadium (Cactus) [NR]
4.  Tempe Diablo Stadium (Cactus) [3]
5.  Goodyear Ballpark (Cactus) [4]

MiLB Top 10 (class)
1.  Parkview Field, Fort Wayne (A) [1]
2.  Louisville Slugger Field, Louisville (AAA) [2]
3.  Richmond County Bank Ballpark, New York (SS-A) [3]
4.  AutoZone Park, Memphis (AAA) [4]
5.  Modern Woodmen Park, Davenport (A) [5]
6.  Durham Bulls Athletic Park, Durham (AAA) [NR]
7.  Isotopes Park, Albuquerque (AAA) [6]
8.  Four Winds Field, South Bend (A) [NR]
9.  Truist Field, Charlotte (AAA) [NR]
10.  McCormick Field, Asheville (A) [NR]

MiLB by League Top 5 (minimum 5 visited in league)
New York-Penn League (SS-A)
1.  Richmond County Bank Ballpark
2.  Keyspan Park, New York
3.  Ripken Stadium, Aberdeen
4.  Joseph L. Bruno Stadium, Troy
5.  Dutchess County Stadium, Fishkill NY

Midwest League (A)
1.  Parkview Field
2.  Modern Woodmen Park
3.  Four Winds Field
4.  Northwestern Medicine Field, Geneva IL

5.  Day Air Ballpark, Dayton

International League (AAA)
1.  Louisville Slugger Field
2.  Durham Bulls Athletic Park
3.  Truist Field
4.  Victory Field, Indianapolis
5.  Frontier Field, Rochester NY

Pacific Coast League (AAA)
1.  AutoZone Park
2.  Isotopes Park
3.  First Horizon Park, Nashville
4.  Bricktown Ballpark, Oklahoma City
5.  Principal Park, Des Moines

Independent / Amateur Top 5 (league)
1.  CHS Field, St. Paul (American) [NR]
2.  Haymarket Park, Lincoln (American) [1]
3.  Bosse Field, Evansville (Frontier) [2]
4.  GCS Ballpark, Sauget IL (Frontier) [NR]
5.  DuPage Medical Group Field, Joliet (Frontier) [3]

Independent by League Top 5 (minimum 5 visited in league)
American Association
1.  CHS Field
2.  Haymarket Park
3.  Impact Field, Rosemont IL
4.  Franklin Field, Franklin WI
5.  U.S. Steel Yard, Gary

Frontier League
1.  Bosse Field
2.  GCS Ballpark
3.  DuPage Medical Group Field
4.  Ozinga Field, Crestwood IL
5.  UC Health Stadium, Florence KY

NCAA / Summer Collegiate Top 5 (league/school)
1.  Warner Park, Madison (Northwoods) [1]
2.  Athletic Park, Wausau (Northwoods) [NR]
3.  TD Ameritrade Park, Omaha (College WS/Creighton) [NR]
4.  Carson Park, Eau Claire (Northwoods) [NR]
5.  Historic Grayson Stadium, Savannah (Coastal Plain) [formerly MiLB]

Summer Collegiate by League Top 5 (minimum 5 visited in league)
Northwoods League
1.  Warner Park
2.  Athletic Park
3.  Carson Park
4.  Kokomo Municipal Stadium, Kokomo IN
5.  Witter Field, Wisconsin Rapids

Ballpark Cities Top 20
1.  Portland, OR [ranked #1 after Tour 2007, but had no baseball team during 2012 update]
2.  Seattle, WA [1]
3.  Memphis, TN [2]
4.  Toronto, ON [3]
5.  Boston, MA [4]
6.  Montreal, QC [NR]
7.  Savannah, GA [5]
8.  Nashville, TN [NR]
9.  San Diego, CA [6]
10.  Milwaukee, WI [9]
11.  Cincinnati, OH [10]
12.  Minneapolis, MN [NR]
13.  Washington, DC [NR]
14.  Duluth, MN [7]
15.  Vancouver, BC [8]
16.  San Francisco, CA [NR]
17.  Asheville, NC [NR]
18.  New Orleans, LA [NR]
19.  Pittsburgh, PA [NR]
20.  Madison, WI [NR]

MLB Releases 2020 and 2021 Schedules in Same Week

While I and the entire baseball loving world have spent the last couple of weeks basking in the ray of hope that there will be a 2020 season, Major League Baseball and the major sports networks faced a extremely difficult task: put together an entirely new season schedule as quickly as possible.  Something that usually takes 6-12 months of planning now had to be turned around in matter of days, albeit about one-third of the size.  The updated 2020 schedule was released this week and as I mentioned in my last post, it features a 60-game schedule with teams playing entirely within their geographic divisions.  Opening Night on ESPN will feature the defending champion Nationals hosting the perennial favorite Yankees on July 23rd.  The Brewers will be opening their 2020 slate at Wrigley Field on Friday, July 24th with their home opener against St. Louis the following Friday.  I highly doubt that fans will at any point be allowed into games this season, and I doubt even more that I would feel comfortable enough to attend a game this year, but I now live a mile from the ballpark so you damn well better believe I will be there tailgating on Opening Day like I always am.

If you were caught up in the excitement of reviewing the 2020 schedule and were completely blindsided by the 2021 release, you were not alone.  MLB one-upped themselves by releasing next season's schedule at the earliest calendar date in history (historically it has been August or September).  It was certainly calculated to release the 2021 schedule this early in an effort to ride the high of excitement from fans now before they start losing them again during next year's CBA negotiations.  It did make me wonder how our shitshow government was able to release multiple coronavirus stimulus packages and MLB was able to release two schedules, both in a week span, but it took 4 months for the players union and owners to essentially agree to nothing.  It certainly does not bode well for the next couple of years.  But on the bright side, the Brewers open up the season next year against the Twins and that will be amazing!

Also on the bright side is that Erik and I are already able to start dreaming up our 2021 trip.  We are currently eyeing the 2nd weekend in April for a Tour 2020 Redux to see the Rangers and Astros, and we are both praying to the baseball gods that there is an available vaccine and the minor leagues still exist by then.

Baseball is Back, but at What Cost?

After nearly 3 months of negotiation between the players' union and owners with almost no progress, the union finally caved and agreed to a 60-game season beginning on July 23rd.  The commissioner gave the two sides a chance to work it out, and it has now gotten to the point in the calendar where he is essentially mandating the terms of the season based on their original March 26th proposal.  To put it simply, unless there is a catastrophic increase of positive COVID-19 cases or a players' strike in the next month - both of which are not out of the question - we will have a 2020 MLB season.

Some of the details:

• Players report to "camp" at their home ballparks on July 1 for a July 23 season start
• 60-game schedule will be divided into each team playing 40 games within their division and 20 games against their corresponding geographic division in the opposite league (i.e. NL Central will play the AL Central)
• Fans at the games will be left to the discretion of local governments
• Same 10-team playoff format
• Universal DH in both leagues and all extra innings will begin with a runner on 2nd base (do not be surprised to see these implemented full time in the 2022 CBA agreement, if there is one)
• 30 players allowed on active roster for first 15 games, then down to 26 for the final 2 months of the season.  Teams are allowed 60-player "taxi squads."
• Trade deadline August 31
  

One could reasonably make an argument siding with the players or with the owners and who is at fault here, and who if anybody has "won."  A lot of players are being viewed as stubborn when they have been offered repeated deals and have accepted nothing.  They have in essence forfeited every item they have negotiated for just for the right to file a grievance with the league's mandated season to demand full pay for the season, which ESPN's Buster Olney accurately described being the same as somebody relying on winning the lottery to pay their bills.  But it is the players taking almost all of the risk here, and there will be many players with little to play for entering free agency, or perhaps having already been advanced the majority of their salary.  They may have agreed to the 67-page safety protocol, but nothing in that protocol is a 100% guarantee that a player will not contract the virus.  There have already been numerous positive tests reported throughout the league as players start returning to their facilities.  It is also not the players fault that their respective billionaire team owners do not have the liquid cash to pay them because of the lack of stadium revenue.  At the end of the day this is their job, they all have contracts, and they expect to be paid.  

It has been the owners who have historically benefited more from labor agreements, and it has been the owners who might be perceived as the most greedy out of all this, but it is the players who dug in their heels at the wrong time and ended up losing at a time when they could have had months of being the only sport on television.  Their logic all along has been to not give an inch entering into the next CBA negotiation in 2021, but during this volatile time in our country, this was the wrong time and the wrong way to stand their ground.  If these two sides do not immediately get back to the negotiating table and start making progress for 2021, I would not be surprised if this costs Tony Clark and Rob Manfred their jobs.  I love baseball, but this has all been disgusting, so much to the point that I am not nearly as excited about this season as I should be.  I should be thrilled to see what Craig Counsell can do in a shortened season and expanded roster, but all I can think about is how we are likely to go through this all again in 18 months.

Baseball Returns to Korea; is the US Next?

(image courtesy of ESPN Press Room)

After baseball returned to Taiwan on April 11th to little fanfare outside of the United States, I was shocked.  I thought for sure that the first major professional sport in the world resuming competitive play would be swallowed up by American networks that were starved for entertainment.  I even watched an entire episode of Sportscenter for the first time in maybe 15 years just to search for highlights.  The lack of coverage was a sign to me at the time that perhaps the appetite for sports was being dwarfed by growing concern and fear over the virus, and rightfully so.  It seemed like a distant fantasy that a region that is just across the sea from the original epicenter of the virus was playing baseball when our country (well, not the entire country - you stupid governors know who you are) was still in a lockdown and confirmed cases were growing more rapidly by the day.  

However, as one of the many things this virus has taught us, a lot can change in just a few weeks.  The Korean Baseball Organization began play last week and ESPN wasn't going to let a second opportunity pass by.  Broadcasts were immediately picked up by the network showing one live game every morning in the 10-team league, with ESPN's familiar faces giving the play-by-play remotely from their strategically manicured baseball-laden home offices.  I think the sudden enthusiasm for Korean baseball instead of Chinese baseball could be for a few reasons.  The KBO is viewed by scouts as comparable to a AA-level of competition, but still worlds ahead of China, so it is a better product to watch with a few familiar names from the states.  The Brewers have plucked former league MVPs Eric Thames and Josh Lindblom from the KBO in recent years, and former Brewers Tyler Saladino and Drew Gagnon now play in the league.  But as I eluded to in the last paragraph, I think the most important reason is the timing.  Think back to where we all were on April 11th.  Weather was still pretty terrible, unemployment was not yet at record levels, and people weren't walking around in masks.  Dr. Fauci was painting a challenging but optimistic picture on a daily basis.  There were a few summer events cancelled or postponed, but nothing alarming.  At that time Wisconsin's "safer-at-home" order was set to expire in a couple of weeks, and initial projections showed much of the country's death totals peaking around the end of April/early May.  The outlook was cautiously optimistic.  Fast forward to now and for a variety of factors I think it is pretty clear we are in this for the long haul.  As states aross the union start opening up their ecomomies, it provides relief but also a strong fear of the unknown reality in the post-covid world, and a major opportunity for the virus to continue spreading or return as idiots like my neighors have parties in the warm summer months.  This is really all a long way of me trying to say...I'm not expecting a return to normal life anytime soon, so if that means I have to watch Korean baseball on tape delay, then so be it.  ESPN conducted a recent survey that found 88% of sports fans will watch as much sports as they can on TV even if there is never one fan allowed in the stadium, and this is our reality now.

That brings us to today.  A third reason that the industry is all watching the KBO is that it is serving as a blueprint and "canary in the coal mine" to what Major League Baseball might look like this year.  MLB released a proposal yesterday that was crafted by the league and team owners and now moves to the MLBPA for approval.  Some of the highlights include an 82-game season starting 4th of July weekend, universal DH, geographical based scheduling with play in empty home ballparks, and an expanded playoff format.  That all sounds great on paper but there are two major things it does not address: player salaries and player safety.  I'm still optimistic that there will be some sort of season this year as it is in everybody's best interest to play, but I would be very surprised if this particular proposal is accepted, at least not without amendments.  Owners are arguing that they have already paid for months of player salaries when they were under no obligation to do so, but if I am a player and have no guarantee of salary and there is no plan in place for rapid testing, then it seems like a high risk/low reward situation for me.  Baseball is a unique sport in that it still makes the majority of its revenue from ticket sales, so with no fans, there is going to have to be a creative way to pay players during this season.  The elephant in the room is what would happen if a player does test positive?  I'm not sure what the Korean policy is, but I know the CPBL league has stated they would shut down immediately for a period of time if even so much as a greenskeeper tested positive.  

We all see baseball players as these unattainable figures that live in the clouds with their millions of dollars and should be able to deal with this situation for our amusement, but at the end of the day they are people too.  I think that this proposal is just step 1 of a long process to getting baseball back in our living rooms.  Until then, as long as I'm working from home I will be watching Korean bat flips every afternoon.

Tour 2020: A Lost Season

Today is a day I should have been writing a review of the new Globe Life Field in Arlington.  Erik and I were slated to have visited Houston, San Antonio, and Arlington from April 22-26 for our Tour 2020 trip, but honestly it didn't even really hit me until Saturday.  With all that is going on in the world right now, including entering Week 7 of Quarantine, I didn't take it as hard as I thought I would.  Baseball seems almost insignificant at this point, which is something I never thought I'd find myself writing in this space.  Sure, I still listen to baseball podcasts and I am still holding out hope for some sort of weird truncated season, but I get less and less hopeful by the day.  Following the final out of the 2019 season, I gritted through another Wisconsin winter and transitioned right into quarantine, which makes it hard for me to even remember what life was like when we could go to the ballpark.  I've amazed myself with how easily I have adjusted to this life and how shockingly normal things like Zoom calls and wearing a mask at the grocery store feel now.  Perhaps "easily" isn't the right word, but my family and I have certainly settled into a routine and are making the best of a situation that includes keeping a 2-year old occupied while worrying about our jobs, families, and friends constantly.

I think it is safe to say that our lives, our country, and the game of baseball will never be the same after this.  MLB's contract with Minor League Baseball is set to expire at the end of 2020, and their CBA with the player's union expires at the end of 2021, and the virus and the potential of a forfeited 2020 season will weigh heavily on negotiations on both of these fronts.  When MLB first floated the idea of restructuring the minor leagues, many in the industry thought this proposal would never see the light of day in its current form.  There are some things in it that make sense for all parties such as geographical realignment and setting a strict facility standards code, but contracting 42 teams while also placing the entire entity of Minor League Baseball under MLB ownership were staunchly opposed by MiLB.  Now with MiLB, which already has very fickle profit margins that rely almost entire on ticket revenue, in the midst of losing an entire season, they are willing to deal at whatever the cost to provide some financial stability.  This will likely mean that a lot of smaller market clubs will vanish, entire Rookie leagues will cease, and it also means that Erik and I were very lucky to visit the Appalachian League last year when we did.  An unintended side effect may also mean that MLB expansion could happen sooner rather than later.  Commissioner Manfred has always stated his intent of securing new stadiums for the A's and Rays as a must before any talk of expanding to 32 teams, but now MLB may find itself in a position where they need the money from the massive expansion franchise fees, as well as a place to put 8-10 displaced minor league clubs.  I also find it intersting that a players strike seemed like an impending reality just a few months ago, but now there is no talk of it.  The players at this point just want to play and to be paid.  I am hoping the silver lining of all of this is that it gives everyone more time to negotiate to prevent any sort of work stoppage.  The league, the players, nor the fans would be able to stomach the loss of two seasons in 3 years.

I am hoping the next time I write here will be to announce plans for the start of the 2020 season.  The Chinese and Korean leagues are in the process of beginning, and the NBA announced that they are opening up training facilities, so perhaps there is a glimmer of hope.  But one thing I do know is I will likely remain at 146 ballparks attended until 2021.

MLB Delays Season in Response to COVID-19 Pandemic

I had so many things I have been tracking during the offseason that I was excited to write about in the coming weeks.  The controversial Minor League Baseball contraction proposal.  The absurd MLB rule changes.  The Brewers 2020 season outlook, in brand new uniforms.  And at the top of the list was our Tour 2020 trip to Texas in 5 weeks.  All of those things are either on hold or gravely insignificant in the wake of what has been happening in our world over the last month.  With the country careening towards a complete shutdown by the hour, Major League Baseball and all other major sports announced last week that they would be suspending and/or cancelling their seasons in the wake of the Coronavirus' rapid spread to the United States.  As I am writing this, the Commissioner has updated his original delay from April 9th to May 16th.  That date falls in line with the CDC's latest recommendation to cancel all gatherings of over 50 people for at least 8 weeks.  Some sports like basketball and college baseball are extending those delays out even further, and if we're being realistic I think MLB will end up doing the same.

Baseball is way down on the list of priorities at a time like this.  I worry about Erik and my older retired parents getting sick, I worry about my 2-year old daughter getting sick and lacking the structure of daycare, and I worry about the disease spreading into our suburban and rural communities that do not have the capacity to handle such an outbreak.  I worry about my job and my wife's job, both of which are very dependent on the economy.  I think a lot about how Milwaukee's local businesses and community are going to survive with months of uncertainty.  But through all sorts of tough times in our lives, the one thing we've always had as a society is each other, and as a part of that, sports and entertainment.  Even that is now taken away, as a large contingent of our country is self-quarantining.  And so, however insignificant it might seem, I worry about the social ramifications of this pandemic.  I'm sure that we will get through this as a country like we do with everything, but with so much uncertainty it is hard to see the light at the end of the tunnel.

Selfishly I wish that I was reporting on something happy like Opening Day, and I will admit that I am upset every day by the fact that Erik and I may not get to go on a ball trip this year.  The best I can do right now is take time to work on my relationships and to be present for my family and friends, whether that is cooped up in a house or via text thousands of miles away.  With everything in my life I have had to cope with, baseball has always been a constant for me, but now I know I will have to find out a lot about myself and grow stronger as a husband and father.  Frankly I have no choice.  In a few months I hope to be reporting on the 2020 season, and looking back at a dark time during which I made incredible personal strides, and realized there were more important things than a game.

Tour 2020

(rendering credit: HKS)

It has been an active offseason, both for me personally and in the league.  My family and I moved into a new house in late September and also found out we were going to be an aunt and uncle once again.  Our daughter took one last free plane ride to Minnesota for Christmas before turning 2 last week.  Around baseball, the Yankees have signed about a billion dollars worth of players and left the last few slow offseasons lying in the dust.  The Brewers unveiled brand new uniforms and logos for their 50th anniversary season.  Rob Manfred also continued his unapologetic assault on baseball by introducing two more controversial measures at the minor league level: a full scale contraction and introduction of "robo-umps."  Look for more detailed editorials from me on these issues as the season progresses, but for now I want to talk about our first Tour trip of the new decade: the new Texas Rangers ballpark.

Globe Life Field will be the first new MLB park to open since Suntrust Park in 2017, and officially opens for business in a little over two months to host a - you guessed it - country music concert.  Erik and I have learned our lessons from our Miami and Atlanta trips in the dead of summer, and are planning on visiting Texas in April in hopes of some nicer weather.  The stifling heat is actually a major reason the Rangers are moving into a new stadium after just 26 seasons at Globe Life Park in Arlington.  The new stadium will feature a much-needed retractable roof, giving it an aesthetic that looks like a sort of mesh between their old park and the Astros' park.  Speaking of Minute Maid Park, as long as we have to go to Texas, we'd like to get to an Astros game as well.  There have been a fair number of renovations since our last visit during the O.G. Tour, including the removal of Tal's Hill in center field.  In true Tour fashion, I'm sure we will also be jamming as much minor league baseball and breweries as possible into this trip as well.  Stay tuned for more as the season starts.

Outside of our main trip, I never did make it to the new Green Bay Northwoods League stadium last year, so that is at the top of my list.  Megan, Molly, and I are also planning to visit Erik's new house in The Hampsh' this summer, and we would love to go see a game in Pawtucket while we're there, for the final season of historic McCoy Stadium.  Another trip that may be a long shot is attending the Field of Dreams Game in August.  I still have several friends in Iowa from when I worked there, including one who is a huge White Sox fan and has family in Dyersville.  So, if by some miracle we manage to swipe tickets to the 8,000 capacity game for less than a mortgage payment, we'll do it.

Pitchers & Catchers report in just 40 days, and as always, Go Brewers!!!