The Beginning Of Ten Nights In September

I never like it when football season starts. The rest of the country can seemingly turn its attention on a dime, and I can't. It's not that I don't enjoy football, because I do, but I've never been able to turn off baseball. Maybe some people revel in the beginning of Fall because they are able to invest time in both sports, but I'm not one of them. As a result, by the time the baseball season ends, I feel like I'm behind.



This September is especially different, however, as tomorrow my father and I begin a road trip that will cover ten nights, nine games and seven baseball stadiums. (Unless it rains.) Depending on which hotels have internet access, I'll be posting something a few times a week -- something with a literary bent from each city, I hope.

I won't be able to follow the Cubs much at all for the next two weeks. After the Cubs' last road trip, a tiny part of me wonders if there isn't still a flicker of hope for this season (another 8 out of 10...) and whether I will be missing the most remarkable comeback since the Cubs were on the other side of the race with the Mets in '69. Of course, it's only a Wild Card race, plus common sense dictates that we should not get our hopes up, and I haven't.

(Still, if anyone is watching, and is willing to put up some Game Notes in the forum or send me observations via e-mail, I would appreciate it. It would let me get a sense of what's happening with the team, which reading the beat writers rarely accomplishes as well as getting intelligent fan's impressions.)

Anyway, the trip schedule is as follows:

• Tuesday 9/13, Oakland at Cleveland, 7:05 ET.


• Wednesday 9/14, Atlanta at Philadelphia, 7:05 ET.


• Thursday 9/15, Atlanta at Philadelphia, 7:05 ET.


• Friday 9/16, Tampa Bay at Baltimore, 7:35 ET.


• Saturday 9/17, Tampa Bay at Baltimore, 4:35 ET.


• Sunday 9/18, Atlanta at New York Mets, 1:10 ET.


• Monday 9/19, Baltimore at New York Yankees, 7:05 ET.


• Tuesday 9/20, Houston at Pittsburgh, 7:05 ET.


• Thursday 9/22, Minnesota at Chicago White Sox, 7:05 CST.

At the end of this, my father will have been to 43 MLB stadiums, and I will have been to 23 or 24. Some of mine were in years when I was so young that I can't remember for sure, and I have to check. As for my dad, he'll have been to all but 4 stadiums currently in use, although next season with Busch Stadium the sequel it will be up to 5. All of this is just to say that when I write, it won't be fleeting impressions.

If you'll enjoy reading about whatever comes up, swing on by. I'll be trying to work in historical and contextual angles, some stories, and impressions of what we see. Then, after a wedding near Chicago, I'll return home to finish out the season with the Cubs for the final week, including a report from the final game at Minute Maid park in Houston.