He Knew He Was Right

Caps! Happy National Hat Day to my ballcap collecting friends! It was August 28, 1993. That's when the idea of collecting ballcaps first hit. The New York Yankees were at the Cleveland Indians, and I was there with Larry, who of course is one of my very best friends. We had gone to many sporting events together, and even met on the road at a game or two, but we took this road trip together shortly before his wedding, as he wanted to join one of my ballpark chasing trips. We went to two games at the old Cleveland Municipal Stadium, and the Yankees split, but what stands out more than anything was Larry buying an Indians cap, saying he thought it would be cool to pick up a hat at each stadium he visited.  I thought that was a great idea on one hand, but I was snobbish enough on the other to not want a hat of any team but the ones for which I rooted. Still, I knew that could make for a great collection if pursued. As I had been to seven or eight stadiums at that point, though, that no...

A snapshot of the current AAA venues where I've seen a game. The funny thing about AAA ballparks is I can't think of a single one I didn't really like. Well, at least not after a renovation gave me a second chance to form a first impression. Nor until attendance at unseasonably cold or damp April and May games in some of the northeast stadiums was remedied with second and third games at them in the summer months, rectifying any lukewarm perceptions I may have previously had. Yes, it may have taken a couple of ballgames at them, but each AAA ballpark left me with a very favorable impression. Unlike MLB ballparks, where my journey to see them all started 20 years earlier, my AAA chase is a more recent undertaking. With 5/6 of the AAA ballparks now under my belt, I thought I'd take a look back at the journey so far. Not long after moving up to the Hudson Valley in the mid 2000s, my MiLB ballpark chasing got underway, much like a ballplayer's journey might progress, fro...

Atop the Tri-State Peak in Cumberland Gap, where Kentucky, Tennessee and Virginia meet Well, let's just cut to the chase. Five more state lines were traversed in 2021 and since I previously posted here. Two were crossed on my trip down to the Smokies in May, one when I went to the Cumberland Gap NHS and made it to the Tri-State Peak, and a second when I took a detour south to knock off NC–GA. Two more were crossed when I pushed a September road trip a bit farther north than prudence might dictate, but I did score AR–MO (an old near miss) and MO–OK. Finally, I got the AZ–CA monkey off my back in November, crossing that one on I-10 plus I-8 for good measure. Here's the list as of this January 9, 2022 posting (with the up-to-date list and details toward the end of this post): Alabama Florida Alabama Georgia Alabama Mississippi   ✅ Alabama Tennessee   ✅ Arizona California   ✅ Arizona Colorado   ✅🥾 Arizona New Mexico   ✅🥾 Arizona Nevada   ✅ Arizona  Utah ...

When I posted this at the beginning of 2020, the pandemic hadn't cut into any travel plans and I hadn't really identified paths to getting to the last bunch of state border crossings I needed. However, after crossing a few more in the last year, being close but not too close to a few others I was missing, and especially talking to more folks interested in this idea, well, the quest has gained some traction. One of the things that remains both fun and frustrating about this venture is how recently it came into my consciousness. Decades of road tripping led me so close to some of these state borders I'm still missing. If I had any inkling this would be something I'd end up pursuing, at least another half dozen crossings would have been completed. But it's also a reason to go back to some of these areas, which works well with other travel goals. After all, I keep finding more things to do in many states—NPS sites, ballparks, breweries, etc.—so I know I'll be plann...