On Tuesday 9 March 2010 a book was published titled:
The Baseball Fan’s Bucket List: 162 Things You Must Do, See, Get, and Experience Before You Die, by Robert Santelli and Jenna Santelli. The book’s table of contents lists all 162 items per the authors’ ranking. I have taken that list and organized it into twelve categories, which I find easier to consider when dealing with the list. I will be presenting each category alphabetically over the course of the 2011 baseball season. The number to the left of each item is its position on the Santellis’ list. Items in red would be of particular interest to Red Sox fans. Today’s category number twelve out of twelve is:
TRIPS
1 Take A Baseball Road TripThis is my idea of how I would do a baseball road trip if I had a whole season in which to do it. Start in Spring Training and spend about ten days in Arizona seeing games around the Cactus League. Then take the next ten days to travel across the country and see any baseball and non-baseball related sites along the route to Florida and the Grapefruit League. Spend the end of Spring Training seeing Grapefruit League games, especially
Red Sox games. Since I would be in Florida at the start of the regular season, I would see the Tampa Bay Rays and the Florida Marlins play and then head north to see the Baltimore Orioles and the Washington Nationals. The plan would be to visit at least five teams each month during the season, therefore visiting all thirty teams by the end of the regular season. Ideally, I would be able to arrange the travel so that a number of the teams I visit would be
playing the Red Sox on that day. And of course, along the way see as many baseball sites as possible (and other non-baseball attractions).
20 Visit Rickwood Field Rickwood Field, located in Birmingham, Alabama, is the oldest surviving professional baseball park in the United States. It was built for the Birmingham Barons in 1910 by industrialist and team-owner Rick Woodward and has served as the home park for the Birmingham Barons and the Birmingham Black Barons of the Negro Leagues. Though the Barons have moved their home games to the suburbs, Rickwood Field has been preserved and is undergoing gradual restoration as a "working museum" where baseball's history can be experienced. Rickwood Field is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. – Wikipedia.org
Rickwood Field1137 Second Avenue West
Birmingham, AL 35204
David Brewer
david@rickwood.com
205.458.8161
1.800.rickwood
Park Hours:
Monday through Friday, 8:00am-5:00pm
Check event schedule for expanded hours.
70 Visit Green-Wood Cemetery Green-Wood is 478 spectacular acres of hills, valleys, glacial ponds and paths, throughout which exists one of the largest outdoor collections of 19th- and 20th-century statuary and mausoleums. Four seasons of beauty from century-and-a-half-old trees offer a peaceful oasis to visitors, as well as its 560,000 permanent residents, including Leonard Bernstein, Boss Tweed, Charles Ebbets, Jean-Michel Basquiat, Louis Comfort Tiffany, Horace Greeley, Civil War generals, baseball legends, politicians, artists, entertainers and inventors. – official website
The Greenwood Historic Fund &
The Green-Wood Cemetery500 25th Street
Brooklyn, NY 11232
Fax: 718-788-1101
info@greenwoodcemetery.org
Our main entrance at Fifth Avenue and 25th street is open from 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM seven days a week, with extended hours in the summer.
77 Visit The Field Of Dreams Movie Site Is this Heaven? No, it's Iowa. A place of fertile soil, traditional values and simple pleasure. And in Dyersville, Iowa, at the century-old Lansing family farm with its quaint, and oh so recognizable house, baseball still ranks as a favorite pastime for all ages. What better place to carve a baseball diamond from a corn field and to make a movie about pursuing one's dream, no matter how much effort it takes? – official website
Field of Dreams Movie Site28995 Lansing Road
Dyersville, Iowa 52040
Phone Toll-Free 1-888-875-8404
E-mail info@fodmoviesite.com
Open April 1st through November 30th
Hours of Operation:
9:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.
Free admission. Souvenirs are available
93 Visit Dedeaux Field And The USC Baseball Hall Of Fame With dimensions of 335 feet down the right and left field lines, 365 in the right field power alleys and 375 to the left field power alleys, and 395 to straightaway center, Dedeaux Field is a natural grass field and seats more than 1,800. The outfield fences stand 10 feet high. The lighting is comparable to most professional baseball fields (with footcandle power of 82 in the infield and 71 in the outfield). – official website
Just minutes away from downtown Los Angeles,
the field is located on the northwest corner of the USC campus near the intersection of Jefferson and Vermont streets.
141 Visit The Barnstable Bat Company In 1992, the Barnstable Bat Company began making wooden bats. Our goal was to make a high quality product. Our goals and ideals have not changed. By 1994, Barnstable Bats were a common sight on Cape League baseball fields. The league batting champion, Jon Petke, used Barnstable Bats to attain his .379 batting average. During the 1996 Major League Baseball season, Oakland A's designated hitter, Geronimo Berroa, hit 31 of his 37 home runs with Barnstable bats. Players on the Twins, Royals and Red Sox also used Barnstable Bats in game play. Barnstable Bats were used in Major League Baseball for 9 years. – official website
Barnstable Bat 40 Pleasant Pines Ave. Centerville, MA 02632 Local (508)362-8046
Toll Free (888) 549-8046
Fax: (508) 362-3983
Business Hours: Monday-Friday 10am-4pm Saturday - Varied hours-Please call ahead. Sunday - Closed
email: info@barnstablebat.com
142 Take A Baseball Tour Of JapanI think this would be a wonderful trip to see how the game of baseball is approached in Japan, as well as see other cultural aspects of the nation.
149 Visit The Gravesite Of Alexander Joy Cartwright, Jr.Founded in 1844, Oahu Cemetery is Hawaii's oldest public graveyard. It was established at the height of the whaling era to meet the burial needs of Honolulu's growing foreign population, particularly whalers and sailors who were "put out" at this busy port due to lingering illnesses or bad behavior aboard ship. Over the years, Oahu Cemetery has become the permanent residence of hundreds of prominent history makers, including the so-called "Father" of American baseball, Alexander J. Cartwright. – official website
Oahu Cemetery2162 Nuuanu Avenue • Honolulu, HI 96817
PHONE: (808) 538-1538 / FAX: (808) 538-1490
EMAIL: info@oahucemetery.org
WEBSITE: www.OahuCemetery.org
156 Visit George M. Steinbrenner Field Opened in 1996, George M. Steinbrenner Field is the Spring home of the New York Yankees, the full-time home of the Tampa Yankees (Single-A affiliate) and host to numerous other special events including concerts (i.e. Rod Stewart, Natalie Merchant, Moody Blues, Sting, Chicago, etc.), Florida State High School Championships, Preliminary Olympic Baseball and visits from President George W. Bush. – official website
One Steinbrenner Drive
Tampa, FL 33614
Phone: (813)673-3055
Fax: (813)673-3174
159 Visit Bowman Field Bowman Field is a minor league baseball stadium in Williamsport, Pennsylvania, in the United States. It is home to the Williamsport Crosscutters of the New York - Penn League. Official seating capacity is 4,200. Bowman Field is the second oldest ballpark in minor league baseball, behind Centennial Field, home of the Vermont Lake Monsters in Burlington, Vermont. It is also the home field for the Wildcats of the Pennsylvania College of Technology. – Wikipedia.org
Historic Bowman Field is located at;
1700 W. Fourth St., Williamsport, PA 17701
162 Visit Elysian Fields Elysian Fields in Hoboken, New Jersey is believed to be the site of the first organized baseball game, giving Hoboken a strong claim to be the birthplace of baseball. In 1845, Knickerbocker Club of New York City began using Elysian Fields in Hoboken to play baseball due to the lack of suitable grounds across the Hudson River in Manhattan. On June 19, 1846, the Knickerbockers led by Alexander Cartwright played the New York Nine on these grounds in the first organized game between two clubs. – Wikipedia.org
Images:
Left: Dedeaux Field from the website grfx.cstv.com
Center: Elysian Fields from the website xroads.virginia.edu
Right: Green-Wood Cemetery from the website green-wood.com
