Around the World in 60 Days
Earlier this summer, from April into June, Toronto-based blogger Navin Vaswani embarked on one hell of a road trip; or as he called it, The Baseball Road Trip of a Lifetime.
It’s hard to imagine any baseball fan would disagree.
In just under two months, Vaswani visited all 30 Major League ballparks. That’s a rate of visiting a new city every other day. Even under the best of circumstances, that’s a long trip.
But when you’re doing it on deadline, writing a column detailing each and every stop for a major Canadian newspaper, riding Greyhound buses and hanging around downtowns in the small hours of the evening, never stopping for more than a day, well, that comes awful close to masochistic.
Yet it was worth every minute spent on the bus when you’re as big a baseball fan as Vaswani.
The idea for the trip came while Vaswani was on another excursion. In mid-January of this year, he left his day job and took off to India, planning to spend five months in the country. But after a couple of months – after reading about Joe Posnanski’s The Soul of Baseball, a book where the author took a baseball road trip with Buck O’Neil – he got the idea for a trip of his own.
“I thought a baseball road trip would be neat, and would let me travel and write at the same time,” explained Vaswani.
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The timing was right too: a new season was about to start and he still had three months of travel time left. The Baseball Road Trip of a Lifetime was born.
After hatching his idea, Vaswani reached out all over the Canadian sports media landscape: the Toronto Star, TSN, the National Post, and Rogers Sportsnet. Toronto’s Globe and Mail newspaper showed the most interest; he agreed to write a blog chronicling his trip on their website.
The big trip kicked off on April 12, at the Blue Jays home opener against the White Sox and wrapped up on June 6 with the LA Angels visiting in Seattle. In all, he traveled over 10,000 miles – and he spent most of it traveling on buses.
“Traveling much of North America by bus was an interesting experience, to say the least,” Vaswani said. “I can’t say I was ever really worried much.”
Even luckier for the baseball fan: no rained out games.
When it comes to the best ballparks, Vaswani cites the usual suspects: Dodger Stadium, Wrigley Field and Fenway Park. However, he saved his highest praise for Pittsburgh’s PNC Park.
“Everyone says good things about PNC Park, and it lives up to its hype,” said Vaswani. “It’s beautiful watching a game out there and seeing downtown Pittsburgh in the backgroundMake sure to stop at Primanti Brothers for one crazy sandwich.”
He also raved about Kansas City’s Kauffman Stadium and called it both underrated and fantastic.
“I’m excited, and hope to attend the All-Star Game down there in 2012,” he said.
The trip also gave Vaswani ideas for Toronto’s ballpark, which “has a lot to learn.” He thinks it’s high time for the Rogers Centre to undergo a facelift to improve the baseball experience.
“[They’re] not getting a new ballpark, so it’s important for Rogers to make what they’re giving [the fans] better,” he said. “And they can.”
His ideal changes range from changing the stadium’s name back to the SkyDome, to adding bleacher seats (“every ballpark needs them”), to erecting a statue of a player outside the stadium (he suggests either Joe Carter or Roberto Alomar).
The trip also gave Vaswani some experience in another important baseball avenue: the best food in the majors.
“Kansas City’s barbecue really hit the spot; it’s a must-try.”
He also added that if you’re ever in Seattle or San Francisco, you should make sure to try the garlic fries.
It’s kind of a surprise that after nearly two months of living out of a bag, riding buses and seeing a game almost every day, Vaswani didn’t overdose on baseball. Indeed, he found that his love for the sport had only grown.
“I’ve come home more in love with baseball than I’ve ever been. It’s a great game. I’d argue that it is probably the greatest game of them all.”
And as for trip itself, he has no regrets, hectic pace and all.
“I did it for far too little money, but I’d probably do it again for the same amount,” he said.
“It was an experience I wouldn’t trade for anything.”
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