Dan Lipscomb Baseball Tour

Arlington 2026

2026-07-28T08:47:19.413-04:00

Despite the intense heat (102 degrees), the trip to Arlington and to see Globe Life Field and the home of the Texas Rangers, was one that will go down as one of the best...at least in my opinion. Unlike some of the more forgettable ones we've seen (Milwaukee, Arizona, Tampa) this one will be remembered as more of a palace more like Minute Maid in Houston and Marlins park in Miami.

Personally, this one ranks #1 on the dome list. While Minute Maid and Marlins Park are very nice, Globe Life easily topped those two. Not only is it massive, but the concourses are huge, there's more than enough places to find something to eat and drink, but there are plenty of places you can actually sit and eat instead of having to hold your food and stand behind people as you watch the game.

Let's talk about the brisket mac and cheese. On this trip, we went to the game on the day we flew into town so maybe we were all just overly starved for food by this point. But...they had a brisket mac and cheese that was fresh and hot and mouth-wateringly delicious. Very very high marks for this one. Later, we wanted to try the bacon-wrapped hot dog. Unfortunately, Fish was the only one able to sample it as the concession stand suddenly ran out of them after he got his. He gave it very high marks as well. I had a foot-long hot dog that was very good...but I really wanted that bacon-wrapped dog. Oh well.

The game was forgettable as most of them are these days. We just want to see the park, sample (assemble) the fare, and check off another park. We're getting pretty close to knocking them all out. Only a few more years!!

Now some pics...

Atlanta 2025

2025-07-22T13:05:00.001-04:00

Trip #25 of the DLBT was to Atlanta. They play baseball in the stadium despite the fact it's pretty hard to actually watch the games unless you are actually sitting IN YOUR SEAT. It's a nice looking stadium, but the sightlines are brutal. Perhaps the worst we've ever experienced. Mind you, the actual games at this point aren't the point. We never stay for full games anymore. The trip has evolved more into a chance for us to catch up with each other since we don't get to hang out much these days. Life has gotten in the way.

But...we still go early, try to watch batting practice, eat all the food, and watch *some* baseball. Truist Park does not allow you to do so if you are in line to get food or drink (and those lines are long) or just in general want to walk around and get different vantage points in the stadium. You have to be in a seat to be able to watch the game. It was unanimous that this was not one of our favorite parks.

Personally, the count is up to 32, and this one is well down my own list of favorite parks/experiences. But, checked another one off. 5 more to go for me (if you count the new A's park being built in Vegas).

Pics...

Houston 2024

2024-08-05T09:22:00.001-04:00

Four of us (Jason, Fish, Matt, Jeff) made the trip to Houston for Minute Maid Park. And we saw Johnson Space Center. And that's pretty much it. Oh we took this trip after seeing the Foo Fighters at GABP the night prior. Quick weekend!

Phoenix 2023

2024-08-05T09:19:00.003-04:00

Just pics to show we were there...

DLBT Resumes!!!

2022-08-02T14:24:00.001-04:00

Following a 2-year hiatus due to Covid, the DLBT finally resumed in 2022. It was pretty simple. We originally were just doing San Diego and Anaheim, but the Dodgers had one final afternoon game on a Wednesday so it worked out perfectly.

Wednesday: Nationals at Dodgers

The game started at 12:10 Pacific Time so our 7am flight to LAX allowed us to go straight from the airport to the stadium. And thankfully, everything worked out for us to do just that. It was a gorgeous day in a gorgeous setting as you'll see by these pics...

Game was over after the first inning as the Dodgers put up 6 in the bottom of the first. Couple Dodger Dogs and afternoon baseball beers were on the menu on this great day!

Thursday: Rangers at Angels

Easily the worst of the three stadiums we visited but Angel Stadium is perfectly fine. It was a perfect evening for baseball and we got to see Shohei Ohtani pitch (and hit). He allowed just 2 runs but the Angels couldn't muster any offense of their own (Ohtani went 0-4) and lost 2-0. More beers and Angel Dogs on the menu for this one as well. Pics...

Friday: Twins at Padres

Great park and a great crowd showed up for a Friday night beatdown. Padres rolled to a 10-1 win hitting 5 homers. And this is before they added Juan Soto at the trade deadline from the Nationals. Had to continue the trend of beers and dogs. The Friar Frank was delicious just like the Dodger Dog. The Angel Dog was solid but not on the level of the other two. Pics...

Saturday morning back to the airport and back to Cincy. 3 days 3 parks checked off. Ready for 2023!!

2020 Trip Canceled

2020-05-07T13:19:00.000-04:00

Well, they finally stopped us. After 21 consecutive years of the DLBT, the 2020 trip was canceled due to the coronavirus (COVID-19).

Divorces. Births. Family vacations to Antigua. "Going away" for 11 months or just one month. Anniversaries. Nothing had been able to keep us from taking our annual trip to a new ballpark(s) or city(cities).

But a global pandemic was able to do the trick. So we wait for 2021 and hopefully fans will be allowed to watch games in person. And if so, we will resume our tradition.

Miami 2019 (Marlins)

2020-02-11T13:31:00.002-05:00

Getting lazy with these posts. Miami, in short, was humid but fun. Our second trip where we flew. This one was a Sunday - Wednesday trip to accommodate the school calendar.

Some pics...

2018 Tropicana (Rays)

2019-03-02T09:03:00.001-05:00

Forgot to write this one up. But as you can expect, Tropicana is as nondescript as people say. It's a dump. No one wants to go there. I can't believe the Rays ever get any free agents to willingly play there. But, we crossed another one off the list.

We stayed in St. Pete which was actually really nice. The hotel we stayed in was fantastic. It was located on a busy corner where we parked our chairs and enjoyed the "scenery".

The most notable thing about this trip was it was the first time we'd ever flown for a trip (our 20th btw). Every other trip, be it Boston for 14 hours or Minneapolis for 12 hours, had been driven. Combined with the fact we just don't want to drive anymore and that we've seen pretty much every stadium within driving range we're going to have to make this more common.

Welp, that's about all there is to say about this trip. Oh, Fish jumped over a homeless guy.

Next year (well this year since I'm writing this up in March of 2019) is to Miami to see the cavernous Marlins Stadium minus Giancarlo Stanton, Christian Yelich, Marcell Ozuna, JT Realmuto, and just about every notable Marlin who has ever made any money playing for that franchise.

2017 NYC (Mets)

2017-08-09T10:12:00.000-04:00

Two years ago we got extremely lucky when we stayed in the Financial District of NYC on the southern tip of Manhattan. We had no idea it would be so cool and laid back. So we tried it again and again it was great. Sadly, and again due to some extremely wild circumstances of which I'll leave out of this post we were without Keith. It was Paul (who decided NYC > Antigua and re-joined us), Jason, Matt, Fish, Shane, and myself.

Thursday

Due to the 10-hour drive it was mostly a road day. But we made it to our hotel around 4:00 and had the rest of the day to chill in the courtyard, have some pops, and a lot of laughs. Unfortunately for some who will remain nameless, food was NOT high on our agenda and it came back to bite them

That does not look like a bed

Now I won't disclose who this is, but it rhymes with "Mason". So the trip was off to the races. Shane decided to fall down. Fish and Matt entered a stein holding contest in which they both "lost" but won the free beers they were holding

Fish "trying" to win the contest

Matt also giving his best effort

Friday

"Hey let's walk across the Brooklyn Bridge". Great idea!!! OK well it wasn't sweltering in New York but when you're baking in the sun for a while it seems a bit toasty. But we walked anyway and it was pretty cool and something we'd never done before so yeah another new experience.

Other tourists

Oh look, cars!

Yes, we walked across that

Following the bridge, we walked to Little Italy and had a good, albeit expensive, lunch. Then we meandered around the neighborhoods looking like total tourists.

After this it was off to Shea-errrrrr Citi Field in beautiful Queens/Flushing. If you have been to Shea Stadium in the past you know the place was hot garbage. I mean the last time we went we couldn't see the whole field from our seats. And not that we were blocked by pillars or columns, we were blocked by the roof over our heads. It was terrible.

Citi Field, however, is a palace. It's easily one of the best "new" parks we've been to. It's definitely nicer than the new Yankees Stadium. So we sampled the fare, watched some baseball, and left before the mad dash to the train.

Hey, it's Citi Field

View from our seats

The boys: Matt, Jeff, Shane, Fish, Jason, Paul

Saturday

Super low key. Took the Staten Island Ferry because, well, we had never done that before. We spent literally no time on the actual island. We got off the ferry and immediately went around the corner and boarded the ferry coming back to Manhattan.

After that, we had lunch at Shake Shack (another first!), visited Times Square, then hung out on a supposed "roof top" bar...which had a view of nothing. I think by this time we were done. We're getting old so we can't just go go go anymore. So sad.

Winding down, we had some BBQ back at the courtyard by the hotel and called it an early night due to the impending 10-hour return trip to Cincinnati.

And that's about it for the 2017 version of the DLBT.

Next year is our 20th trip and we're attempting to return to Boston for the first time since the very first ball trip...way back in 1999. Unbelievable!!

Note: I'm well aware this blog is not aesthetically the prettiest thing to look at. I'm aware it gets about 5 views per decade. It's more about writing down the details of the trip for us to look back upon down the road. And I'm cool with that. But hey, thanks for stopping by.

2016 D.C. (Nationals Park)

2016-08-10T09:20:00.000-04:00

The 2015 trip might have been the turning point of all trips. It was perfect. 2016 was probably the most laid back of all trips. Or perhaps the most laid back trip anyone can remember...which means the last 10 trips have been pretty crazy. We still packed in plenty of tourist-y things while in our nation's capital. And confirmed the ball trip as the four fastest days of this and every year.

Sadly, due to some unforeseen circumstances we were Farfsing-less this year. So it was just me (Jeff), Jason, Matt, Keith, Fish, and Shane. Still a great trip but we missed our guys.

Thursday
Facing an eight hour drive we again left at 6:00am to get ahead of traffic. Nothing major occurred during the trip. Well unless you count the time I had to spit my drink all over the window of the Popeye's we were eating. Since this is a PG rated site I have to withhold the exact reason why said drink was all over the window. Suffice to say our collective "IQs dropped a few points".

We arrived to our hotel (Embassy Suites) in time for their wonderful manager's reception. Free beer is always a good idea! Afterward, off to a local watering hole for frosty beverages and Fish decided to treat us to some karaoke (Ice Ice Baby).

(A very non-PG pic)...

(L to R) Keith, Matt, Jason, Shane, Fish with the flip off!

Friday
Obviously there are so many things to see in Washington D.C. so we set out to see some of the standards and perhaps a few new sites.

First stop was the Archives. Unfortunately you can't take pictures in here but seeing the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, and the Bill of Rights is something no one will ever forget. It's pretty cool to see the original documents.

Following the archives we set out to see the White House again. Even if you've seen it before, it's still cool to see each additional time.

Front of the White House


Back of the White House

Following lunch we made our way over to see Ford's Theatre for the first time (for most of us) and it was a pretty cool/sobering thing to see. Words can't do it justice so...

After that, we went to the National Portrait Gallery where, as you probably have guessed by now, there are portraits of important people in history including all of the Presidents.

Then it was on to Nationals Park i.e. the reason for the trip in the first place. A nice, new, clean ball park. Check another one off the list! See for yourself...

(L to R) Shane, Jeff, Keith, Matt, Jason, Fish

View from Section 105

Following the game was a trip back to Theismann's (yes, that Theismann) which was a bar/restaurant right next to our hotel in Alexandria. Nice place to get a drink and quiet enough to have a conversation. And the bartender gave Keith shit, which is always nice. Then we crashed.

Saturday
It was HOT from the get go. Sweltering heat into the 90s could have kept us inside for most of the day, but we had important things to do and see.

No matter how many times you go to Washington D.C. a trip to Arlington National Cemetery is a must. If you have any love and/or respect for our great country it's truly a must-see. And despite the heat we saw it.

Eternal Flame for President Kennedy

If you have not seen the changing of the guard at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier you must make a point sometime in your life to do so. It is incredible. Not a sound is made or spoken during this ritual because of the importance of the event and (thankfully) everyone respects its meaning.

(no words)

The Cemetery itself is incredibly impressive and obviously important. You could spend an entire day there searching for important grave sites if that's your thing. More awesome pictures.

Now comes probably the funniest moment of the trip. Keith got left behind. So here's the story. After we left Arlington we wanted to go back to the heart of D.C. to see some other places (Smithsonians and some monuments). Instead of taking one train all the way around (approx 10 stops) we decided to backtrack one stop then switch trains to go forward two stops. Apparently Keith didn't get the memo. So, when five of us got off at our stop, Keith was nowhere to be found. We quickly found him. Unfortunately it was too late for him to get off the train and join us so he was trapped and had to go to the next station. Sadly no one captured the look on his face, but you can imagine a horrified person in a strange city on a subway train separated from the rest of his friends. It was quite hilarious (you had to be there).

The good news is we all hopped on the next train that came no more than two minutes after the previous train left the station and caught up to him all in less than five minutes. Crisis averted. It could have been a lot worse considering we all had cell service down there. That's not always guaranteed. So we had our boy back and headed to the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum. Well, five of us went. Keith decided he liked being on his own and since he'd never seen the Capitol Building he walked down there and snapped some pics.

The Smithsonian was cool but crowded. I got a few pics but we were in and out of there in an hour.

Once back outside we had ice cream that was actually just the thing we needed to re-energize us to push on. There had been talk of getting out of the heat and going back to the hotel and putting our feet up. Instead we walked down to the World War II Memorial, the Lincoln Memorial, and the Vietnam Veterans Memorial. All very cool in their own right.

Unfortunately, some people just don't respect the memorials as you can see here...


Parents were present yet didn't care

The heat had finally beaten us down. So we returned to the hotel with no more separations on the train. Everyone showered then we returned to Theismann's for dinner and drinks (and some Olympics watching). Then shockingly we went back to the hotel to chill. No more drinks. No more debauchery. Are we old? It all just ended. No desperate attempt to hold onto the weekend. No nothing. It was really strange and different. And kinda nice.

Sunday
Return trip. 8 hours. Yuck. Still another great trip. Looking forward to next year where we'll hopefully check off another new park. Citi Field (Mets) and the new Braves park in Cobb County are the options right now. Hopefully one is in town on the weekend we all coordinate our schedules. And hopefully we'll be back at full strength with all 8 guys.

2015 New York (Yankee Stadium)

2015-08-11T15:46:00.003-04:00

The 2015 trip to New York City was perhaps the most enjoyable trip of the now 17 (17?!?!?!?!) we've taken. From the start it took on a different feel and definitely a departure from the past five. Maybe it was the craziness of New York City, maybe it was a coincidence. Guess we'll find out next year.

Thursday:
Despite leaving an hour earlier than normal (6:00am) we still didn't get into Manhattan until around 4:00pm. But once we arrived and checked into our tucked-in-the-corner hotel (see below. Yes it was squeezed in between two other buildings) in the heart of the Financial District, things picked up.

Typically Thursday nights are low-key and this one was really no different. The only major thing we did was visit the World Trade Center site and take in all of that. And there was a lot to it. Pictures can't do it justice but since this is a blog pictures are going to have to try.

Just seeing everything for the first time was pretty emotional. The last time we had been in NYC they were still in the clean up portion of the 9/11 tragedy so this was our first trip since the memorials were built and the new WTC towers were completed. They were still working on two of the new towers in fact. Maybe next time we go everything will be all done and we can visit the museum on site as well.

After this, we returned to our hotel area to eat/drink (Murphy's Pub), and act like free men again. What we found was the perfect little village one block over from our hotel. Filled with bars, restaurants, Insomniac Cookies and....Justino's Pizza, which we became very familiar with. It was a great night to start the trip. Hotel area village...

And the crew...

Friday:
Part of the fun of visiting new cities is being a tourist. NYC has tons to see no matter what your tastes are. From the obvious of the Statue of Liberty to art museums and parks you can find something entertaining. Four of us (Matt, Jason, Fish, Jeff) chose to visit Liberty Island and Ellis Island.

And some (Paul, Shane, Keith) chose to tour the city on foot (Chinatown, Little Italy, etc).

Following these separate trips, it was time to head up to the Bronx to take in a Yankees-Blue Jays game at "New" Yankee Stadium. We had been to the original twice (1999 and 2004) but we'd yet made it to the new park. It was a LOT different but still had that same New York City buzz throughout a disappointingly boring game that the Jays won 2-1 in 10 innings.

It was still great to be able to check off another stadium even though the game wasn't the best (stupid pitchers' duels!!).

Following the game we decided to venture up to Times Square because aside from the Vegas strip there's nothing like Times Square all lit up. It was predictably a mad house but a lot of fun with a ton of things to see. And we also saw some other cool things on the way back to the train.

Oh yeah, we ended the night back at Justino's for more pizza!

Saturday:
Saturday was pretty much a "whatever" day. Meaning we had no set schedule. We had nowhere to be. And we just roamed the city. It was glorious. As had been with Thursday and Friday, the weather was perfect - upper 70s with sunshine and a nice breeze. Not too shabby for August.

We started out in Central Park. After wandering aimlessly for about an hour (and only seeing a fraction of that humongous park) we decided to head back into the city for lunch and other sights. A few of us went to Chinatown and Little Italy (and smoked a freshly rolled cigar that was really good) then walked all the way back to the hotel. Others did the same but in a completely different part of the city.

From there it was a small bar called Shorty's in the hotel village where the bartender said "Fuck you, Cop" to Matt which was absolutely hilarious. And she called Keith a murderer. WHICH I HAD NOTHING TO DO WITH!!!!

Oh yeah, we ended the night back at Justino's for more pizza...and some even threw a chocolate chip cookie on top and ate all at once. They said it was better than it sounded...but we'll have to take their word for it.

Sunday:
Long ride home. Pfffffffffffffffft!!!

It was a phenomenal trip...and I'm not just saying that because Joe wasn't able to make it this year. Promise!

Weather was perfect. Hotel was nice. Financial District was very cool. Saw plenty of landmarks. Yankee Stadium. Beers. Cigars. Laughs. As usual can't wait for next year. D.C.?

Chicago 2014 Recap

2014-08-12T11:17:00.001-04:00

As per usual, it takes a few days to recuperate following one of our trips. This year was no different. So please forgive the delay on the recap. Our trip to Wrigley Field (and Chicago in general) was another rousing success. Well, except for golf because it seems my team loses every stinking year (maybe it's me?).

So without further ado...the Chicago 2014 rundown.

Thursday:
Typically Thursdays are the low key days. And this one was as well. Last time we went to Chicago, we introduced golf for the first time on the trip. We decided to play Hickory Woods before heading up. This time we decided to try a course in Chicago, so we drove up first. Drive was easy. Checked in. Headed for the lunch and the course. On our way, Paul popped a tire. One thing you do not want to do in a strange city. Luckily there was a tire store close by and somehow, someway Paul was able to get a new tire on in about 30 minutes and he was able to join us for the latter part of lunch.

On to golf. We were able to get in at this old country club called Oak Meadow. Not great, not terrible. Looked like they were in the process of cleaning the place up. Apparently it had gone out of business and went public but the transition wasn't yet complete. Anyway, the team of Keith, Fish, Matt, and Joe beat Shane, Paul, Jason, and myself by a -3 to -1 score, but it really wasn't that close.

The rest of Thursday was laid back. Dinner at the Bar Louie in our hotel, beers, and cigars followed outside.

Friday:
Golf round #2 began a long day. Due to Joe's shoulder injury he decided he couldn't play two days in a row so we had our buddy Goody take his place since he lives in Chicago and we hadn't seen him in a while. We only play one scramble round so this one was everyone playing their own ball, thus no team score kept. Had a great time playing and catching up at a course called White Pines - East Course.

Hi, Keith!

Following golf we headed downtown to see what we could get into. Tried to go to Giordano's but when you get downtown on a Friday night at 6:00 your wait is going to be substantial...which it was. Instead, back to the Tilted Kilt, which had immediate seating and we could enjoy the atmosphere (yeah, that's it).

After that, we headed to a bar district that had some really cool places. Visited a few places like Harry Caray's, Public House, and (the place we spent the most time at) Theory, which was an awesome time. Bartenders were cool, people were nice, and we had a great time. When you don't get back to your hotel until around 3:00am you know it was a good time.

Saturday:
Yes, it's true half of us slept in pretty late because well it was a late night. But this still gave us plenty of time to get to Wrigleyville, have lunch, then get to the park for a 3:00 game in enough time to catch batting practice and walk around the park taking it all in. Right? Well, not all plans work out. Due to track maintenance and other snags, we finally arrived at the park around 2:00. Not enough time to, yes, go to Giordano's or any other cool bar around the stadium. Instead, straight inside and we ate in the park. Not bad food, just as you'd expect it was overpriced. But, Shane got his Giordano's inside the park and he finally shut up about it (love you, Shane!).

Some random pics and the only group shot we got all weekend. Sad but true...

After the game, we headed over to O'Malley's (which was Harry Caray's in 2010) in Wrigleyville. Ate and had some drinks then attempted to hit the night life in the area. Unfortunately, it just wasn't happening. As a collective group our old asses were just too tired to do anymore "partying". So we limped back to the hotel and crashed. It was good in a way. Sometimes when you try and push the issue things go bad. We didn't push it and nothing went wrong. It was kind of boring, but when your best partying days are behind you that's not necessarily a bad thing. We did get to recapture a golden moment of past trips when Keith and Matt got to take pretty much the exact same picture four year apart. The first one was taken in 2010 with the other one taken Saturday night atop the Sports Corner bar.

Sunday:
Home. The End.

It was a good trip. Lots of fun and laughs. Lots of ripping on each other, which means you know we had a good time. Can't wait for next year when we'll likely be visiting New York City again. Since we haven't seen either of the new parks in NYC it really doesn't matter which one we visit. Only three hundred some days left!!

Windy City Part III

2014-08-04T10:38:00.001-04:00

The most wonderful 4 days of the year are about to come and go as quickly as you can possibly imagine. Trip #16 (16!!!!) will be to the "friendly confines" of Wrigley Field, a place we haven't officially visited on a ball trip since way back on Trip #2 (Fish's first). Fun fact: that same year we visited Milwaukee's (AlgonquiAn for "the good land") County Stadium as Miller Park was being built in the background.

As per usual, the trip will kick off Thursday morning around 7:00 departing for Chicago (O'Hare area to be exact). Tentative itinerary as follows...if you care:

Thursday:

7:00am depart
2:00pm golf
8:00 food, beers, cigars

Friday:

10:00 golf
3:00 food, beers, Chicago.....?????

Saturday:

4:00 Eastern Cubs-Rays at Wrigley
4:15 Wrigleyville for the rest of the night

Sunday:

Home (booooooooooooooooooooooo!!!)

So the thing about Chicago is this: we've NEVER had a bad time there. Even when not actively seeking out things to get "in trouble". But the last time we were there (in 2010) was the trip that turned everything up about 10 notches. If you care to go back and revisit that trip, be my guest . In case you aren't interested in going back, this was the trip with "Gay Robot", "brrrrrm" and our first encounter with "Wrigleyville".

Ahhh Wrigleyville. It all started when Paul, Shane, and I (Jeff) wanted to take a tour of Wrigley Field. Jason, Matt, and Keith did not. So instead of going back to the hotel (which was our prediction), they decided to have some beers at a few of the local Wrigley bars. By the time we finished the tour, they were pretty much on their way to drunktown and well, we needed to catch up. What happened after that, well, you'll have to just take our word for it that it was a blast. Not sure how we'll be able to top it or repeat it, but we're going to give it a shot. Wish us luck!

And oh yeah....those fake IDs look totally real.

Quickie Fun DLBT Fact

2014-07-02T15:23:00.001-04:00

In the 15 years we've been taking these trips, we have seen every team except 5.

And they are:

Marlins
Giants
Padres
D-Backs
Astros

I'm thinking we'll knock the Giants, Padres, and D-Backs off when we take the DLBT out west one year. Start saving your pennies, guys!

Cleveland Definitely Does Not Rock

2013-08-14T10:20:00.001-04:00

Perhaps if you can see your way past the highest number of douchebags per capita in the United States, you might find Cleveland a nice place to visit. For the most part, we did. But in general, as a city, Cleveland ~~ROCKS~~ blows and it's not just the amount of popped collars, orange skin, and too-tight shirts. It's just smelly and ugly. But I digress. We had fun anyway because, well, that's what we do.

Thursday was great. Golf at Phoenix Links in Columbus was very nice. Not a great course, but challenging enough for us duffers (most of us). The scramble resulted in the first ever tie at -6 so that was pretty cool. Afterward, lunch then off to Cleveland where, believe it or not, we arrived at exactly 5:30 on the nose. 5:30 is the start time for the Embassy Suites' Manager's reception that serves free beer. Perfect timing!!

After the reception we made our way to 'THE ALLIGATOR!!!!!" aka the "Winking Lizard" as you can see here

It was an awesome night. Perfect weather. Good food, we ate at the outdoor bar and were actually able to someone to let us watch "the Falcons game" as they took on those dastardly Bengals. Following dinner, we went back to the hotel for some cornhole, beers, and cigars in the parking lot...and managed not to get thrown out (hear that, Atlanta?????).

Friday morning was supposed to be another round of 18 holes at Seneca Course, which is a municipal course in Cleveland just about 15 minutes from our hotel. It was a good, long course which was more challenging than Phoenix Links, but still a very nice course. The team of Fish, Jason, Matt, and Joe defeated Shane, Paul, and Jeff even to +1 in another evenly matched contest. About hole 16, Shane brilliantly pondered if anyone would be interested in playing the other 18 hole course on the property since the day was so nice and we were all having a great time. So, surprisingly we decided to make it a 36-hole day. I think everyone did all right until about the last five or six holes. 10 hours or so of sunshine and physical activity can take its toll on us older dudes.

Oh, proof of golf? Here ya go...

L to R: Fish, Shane, Jeff, Joe, Jason, Paul, Matt

Jeff: this one goes right, as all my drives do

Paul getting ready to blast one farther than any drive Keith has ever had. #teebox

Shane hits this one about 350 yards. Or is that 350 feet? Can't remember.

Sadly, Joe did not run and catch this tee shot in the air

Matt making better contact than at last year's #1 tee box.

Jason - You probably heard this oil can make contact from Cincinnati or wherever you are in this world

Fish with a likely perfectly played draw off the box, leaving himself with a full shot to the center of the green.

Following golf, we returned to the hotel to get pretty for our night out on the town. And then it went up a notch. Keith, unable to make the whole trip, decided to surprise us in the hotel on his way up to Geneva to do some work on his wife's grandma's (uncle's nephew's dogsitter's) house. So at least for 14 hours we got our boy to join us for our usual crazy night of debauchery. And that's when we met the Douchebags of Cleveland. Lucky us. Let me paint a quick picture: popped collars, too much tanning, shirts two sizes too small (said shirts apparently are sold in only "deep vee" style in Cleveland) guys trying WAY too hard, bad attitudes. This all took place at a very cool place called the "Barley House" in the Warehouse District in downtown Cleveland. It started out great. We ate outside basically on the street. Good food, excellent "scenery". Plaid skirts are ALWAYS nice.

But then, around 10:00 the worm turned. So maybe we're all too old and don't get out much. Maybe every city is like this now. Good lord I hope not. If so, I feel sorry for the younger women who have these guys to pick from in the love pool. Anyway, despite a few fights, spilled beers (including the ones Jason cracked), we managed to still have a good time staying above the fray. As usual, don't ask what happened between 10:00pm and 2:00am when the bar closed. No one knows or can remember. But here is a fuzzy representation of what the night was like...

L to R: Joe, Fish, Matt, Paul, Keith, Jeff, Shane (bottom)...Jason nowhere to be found

Following the club, half of us went back to the hotel (Keith, Paul, Joe, and Matt). Keith proceeded to lose every one of his worldly possessions in the process. Keys, phone, flip flops, wallet, and yes even his wedding band even though some of us think that was on purpose.

Shane, Jason, Fish, and I decided drunk gambling was the thing to do. So, Horseshoe Casino was our destination. 2 1/2 hours later (not the 30 minutes Shane believed it to be) we headed home a little heavier (oh yes, we won some money) in the wallet. After arriving back to our hotel at a little after 5:00am, I found this gem...

Oh yeah, that's our boy 9er dreaming of lord knows exactly what

After a refreshing four hours of sleep, it was time to greet Saturday. OK not really. It was a slow start to Saturday. But we finally got rolling around 2:00pm and headed back downtown to see pretty much nothing in Cleveland but a place to eat and hang before hitting up the Indians-Angels game. Nothing exciting at all. Kinda boring really. But relaxed and laid back, which is just what we needed.

As for the game. Just like the past few years, couldn't tell you who won. But here are some lovely pictures from "The Jake" (not Progressive Field).

L to R: Jeff, Joe, Shane, Paul, Jason, Fish, Matt

Following the game, I think we'd about had enough. Not sure if we're all just getting old or what, but there was no drinking. There was really nothing else. We went back to the hotel where we basically vegged for a few hours. Sat in the hotel lobby and just chilled and hung out. It was a nice, laid-back night.

Sunday morning...Bob Evans for breakfast, then we returned home. Along the way, we saw this which made perfect sense for anyone who knows exactly why it is called the "Dan Lipscomb Ball Trip"

So, #DLBT2013 is in the books. Great time as always. Next year's trip destination is up in the air. Detroit, Chicago, DC, or NYC seem to be the names most mentioned. But, it all depends on how we can align our schedules. It's amazing that we can still find one common weekend over the summer where all 8 of us can get away for a few days. Hopefully that continues. Until next time, I'll leave you with this year's theme that began on the car ride to Columbus. Enjoy... The "Odd Couple" Theme (just don't ask).

#DLBT2013 is HERE!!!

2013-08-07T08:57:00.002-04:00

In less than 24 hours, we will embark upon the official Dan Lipscomb Ball Trip 2013. This year's trip takes us to the lovely, and I truly mean shitty, city of Cleveland. But hey, they presented the best proposal and won the bid. What can I say? Maybe this time we can actually watch a game at Progressive Field. If that makes no sense (and why would it?), please read this post and you will understand why, despite Cleveland being a ball trip destination previously, we've actually never seen an official game there.

So for those who care (8 of us), here's the rundown.

Thursday:
-7:30 am: departure
-10:00 and 10:08: consecutive tee times at Phoenix Golf Links and Dump (yes, it was built on a former dump).
-5:00 pm (give or take): arrival in Cleveland at Embassy Suites.
-5:01 pm: Manager's Reception (free beer)
-whenever: dinner at either Chili's or THE ALLIGATOR!!!!!!! (aka Winking Lizard) then cigars and cornhole in the parking lot until they run us out

Friday:
-10:00 and 10:08am: consecutive tee times at Seneca Golf Course ...and that's just about all that's on the official agenda for Friday.

Saturday:
-Indians-Angels with about 47 of Cleveland's biggest Indians fans (ya know since they don't draw much...and why would they?)
-then whatever our little hearts desire after the game (if we make it there) #shotsonly

Sunday:
-the ever awful drive home in a cloud of beer and cigars...and maybe a few shots.

So there you have it. The trip in a nutshell. I will have a full trip recap either Monday or Tuesday. Until then, you can likely follow along on Twitter as all seven of us will be live tweeting the event. I did say seven because Keith unfortunately is not going to be able to make this trip due to unforeseen circumstances beyond his control.

If you are a twitter person and would like to follow along, here are the twitter handles of the participants:

-Jason Gentil: @beatles62to70
-Brian Fisher: @fishdawg923
-Shane Ferguson: @SFERG021
-Paul Farfsing: @PFARF
-Joe Farfsing: @JoeFarfsing11
-Matt Wertz: @bigredsasquatch
-Jeff Gentil: @jgent15
-Keith Lawrence: @wrigleyrocky no he's not going, but will be fully dialed in and commenting. Will make for some very interesting/funny conversations no doubt.

And as always, try to remember...

2013 Ball Trip City and Dates Set

2013-01-13T15:31:00.001-05:00

After a long deliberation and a reconsideration, we have finally settled on a city and date for the 2013 DLBT. We will be visiting the lovely (and smelly) city of Cleveland August 8-11 to see the Indians play...ah, who cares???

Our first choice was Detroit, but the dates didn't line up and we had to pick a date first (brilliant idea, Shane!) then choose a city. I think, considering everyone's crazy busy schedules, this is what we will have to do from here on.

So there it is. Mayhem has a countdown date now! Hells yeah!

Minneapolis 2012 Recap

2012-08-14T09:02:00.000-04:00

This recap is a couple days late for a number of reasons. First of all, the 12-hour return home trip that began at 5:00 am was just a little exhausting so I needed to recover. Secondly, I needed a few days to remember everything (and for people to fill me in on the lost events of Friday night).

Here goes...

Thursday

12-hour drive. Chicago. Wisconsin. Minneapolis. Chili's, beers, cigars, sleep. Pretty much in that order.

Friday

Golf was either great or crappy depending on which team you were on. The team of Paul, Matt, Keith, and myself? We stunk up the course and got crushed by Fish, Jason, Shane, and Shmoe despite the fact we scored a -7 on the last hole. But, it was fun anyway. The weather was great. Course was nice. And we had a laugh or two (some of us were even on the ground laughing hysterically).

Some photographic evidence we played golf...

After golf, we decided to take a tour of the greater Minneapolis-St. Paul area for their only gas station. That took a few hours and was loads of fun. We finally got back to the hotel in enough time to change clothes and head back out.

Stop #1: Mall of America. Big place I guess. We saw pretty much none of it. Went to a sports bar whose name escapes me at this point. Watched the Bengals-Jets and argued about Tim Tebow. Typical. The significance of that place was that it was the beginning of the end for a few of us.

Stop #2: The Loon Cafe in downtown Minneapolis. A bar. We had one beer, watched Excitebike on the Olympics, danced to some random stranger's homemade song...and left.

Stop #3: Sneaky Pete's. And this is where things get fuzzy. Suffice to say there were some shots, beers, dancing, and some expletives tossed around. I'll spare you the details because to be honest, there are eight different accounts. Trust me when I say it was a helluva good time.

Stop #4: Back to the hotel...I think

Saturday

Since Friday night was a very late night, we slept in until around 7:00 am. That's how we get down! And since we basically had nothing to do but wait until the ball game at 6:10 downtown we had time to recuperate.

Once we finally got going we went back downtown and had lunch and watched some of the Reds-Cubs game and the PGA Championship (for the record this is the year McIlroy won by 8 strokes!!) and a sports bar called Huberts which was connected to the Target Center where the WNBA Champion Minnesota Lynx play!!!!! T-Wolves too but who cares about them?

Target Field

The purpose for starting this annual trek across the country was to see all the MLB parks. We have crossed off 18 now. No idea if we actually see them all. Someone might have to win the lottery for that to happen. Anyway, at this point it's not important. The trip has evolved into pretty much our only chance to get together and hang out. But still it's cool to see the different parks.

Target Field is a nice little stadium. It's not a huge place but it's nice and cozy. The upper deck is very small by comparison to most of the other places we've seen. There are enough different sections to sit that give you a different experience from all over the park. And probably the most wide-ranging fare you could ever imagine at a Major League stadium. From pork chop on a stick, to fried walleye, to this (wow did it smell delicious)...

The game itself? Doesn't really matter anymore. We went, saw the place, couldn't tell you who won (Rays 4-2). But, in case you wondered if we actually went, here you go...

After the game, back to the hotel, get about 4 hours of sleep. Then the return drive home. Yes, we left at 5:00am Central time. Unlike the trip up where we were just happy to be out of the house and looking forward to a fun weekend, this drive was awful. But we survived and made it home around 5:00 pm Eastern. And we still haven't fully recovered. But it's one weekend a year and well worth it. I think.

Next year we are tentatively planning on the Rogers Centre in Toronto. Passports are required and some of us have them. Others have to wait for certain road blocks to be removed (no names mentioned). It will be a great time as usual. And a bonus: it's only eight hours away. Yippee!!

Finally...

2012-08-08T08:48:00.001-04:00

It is here! The most anticipated 4-day vacation of the year is FINALLY here!!

Tomorrow morning, we will embark on the 2012 version of the DLBT. This year we head to Target Field in Minneapolis. It is admittedly not going to be a fun drive (12 hours) but we'll endure no doubt.

So, because you care, here is the tentative schedule:

Thursday 7:00am - depart
7:01am - Paul has to pee
Sometime around 12 hours later - arrival at our hotel. Knees creak, back hurts...and that's just me.
After check-in - the traditional kickoff dinner at Chili's where hopefully we can watch the Reds beat the Cubs.
Friday 11:00am - Golf at Gross National Golf Club( http://www.minneapolisparks.org/default.asp?PageID=94&parkid=293 ). With the addition of Shmoe this year we will have two 4-man teams battling in another epic scramble with the grand prize being lunch. We play for big money!!
After golf...who knows? Hopefully it doesn't involve 11 shots. And if it DOES involve 11 shots hopefully there is no pickle juice this time.
Saturday - only thing on the official Clark W. Griswold schedule is 6:10 Twins-Rays ballgame at Target Field.
Sunday 4:00am (yes approximately 4:00am) we return home. My lord that is going to be awful. But, it's worth it, right? Right?????

So there you are. 4 days of pure freedom. Sorry, ladies. It's not you, it's me. Hope you're still around when we get back. And have dinner waiting. (yes, it's a joke)

And remember...

Tentative Ball Trip Schedule...

2011-08-10T15:22:00.003-04:00

For giggles, this is what the future ball trips could look like...

2012 (14): Minnesota - Target Field
2013 (15): Toronto - Rogers Centre
2014 (16): Washington DC - Nationals Park
2015 (17): New York City - Yankees Stadium
2016 (18): Chicago - Wrigley Field
2017 (19): Detroit (Comerica), NYC (Citi Field), other??
2018 (20): Boston - Fenway Park

My feeling is the next two years are pretty much set. Minnesota has been pretty much accepted and if everyone can get their passport Toronto will be a go as well. Thankfully we have plenty of time for that.

2018 at Fenway will be mighty expensive, but we have seven years to save up money. Also, with it being the 20th trip, returning to one of the parks we saw on the inaugural ball trip would be sweet. In between are the places we either have yet to see (Yankees/Mets/Nationals) or have not been to in a long time (Wrigley/Comerica).

Save your money. Be nice to your wives (as usual). We have some miles to rack up. And we ain't stoppin'!

Baltimore 2011 Recap...

2011-08-09T10:41:00.030-04:00

It took forever to get here and was gone in a flash. Sadly, DLBT 2011 Baltimore came and went as fast as you can say "Last stop, boys. Gotta get off the train".

Every year we start the countdown. 3 months! 2 months! 1 month! You get the picture. It seems like years in between trips (for some, that is more literal) and once we pack up the car(s) and head out we are on our way back home in what seems like minutes. It goes by too quickly, but I think we all can agree by Sunday morning we are ready to come home (that's how you suck up to your wife btw).

Unlike last year when we played golf before leaving town, this year with the nine hour drive ahead of us, we packed the clubs and decided to play in Baltimore. So Thursday was basically a drive day. Nothing too exciting. We arrived at our hotel around 5:00. If Shane had his way, we'd have pulled a Harry and Lloyd and headed the opposite direction back toward Cincy after getting off for gas one time. Apparently Mr. T caught this almost mistake at the last minute and corrected Shane before he got back on the west bound expressway.

Following our check in was the now traditional dinner at Chili's which was even nicer this year as the hotel obliged in building a brand new Chili's attached to the Holiday Inn. How nice are they??? I believe Fish got his first taste of the Chili's queso which we all scarfed down in record time. I could be wrong, but I also think Fish wanted to eat the queso for every meal following. After dinner, nothing too exciting, just some cornhole, cigars, and pops in the hotel parking lot...that's how we roll, Flipper.

Friday morning...9:02 and 9:10 tee times at Pine Ridge Golf Course which was conveniently 10 minutes from the hotel. It was a nice course, probably a few too many doglegs but passable especially since we had no clue what it was going to look like from the website. The team of Jason, Matt, Fish, and Jeff (*mostly* putting due to the broken arm) beat Paul, Shane, and Keith (and some random dude who got paired up with them at the last minute) -1 to +1 (so says Keith) and thus got free lunch at the course. It was a beautiful day out on the links and again the golf was an enormous success. Hard to believe it took so long to figure out the addition of golf.

*Mostly: when you try to hit some chip shots because you moronically think your arm that has only been broken and repaired for just 3 weeks is healthy enough to ground a golf club...bad idea!!!!

Some beautiful swings for you...

And one guy who had some explaining to do when his wife saw this pic...

Post pic...

After lunch at the course, it was quickly back to the hotel (sing along) for showers and then downtown to catch the ball game. We took the light rail which was right down the street from the hotel and dropped us off next to the stadium. Cool idea...well, until...oh, you'll just have to wait.

The Blue Jays beat the Orioles 5-4 but the game itself was pretty boring seeing as we were there to sample the fare and check out the stadium itself. We did have awesome seats though...

see? front row center field right by Boog's BBQ and all the wonderful aromas by the warehouse in right field. Shane and I decided it was time to feed our fat arses and Boog's is where we went as you can see here...

and here (what do you want from me??)

Some other pics of us strange people...
never mind that nosy lady in the background giving us the weird look.

Oh, the ball park itself? Almost forgot...

warehouse behind right field...

behind home (duh!)

Hey, thanks!!

All in all a great place and you can definitely see why the rest of baseball seemingly stole the Orioles' idea to create a retro ball park. It's still one of the best.

After the game we met this guy... We asked him how to get back to the train and the only thing he said was "Prediction? Pain!" So we just bought a few of his pencils and moved on.

The rest of the night was played out at the hotel as we were all quite tired from golf and the ball game. But it didn't stop four of us from a rousing game of euchre and that "new" movie Aliens (still scary to this day). Keith, who didn't get in on the game, sat and watched Aliens, but admitted he was only still awake because "I don't want to miss anything". Well, the only thing he saw was euchre and Aliens...and nothing else. He gave in at 2:00 am...the rest of us 3:00 am.

Saturday morning...breakfast at Bob Evans because the hotel free (for a reason) breakfast stopped at 9:30 and we had no chance of making that. So we headed to Bob's where we got abused by our waitress. She had a special place in her heart for Keith who ordered a "diet water" but ultimately got a chocolate milk...then she brought him a refill and proceeded to smack him by saying "here's another diet chocolate milk for you" that got a nice reaction from the table.

After breakfast we headed back to downtown Baltimore to do some sightseeing and try to take a tour of Camden Yards. Upon walking up to the ticket window we got the "sorry, folks...park's closed" treatment and were sent away with our tails between our legs. So what to do? Saturday afternoon. Vacation. 7 dudes.

Pickles Pub!!

(First) Arrival approximately 2:00pm. (First) departure around 4:30. In between - 3 beers and a nice time talking with the lovely Alissa who was our bartender but more importantly put up with our crap (bad jokes and obnoxious arguments).

Obnoxious boys...

Off to Inner Harbor to see the sights. Not much really unless you like upscale stores and restaurants. But still nice to see the water and they did have some cool things to see.

And then...

If you've never been to a Dick's Last Resort before, you're in for a rude awakening.

Matt: "I'm a little uncomfortable. The bartender and the customer just got into an argument."

Keith: "The host was a little rude. What's the deal with that?"

The whole theme of this place is that they are mean to you, and you have to take it. Trust me, at first you're taken a little back by it. By the end of the night, you're pretty much having a great time. Unless you can't take a joke or aren't a hat type of person.

(Note: due to the graphic nature of said "hats" I will not be able to show you what I'm talking about. Just assume these hats they make you wear are vulgar, offensive, rude, and hilarious...again if you can take a joke. Sorry, the next portion of this post is being censored by the FCC)

But a quick summation: tiny, speedy, pokey, sheep, golden girl, brokeback, and restraining order are NOT the new Seven Dwarfs.

What next? How about a storm, getting soaked, and a quick (and almost deadly) cab ride back to...Pickles Pub. Assuredly Alissa was pleased as punch to see our band of misfits return.

Another quick (and censored) rundown: someone fell off a stool, security, emergency credit card, dilf, accountant, pickle juice, and 11 shots (EACH!!!) later we headed/stumbled back to the light rail to return home.

Enter disarray....

Light rail schedule said the last train runs at 1:06 am. At 12:45, about half way back to the hotel, we stop at a depot, wait a minute or two longer than we should, then the driver/conductor/whatever he's called walks back through the train and says "that's it, guys...time to go". What?!?! "Train's done running for the night. Gotta go" Who? what? huh??? "We're not at our stop yet. Will another train come by later?" Chuckling "I don't think so".

So there we are...7 dudes in the middle of nowhere/ghetto/murderville in the rain and completely LOST. Are we dead? Most assuredly we're dead. So we just start walking. To where? At 1:00 am I'm not sure exactly where we were headed. Thankfully we saw a cab who called in another close by cab and they got us back to our original light rail station - a nice 25 minute ride. I cannot, nor do I want to, imagine how long that walk would have taken. Suffice to say it was the best $45 cab ride ever.

Oh but that wasn't it for Saturday night. Oh no. Keith decided it would be fun to plop down on the bed and fall down in between the wall and the bed. He got stuck and, well, it was damn funny. Then, in what may become a new tradition, we ordered pizza at 2:00am. This time it came a LOT faster and apparently the driver made the pizza in his car because that was the HOTTEST pizza ever! But boy did it taste great! And eating pizza is better than dying in the ghetto I think.

Sadly, the Baltimore portion of the trip did not end there. Sunday morning. Everyone congregating in the lobby. Waiting on Jason to come down and with him bring the cooler. Elevator doors open, out walks Jason with his bag and cooler in tow. He approaches the group, slows down, and while stopping the cooler (or so he thought), it hit the corner of the mat in front of the automatic doors and tipped over. Unfortunately it was not empty. Well it was after the contents were unceremoniously dumped onto the Holiday Inn lobby floor (ice, melted ice, beer, etc.) in a pool. It was a nice cap to the trip...and a clear indicator that we needed to GO!!!

What followed was the quietest 9 hour car ride ever back home. Gee the car rides to the cities always are lively and loud. Funny how the return ride is very much the opposite.

That's it for DLBT 2011. Next year has not yet been determined, but Minnesota is the clubhouse leader. That 12 hour drive might put a crimp in those plans. But we have a while to decide. Either way, no matter where we go it will be a blast...even if we go to Arby's.

Uber Quick Recap...

2011-08-08T11:14:00.005-04:00

We're back. Most of us are alive. All of us are dead tired. Don't ask us what we did yet. That takes a few days to come back to us. When it does, I'll post a longer recap. For now, just know...

It is here...FINALLY!!

2011-08-03T10:25:00.003-04:00

Dan Lipscomb Ball Trip version 13 is finally upon us. Seems like we haven't been on one in a few years, but I think that's just how much we all look forward to this weekend. Thankfully the waiting is over. Baltimore, here we come!!

For those who care...all 7 of us...

8:00 am departure Thursday morning
4:00 arrival at the hotel in Bmore (give or take)
4:01 step out of gas-filled cars for fresh air
5:00 Chili's for the annual "first pitch" dinner
7:00 or so...crack beers, start cornhole, cut cigars, light the mothers...
Sometime later...roll into bed smelling like smoke, Coronas, Blue Moon, and who knows what else

Friday...
9:02 and 9:10 tee times at Pine Ridge Golf Course
Afterward...nap
5:00 or so...head to Camden Yards for Orioles v. Blue Jays
7:05 first pitch
7:06 "let's go to Inner Harbor"

Saturday...
Who the hell knows?? we're open and probably going to get into some kind of trouble that involves a beer bottle being held by a beer glass (Keith).

Sunday...
Return home
Discuss where 2012 trip is going to be...Toronto? Minnesota? Houston? NYC? DC?

Monday...
Depression (ok fine maybe not)

Despite kids (13 now...more to come?), family vacations, work shifts, flooded basements, marriage trouble, and everything else, we've managed to do this in some form for 13 years now. And we have no intention of stopping!

One more thing...

Washington DC

2011-07-17T23:03:00.003-04:00

I am going to skip a year, because due to circumstances, I was unable to attend the Miller Park trip in 2005. This is the year that we discovered the benefits of mass transit. Before going to far, I have to tell this story. When we arrived at our hotel, they had a parking garage for the guests to park. Not thinking about 1.) We were driving a minivan and 2.) We had luggage and cornhole boards on top of the van, we attempted to drive into said parking garage. Well, we hit the first low clearance and you would have thought the we were being crushed. Needless to say we had to back up and remove the items from the top of the vehicle. I still remember the sound of the roof being crushed.

Anyways, on to the story. Luckily for us there was a train station across the street from the hotel which made things a lot easier and cheaper. For a few bucks, you can buy a weekend pass and ride as often as you like. We had tickets to both Friday and Saturday games at RFK. The place is too huge to have baseball games played in it, but they made it work. We also "Got our Red on" while attending one of the games. We also had our expert DC tour guide Shane, show us most of the monuments and buildings around the DC area. Arlington Cemetery was very humbling. Saw several burials while walking through, almost seemed wrong to be a "tourist."

It was an uneventful trip from what I can remember, but DC is a great sightseeing city. But I am sure someone will have a good story to add. There are always good stories from our balltrips.

2011 Trip Confirmed

2010-12-30T11:04:00.003-05:00

Well, it is official, the 2011 Ball Trip will be to Baltimore. We will be seeing the Toronto Blue Jays take on the Orioles at Camden Yards during the weekend of August 4-7. Four of us have been there before. But none of us has done so in about 15 years and it has never been an official "Ball Trip" park. Now it will be.

On the early agenda: golf, baseball, Inner Harbor, good times.

And remember...