I’m starting this baseball journey recollecting the day my second baseball journey started, July 29, 2013.  The day after my Dad died.  It concluded a 7-month pancreatic cancer journey of some strangely peaceful highs and gut-wrenching lows.  All those emotions as clear to me now almost 6 years later as they were then.  Below is part of what I posted that night.

“I wanted to leave you with one last story.  I got a lot of great notes on Monday telling me to enjoy the game, Dad would want me to go, and that he’d be there with me.  I agreed with all of those and have proof that Dad was there.

When we walked in, I went to get an Old Style and Erin made a trip to the ladies room.  As I was waiting to meet back up with her and head to our seats, I noticed a father and son walking by.  The little guy was maybe 5 or 6, very young, and he had on a shirt that said “My first game 7-29-13”  It didn’t make me sad, I didn’t tear up.  My heart swelled with joy.  It’s one of the small beauties in life. . . it goes on.  A day after Dad passed, a father and son started a new journey.  I just hope it’s half as fun as the one I took with my Dad.”

For the longest time, I’ve considered writing a memoir to commemorate my first baseball journey with my Father.  However, the time was either never available or just didn’t feel right.  The recent culmination of numerous, very random events has made it crystal clear to me that I needed to start a baseball travel blog.  I’ve felt the calling as strongly as I’ve felt so many other major “life path events.”  I feel one of the most primary motivations is that I want this to be an ever-evolving memorial.  A memoir cements the story.  When in actuality, my passion for traveling to baseball games with lifelong friends, new acquaintances, or even random fans still has so many components of the seeds planted in my childhood, not only from my Dad but also my Mom.

That’s my goal.  Celebrate the past and cultivate the future. Long live baseball.