Planning the Ultimate Minor League Baseball Road Trip: An Exercise in Patience

April 8, 2015

Yesterday, new Ben’s Biz Blog contributor Ashley Marshall introduced himself via a Pac-Man inspired tour of the Minor League landscape. Today, he really goes the extra mile with this “ultimate” Minor League Road Trip itinerary. Please keep in mind, however, that this “ultimate” itinerary is entirely theoretical. Neither I (Ben’s Biz) or Ashley or anyone else will actually be doing it. For my 2015 road trip itineraries, click HERE. 

By Ashley Marshall/MiLB.com

Happy Opening Day, baseball fans. From Vancouver to West Palm Beach, San Jose to Winooski, Vt, the Minor Leagues bring baseball to millions of fans in thousands of communities.

Each year, there are 160 Minor League teams playing more than 8,000 games in 42 continental US states and one Canadian province across 14 leagues and six levels from Triple-A down to rookie ball. All this happens in a five-month, 152-day window from Opening Day on April 9 to the regular season finales on Sept. 7.

That had me thinking. With fewer than 10 flights and relying otherwise only on car travel, is it possible to visit all 160 teams in one season? Also, how big does my suitcase need to be to fit five months’ worth of clothes into it?

I’ll try to answer the first question. I’ll leave the second one up to your own imagination. At the end of this article, I’ll also tell you what such a trip might cost. While seeing every club play one home fixture during 2015 is possible, the logistics of planning such a schedule range somewhere from tricky to excruciatingly frustrating.

But with Ben unveiling his road trip itinerary Friday, I thought now would be as good a time as any to share with you one way such a mammoth, travel-intensive journey could take shape.

Call this whatever you want — a logistical crossword, a thought experiment, a lesson in tedium. But just to be clear, this is a ‘paper only’ experiment. Neither I nor anyone I know is undertaking this trip.

So, a few initial observations: While some states boast a high number of Minor League teams (Florida is home to 14; California, 12; Tennessee and North Carolina, nine each), eight other states and provinces are home to just one club. For those keeping score at home, they’re Vermont, New Hampshire, Missouri, Maine, Massachusetts, Louisiana, Delaware and British Columbia.

There’s no way to tackle these except in isolation in the context of a bigger road trip. The need to schedule at least eight day-night twinbills of two games in two ballparks on one day is the very minimum requirement to make such an ambitious itinerary possible.

But factoring in days off (the Florida State League is off entirely on Mother’s Day, for example; the International and Pacific Coast Leagues are off July 13-15 for the Triple-A All-Star Game) homestands not always coinciding with the days you’re in that part of a state and the fact that the rookie-level and short-season leagues are at opposite ends of the country and only play for around the final 10 weeks of the year, it’s imperative to double up on games almost twice as many times.

These leagues are limited geographically from the northeast (New York-Penn League) and down the coast as far as the Carolinas (Appalachian League) on one side of America, and from the pacific northwest down into Montana and Colorado on the other. To make it at least somewhat cost-effective, I’ll limit airplane travel to 10 times during the season, most likely for cross-country journeys or picking off isolated teams that otherwise wouldn’t fit into a schedule.

***

I initially thought you could start in the Midwest around Omaha, head east through the Midwest League and then tackle the International League, Eastern League and South Atlantic League teams as you get to them. At that point, you could head south and west, starting with the New York-Penn League and Appy Leagues and going into Florida to wrap up the Florida State League in two weeks.

Next would be the Texas League and more eastern Pacific Coast League teams, the California League and finally the Northwest and Pioneer Leagues. Two potential problems with that plan.

• One, the New York-Penn League doesn’t kick off until mid-June, meaning you’d need to hit around 65 teams before starting the NYPL schedule. There’s just not enough teams in the Midwest, International and Eastern Leagues to make that happen
• Two, the weather is notoriously unpredictable in the spring in the east and Midwest, making rainouts more likely, even if exact postponements could never be foreseen that far in advance.

So instead, here’s how you could make it work. Start on the west coast. Head south and east through Texas, looping up through Florida, up the east coast (by which time the NYPL will be playing), then across the top of the country finishing back in the northwest with the two summer leagues there.

That should give you enough time to head back into California or toward Texas to mop up any teams you missed the first time through. Most of the day-night games have to be in the Florida State League or along the eastern seaboard where multiple teams are within a few hours’ drive of one another.

Even if, for example, Corpus Christi played an 11am game on the same day El Paso had a 7pm start, Texas is just too big to navigate between them to arrive at the second ballpark in time.

About one-third of the way into the planning of this fictitious trip that exists only on paper, I ran into another problem. Biloxi’s new stadium will not be ready until early summer, with the home opener scheduled for June 6. With that obstacle in mind, you can bypass the trio of Biloxi (and neighboring Mobile and Pensacola) for now, planning to return to them later in the year when all three teams are at home. The next time this happens is the third week of July. Biloxi has a homestand from July 15-21, Mobile from 15-19 and Pensacola from July 20-26. That gives you just enough of an overlap to make it possible, allowing you to return north to complete that leg of the trip.

With that in mind, I present to you the following schedule.

Date	DH	Home	Away	League	Time
9-Apr		Sacramento	Salt Lake	PCL	7:05
10-Apr		Fresno	Las Vegas	PCL	7:05
11-Apr		Visalia	High Desert	Cal	7:00
12-Apr		Inland Empre	Stockton	CAL	2:05
13-Apr
14-Apr		Lake Elsinore	High Desert	CAL	6:00
15-Apr	1	Bakersfield	Modesto	CAL	11:00
15-Apr	2	Lancaster	Stockton	CAL	6:30
16-Apr		High Desert	Lancaster	CAL	6:35
17-Apr		San Antonio	Tulsa	TEX	7:05
18-Apr		Corpus Christi	Springfield	TEX	7:05
19-Apr		Round Rock	Memphis	TEX	1:05
20-Apr		Arkansas	Midland	TEX	7:10
21-Apr		Mississippi	Chattanooga	SOU	7:00
22-Apr		Jackson	Tennessee	SOU	7:05
23-Apr		Springfield	Arkansas	TEX	7:05
24-Apr		Tulsa	Northwest Arkansas	TEX	7:05
25-Apr		Oklahoma City	Omaha	PCL	7:05
26-Apr		Frisco	Corpus Christi	TEX	4:05
27-Apr		Midland	Corpus Chrisit	TEX	6:30
28-Apr		Memphis	Round Rock	PCL	7:05
29-Apr		Northwest Arkansas	Springfield	TEX	11:05
30-Apr		Brevard County	Daytona	FSL	6:35
1-May		Dunedin	Clearwater	FSL	6:30
2-May		Tampa	Lakeland	FSL	6:00
3-May	1	Clearwater	Dunedin	FSL	1:00
3-May	2	Daytona	Brevard County	FSL	5:35
4-May		St. Lucie	Palm Beach	FSL	6:30
5-May		Jupiter	Charlotte	FSL	6:35
6-May	1	Lakeland	Daytona	FSL	10:30
6-May	2	Bradenton	Fort Myers	FSL	6:30
7-May		Palm Beach	Bradenton	FSL	6:35
8-May		Charlotte	St. Lucie	FSL	6:30
9-May		Fort Myers	Jupiter	FSL	6:05
10-May		Montgomery	Birmingham	SOU	2:05
11-May		Birmingham	Chattanooga	SOU	7:05
12-May		New Orleans	Oklahoma City	PCL	7:05
13-May		Jacksonville	Pensacola	SOU	11:05
14-May	1	Gwinnett	Syracuse	IL	10:35
14-May	2	Augusta	Hickory	SAL	7:05
15-May		Savannah	Lexington	SAL	7:05
16-May		Charleston	Greenville	SAL	6:05
17-May		Charlotte	Syracuse	IL	2:05
18-May		Kannapolis	Asheville	SAL	7:05
19-May		Greenville	Lexington	SAL	7:05
20-May	1	Rome	Charleston	SAL	1:00
20-May	2	Chattanooga	Montgomery	SOU	7:15
21-May		Myrtle Beach	Frederick	CAR	7:05
22-May		Norfolk	Rochester	IL	7:05
23-May		Richmond	Bowie	IL	6:05
24-May		Lynchburg	Frederick	CAR	2:00
25-May	1	Salem	Winston-Salem	CAR	1:05
25-May	2	Greensboro	Hagerstown	SAL	7:00
26-May		Hickory	Delmarva	SAL	6:00
27-May	1	Durham	Rochester	IL	1:05
27-May	2	Carolina	Myrtle Beach	SAL	7:00
28-May		Winston-Salem	Lynchburg	SAL	7:00
29-May		Asheville	Augusta	SAL	7:05
30-May		Tennessee	Mobile	SOU	7:05
31-May		Nashville	Las Vegas	PCL	2:05
1-Jun		Bowling Green	Great Lakes	MWL	12:05
2-Jun		West Virginia	Greensboro	SAL	7:05
3-Jun	1	Columbus	Toledo	IL	11:35
3-Jun	2	South Bend	Cedar Rapids	MWL	7:05
4-Jun		West Michigan	Quad Cities	MWL	7:00
5-Jun		Wisconsin	Lake County	MWL	7:05
6-Jun		Beloit	Lake County	MWL	7:00
7-Jun		Iowa	Memphis	PCL	1:08
8-Jun		Omaha	Colorado Springs	PCL	7:05
9-Jun		Toldedo	Syracuse	IL	7:00
10-Jun		Cedar Rapids	Great Lakes	MWL	6:35
11-Jun		Peoria	West Michigan	MWL	7:00
12-Jun		Burlington	South Bend	MWL	6:30
13-Jun		Quad Cities	Great Lakes	MWL	6:00
14-Jun		Fort Wayne	Clinton	MWL	3:05
15-Jun		Indianapolis	Durham	IL	7:05
16-Jun		Louisville	Gwinnett	IL	7:05
17-Jun	1	Kane County	Wisconsin	MWL	12:00
17-Jun	2	Clinton	Quad Cities	MWL	6:30
18-Jun		Great Lakes	Lake County	MWL	7:05
19-Jun		Lansing	Great Lakes	MWL	7:05
20-Jun		Akron	Erie	EL	7:05
21-Jun		Lexington	Rome	SAL	6:05
22-Jun		Dayton	Lake County	MWL	2:00
23-Jun		Bluefield	Elizabethton	APPY	7:05
24-Jun		Bristol	Greeneville	APPY	7:00
25-Jun		Johnson City	Kingsport	APPY	7:00
26-Jun		Greeneville	Danville	APPY	7:00
27-Jun		Kingsport	Bluefield	APPY	7:00
28-Jun		Elizabethton	Pulaksi	APPY	6:00
29-Jun		Danville	Kingsport	APPY	7:00
30-Jun		Burlington	Bluefield	APPY	7:00
1-Jul	1	Princeton	Greeneville	APPY	11:00
1-Jul	2	Pulaski	Johnson City	APPY	7:00
2-Jul		Biloxi	Mississippi	SOU	7:10
3-Jul		Pensacola	Jacksonville	SOU	6:30
4-Jul		Mobile	Pensacola	SOU	7:05
5-Jul		West Virginia	Batavia	NYPL	4:05
6-Jul		Bowie	Erie	EL	7:05
7-Jul		Wilmington	Frederick	CAR	6:35
8-Jul		Hagerstown	Delmarva	SAL	7:05
9-Jul	1	Potomac	Lynchburg	SAL	12:05
9-Jul	2	Aberdeen	Staten Island	NYPL	7:05
10-Jul		Frederick	Salem	CAR	7:00
11-Jul		Harrisburg	Erie	EL	6:00
12-Jul		Altoona	Bowie	EL	6:00
13-Jul	1	State College	Tri-City	NYPL	12:00
13-Jul	2	Williamsport	Connecticut	NYPL	7:05
14-Jul		Delmarva	Lexington	SAL	7:05
15-Jul		Staten Island	Brooklyn	NYPL	7:00
16-Jul		Brooklyn	Staten Island	NYPL	7:00
17-Jul		Reading	New Britain	EL	7:05
18-Jul		Connecticut	Hudson Valley	NYPL	7:05
19-Jul		New Hampshire	Portland	EL	1:35
20-Jul	1	Tri-City	Aberdeen	NYPL	11:00
20-Jul	2	New Britain	Binghamton	EL	7:05
21-Jul		Lowell	Tri-City	NYPL	7:05
22-Jul		Portland	Trenton	EL	12:00
23-Jul		Vermont	Auburn	NYPL	7:05
24-Jul		Pawtucket	Buffalo	IL	7:05
25-Jul		Hudson Valley	State College	NYPL	7:05
26-Jul		Lakewood	Kannapolis	SAL	1:05
27-Jul		Trenton	Portland	EL	7:00
28-Jul		Scranton/Wilkes-Barre	Lehigh Valley	IL	7:05
29-Jul		Lehigh Valley	Scranton/Wilkes-Barre	IL	7:05
30-Jul		Auburn	Aberdeen	NYPL	7:05
31-Jul		Rochester	Syracuse	IL	7:05
1-Aug		Buffalo	Pawtucket	IL	7:05
2-Aug		Lake County	Great Lakes	MWL	6:30
3-Aug		Mahoning Valley	Williamsport	NYPL	7:05
4-Aug		Batavia	State College	NYPL	7:05
5-Aug		Syracuse	Pawtucket	IL	7:05
6-Aug		Binghamton	Bowie	EL	6:35
7-Aug		Erie	Harrisburg	EL	7:05
8-Aug
9-Aug
10-Aug		Vancouver	Everett	NWL	7:05
11-Aug		Spokane	Tri-City	NWL	6:30
12-Aug	1	Tacoma	Sacramento	PCL	11:34
12-Aug	2	Tri-City	Boise	NWL	TBD
13-Aug
14-Aug		Great Falls	Orem	PIO	TBD
15-Aug		Hillsboro	Vancouver	NWL	5:30
16-Aug		Eugene	Everett	NWL	5:01
17-Aug		Salem Keizer	Hillsboro	NWL	6:35
18-Aug		Everett	Spokane	NWL	7:05
19-Aug		Boise	Eugene	PIO	7:15
20-Aug		Idaho Falls	Billings	PIO	7:15
21-Aug		Salt Lake	Iowa	PCL	6:35
22-Aug		Orem	Ogden	PIO	7:15
23-Aug		Helena	Great Falls	PIO	1:05
24-Aug		Billings	Missoula	PIO	7:05
25-Aug		Missoula	Helena	PIO	7:05
26-Aug		Ogden	Idaho Falls	PIO	TBD
27-Aug		Grand Junction	Orem	PIO	TBD
28-Aug		Albuquerque	Colorado Springs	PCL	7:05
29-Aug		El Paso	Oklahoma City	PCL	7:05
30-Aug		Modesto	Visalia	CAL	6:05
31-Aug		Las Vegas	El Paso	PCL	7:05
1-Sep		San Jose	Modesto	CAL	7:00
2-Sep
3-Sep
4-Sep		Stockton	Modesto	CAL	7:10
5-Sep		Reno	El Paso	PCL	7:05
6-Sep		Rancho Cucamonga	Inland Empire	CAL	5:05
7-Sep		Colorado Springs	New Orleans	PCL	1:35

This incorporates 15 dates with two games on the same day, and just six days out of 152 with no games scheduled.

***

Breaking it all down

• This itinerary logs almost 40,000 miles, including almost 30,000 by road and nearly 10,000 on 10 trips through the air.
• You’ll spend a little more than 500 hours driving and another 38 hours on an airplane. That’s nearly 24 full days.
• The shortest leg of the trip is from Staten Island to Brooklyn, just 18 miles.
• By contrast, the longest leg is going from Erie, Pa., to Vancouver. That’s a 40-hour, 2,600-mile trip by car, reduced to a seven hour, $500 multi-leg flight from Buffalo, Cleveland or Pittsburgh.
• Other flights include Los Angeles (serving Adelanto) to San Antonio, Texas; Mobile, Alabama to Clarksburg (serving Granville, West Virginia); and Orange County (serving Rancho Cucamonga) to Colorado Springs.
• Assuming your car gets 33 miles to the gallon and the average cost of a gallon of fuel nationwide is $2.50, you’ll spend around $2,272 on 1250 gallons of gas alone. Figure to spent another $3,000 on air fare.
• There are 30 Triple-A teams, 30 Double-A teams, 60 Class A teams, 22 short-season teams and 18 rookie-level teams on the schedule. Based on the average prices published by MiLB least year, if you bought one ticket, a soda and a hot dog, a program and paid for car parking at each game, you’d spend $3,280 during the year.
• The most expensive part of such a ludicrous trip would be hotels. Even at $75 a night, a place to crash after a ballgame would ring up an additional $12,000 over five months.
• Then factoring in taking five months off work. With the average American making between $27,000 – $28,000, taking such a long period of time off work could lose you around $11,000 in wages.

These calculations don’t even take into account paying for breakfasts, lunches or dinners, doing laundry every week you’re on the road, the possible need to rent a vehicle assuming you don’t have access to one in each city you travel through, and just the general cost of living. Food alone could run upward of $5,000, and that’s only budgeting $30 a day.

So the real cost of this trip? It could very possibly cost you a cool $40,000.

***

How would your schedule look? Which way would you attack such a logistical nightmare? How would you save time, money or both? If you only traveled throughout one league, which one would you pick and why? Feel free to message me on Twitter @AshMarshallMLB or reply in the comments below. And if you have any MiLB travel plans this season, however small or large, I’d love to hear from you. Plan your own road trip here.

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ashley.marshall@mlb.com

twitter.com/ashmarshallmlb

Written by BensBiz Posted in Minor League Baseball Tagged with Ashley Marshall, Itinerary, MiLB, Minor League Baseball, Road Trip, Travel