Admittedly, the Seven Game Roadie (SGR) was conceived out of a notion that it is possible outside a vacuum to see multiple baseball games in multiple cities over consecutive days for fun. The thought to attach a purpose to it came later. Early indications at games in the Bay Area suggest that people are receptive to the conversation and they are not shy. I expect it will continue in the following places I plan to visit.
The SGR will start in Denver on 24 July for a game that seemed pretty benign back in April, but now will have a ton of meaning. In addition to finding out what the people in the one-newspaper capital of Colorado think about their plight, I also want to know what they think about Lincecum. The guy is a freak and I hope to hell he pitches that night.
Then it is on to KC. Again… hoping for an early Christmas miracle with Greinke, because the Royals have sputtered. Maybe the Rangers will hit 17 homers that day and I will sit next to people who work for Sprint or the Chiefs.
Next, under the shadow of the Arch… Manny. Albert. Possible NLCS preview. Are you freaking kidding?!?!? This is where I will likely pay more attention to the game than to my project, but I promise to get a good read on what the good people of St. Louis have to say two weeks after the All-Star Game steamrolls through… and I may have to do it at Albert’s restaurant.
The only guaranteed game is the game where umbrellas are definitely needed. The House That Allan H. Built. With Nats in town, the best bet might be to check on the health of the brat industry, but the Brew Crew is battling for first place.
Immediately following that game, it will be time to leave Wisconsin for Wrigleyville faster than Brett Favre bolted for the Meadowlands. I am glad that the $900 million Cubs and Astros will have played 74 times by then because there will be no better place for quotes than at the corner of Waveland and Sheffield.
From the Windy City, it is southward to Graceland. Memphis, the home of FedEx, has delivered great minor league baseball for years. Is that still the case? Are things getting better as FedEx thinks they are? I’ll be sure to tell whoever I meet my Tim McCarver story. The Redbirds’ former home used to be named after him.
The last stop is Tulsa and one of the last games in Drillers Stadium. It is fitting they will play the self-proclaimed ‘Greatest Show on Dirt’ in the Arkansas Travelers, because the big top of my circus of a trip will fold in a place thankful for all the gasoline I will have consumed by then.
But will the trip consume me?