It’s the dead of winter, spring training is over a month away, and even the baseball discussion groups on Facebook and X are dead quiet. What’s a baseball fan to do? The winter months are a great time to plan your baseball journeys for the spring and summer.
101 Baseball Places to See Before You Strike Out, by Josh Pahigian, is a wonderful resource for anyone who loves baseball. It doesn’t cover the current major and minor league stadiums, as that information is readily available on the internet. The book’s focus is on the hundreds of baseball shrines across the country that you might pass by on your baseball trips, simply because you were not aware of their existence.
Obviously, Cooperstown is included in the book, but it also includes the Canadian Hall of Fame and Museum, the National College Baseball Hall of Fame and the Cincinnati Reds Hall of Fame and Museum. There are also individual Hall of Fames dedicated to such baseball elites such as Ted Williams, Babe Ruth, Roger Maris, Ty Cobb, Bob Feller and Dizzy Dean.
Film fans will be interested in the many sites around the country that were used in the production of baseball themed movies. These include the Field of Dreams cornfield and home in Dyersville, Iowa, the Durham, NC stadium used in Bull Durham. Other baseball pop culture sites featured in the book include the Simpsons statues at Isotopes Park in Albuquerque, NM and the Bob Uecker Seats at American Family Field in Milwaukee.
Another section of the book focuses on some behind the scenes baseball sites that make baseball games possible. The Louisville Slugger Museum and Factory in Louisville, KY and the Baseball Mud Site in New Jersey are covered in one of the chapters.
While you are out on your baseball road trip, it’s easy to work up an appetite for something other than a fast-food stop. 101 Baseball Places provides you with detailed information on restaurants with a baseball connection. Among the sites covered in this chapter are the Yankee Tavern in the Bronx, McCovey’s Restaurant
on Walnut Creek, CA, Bobby Valentine’s Sports Gallery Café in Stamford, CT and Chappell’s Restaurant and Sports Museum in Kansas City, MO.
There is also a chapter covering the Negro Leagues and the eventual integration of major league baseball. The Negro Leagues Baseball Museum is a must see for baseball travelers in the Kansas City area. There are Jackie Robinson Trails in both Pasadena, CA and New York City. The Jackie Robinson Ballpark and Museum in
Daytona, FL is located at the actual stadium made his major league debut with the Dodgers.
We’ve only scratched the surface on the many baseball-related attractions and restaurants waiting for you this spring and summer. 101 Baseball Places to See Before You Strike Out is an indispensable resource for any baseball traveler.
See you out on the road!