The All-American Ballpark Tour and a contest

Early Tuesday morning, my buddy, Dustin, and I are heading off on our nearly annual All-American Ballpark Tour. We've been making these trips since 2001 and have gone every year except 2003 and last year. We've seen ballgames in three countries and on both coasts. We usually base our trips on Major League parks, but we have a different goal this year- The Rickwood Classic.

The Rickwood Classic is a single game that is played every year. It's takes place at Rickwood Field in Birmingham, Alabama. This year marks the park's one hundredth anniversary and it is the oldest park in the country that still hosts professional games (even though it is only one a year). The park was the home of the Birmingham Barons until 1988 when they moved to their current park in Hoover. This year, the Barons are going to be hosting the Tennessee Smokies and both teams will be wearing uniforms fom the early 1900s. Harmon Killebrew is supposed to be at the game, as well.

The plan is to leave at four o'clock in the morning on Tuesday and drive fourteen hours to Birmingham and catch a game at the Barons current park, Regions Field. The next day will be the Rickwood Classic and then we will head to Arkansas after the game. On Thursday, we are going to go to a Northwest Arkansas Naturals game. On Friday, we may go to a college game if Arkansas hosts a regional. We'll then head over to Tulsa to check out the Drillers brand new ballpark, ONEOK Field. We'll get home late that night.

So, we'll be catching four games (possibly five) in four days. It's not as grand as some of our trips in the past, but it should still be a good time. I have a few posts scheduled to appear on here throughout the week, so keep checking back.

Also, I'll be starting a contest tomorrow. So make sure to check that out.