2003-Rust Belt Diamonds

August 16 thru August 20, 2003

8/16 – Astros vs Reds – 5-2 – Box Score
8/17– Brewers vs Pirates – 2-5 – Box Score
8/18 – Devil Rays vs Indians – 7-4 – Box Score
8/19 – Rangers vs Tigers – 5-4 – Box Score
7/20 – Mariners vs Blue Jays – 2-5 – Box Score

The 2003 Baseball Odyssey took us deep into the industrial Midwest, kicking off in Cincinnati and winding its way through Pittsburgh, Cleveland, and Detroit before crossing the border to wrap things up in Toronto. Five games. Five days. August 16th through 20th. A relentless schedule powered by ballpark hot dogs, poor decisions, and sheer willpower.

Our base of operations? Dublin, Ohio—specifically, my brother Tim’s house. Tim, his wife Jessa, and their kids, Corinne and Sam, were the ultimate hosts. Think "Midwest hospitality," but with better snacks.

By this point, the popularity of the BO was surging—sort of like steroids in baseball at the time, except with fewer Congressional hearings. Eleven of us showed up for Game One at Cincinnati’s sparkly new “Great American Ball Park.” But by the time we hit the final game in Toronto, only three of us were brave (or foolhardy) enough to breach the Great White North.

Some highlights—because of course there were highlights:

1. The SARS scare and the massive August 14th blackout that took out most of the northeastern U.S. and eastern Canada just days before our trip. Twenty-seven SARS cases total in the U.S. from November 2002 through July 2003. Child’s play, in hindsight. If only we’d known what was waiting for us 17 years later... Yikes.

2. The beachball tragedy. Our beachball. The one Jim Carr so lovingly inflated and launched into the crowd like a proud parent sending his first born to college. That beautiful, bouncing sphere brought joy to dozens—until a Bat Boy, armed with a pocketknife and a heart of stone, murdered it in cold blood. RIP, beachball. You were too pure for this world.

3. Crossing the river from Cincinnati to Kentucky to visit “The Party Source.” Because nothing says refined, old-school Kentucky bourbon quite like a liquor megastore nestled next to a strip mall. Authenticity, thy name is discount booze - in Kentucky!

4. Cutting my nephew Sam’s hair. He didn’t ask for it. He probably didn’t need it. But he got it.

5. A banner hanging from the side of an old church near Comerica Park in Detroit: “Pray Here For The Tigers & Lions.” You know your sports teams are in bad shape when even God needs a formal invitation.

6. Getting on the Jumbotron at the SkyDome. Or at least I think I did. If you squint. And believe. Look, it was blurry, but spiritually, I was there.

7. Manny Sanguillén personally handing out pulled pork sandwiches in center field at PNC Park. Baseball legend + BBQ? Yes, please.

8. That lunatic in a sedan on I-90 outside Buffalo who spent a solid ten miles matching my speed every time I tried to pass him, then slowing down to 45 mph again. At 2 a.m. Nothing screams “safe road trip vibes” like an impromptu psychological thriller in upstate New York.

9. Oh, and yeah—there was some baseball. Somewhere in there. Between the near-death beachball experience and bourbon-induced enlightenment.

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