Anyone up for a real-life MLB baseball game?

[John]

Count me in!

I was hoping the thread-starter would join us! So now we've got John, Michael C., Tyler, and Jim. I already feel we have enough people to justify a trip, but I'd surely love to have more. Who will be next to join us?

[Borealis]

Well, as one with the summer free, I do find this very tempting! I'll say maybe as I'm looking at a variety of summer options. I'll give you a firm answer when you are ready to buy tickets, John. I've been feeling road trip and... well... The Giants are in DC for the 4th... and... I could make a whole mid-west baseball circuit... Cleveland... Detroit... Milwaukee... Minnesota... Hmmmmm... Damn All-Star game kills that whole next week!

[Lions]

Anyone know why plane tickets are so expensive right now? I checked on this over the weekend and since my wife won't be able to come, it might be hard to justify $500 for a 1-day trip by myself.

[John]

I'll give you a firm answer when you are ready to buy tickets, John.

See if you can provide a firm commitment before we reach that point, Michael. It will make it easier for me come ticket-purchasing time if I know ahead of time who all is committed to coming.

Anyone know why plane tickets are so expensive right now? I checked on this over the weekend and since my wife won't be able to come, it might be hard to justify $500 for a 1-day trip by myself.

I Googled your very question, Frank, and came up with one possible answer that lists a couple of websites you may want to try for cheaper tickets.

[Ghosts]

Count me in, at least for ticket buying purposes. There's a chance we're going to be traveling *back* to Ohio from Chicago that weekend for my pop's birthday, but there's a pretty decent chance we're staying here and I have just obtained wife pre-approval. So it's a go.

So, if it's OK with the commish, I'll absolutely buy a ticket and if I have to back out, I'll donate it to the group to scalp for beer money (or for the inevitable guy who will claim, "I'd love to go but I didn't get a ticket!").

Just make sure I'm seated far away from the Codgers ... there's near a decade's worth of bad blood and I think there could be fisticuffs.

[John]

That's great, Jon. I'm counting you in. Don't worry about purchasing your own ticket; I'll do the buying for everyone once it's time to buy.

So now we've got John, Michael C., Tyler, Jim, and Jon. Five is a great start, but I think we can do better! Who's next?

[Apollos]

Sounds awesome, guys - wish like heck I could join in. Consider this my pre-approval to plan another one of these next summer as I'd love to join the group after I get back to the States. With a sister and brother in law living in Chicago, I don't really need another excuse to travel there anyway, so I can always make the trip if the next game happens to be in Chi-town as well. Hope y'all have a great time and give us a read out complete with photos after the festivities!

[Mike Dunn]

I have just obtained wife pre-approval.

The crucial hurdle .

[Jason]

Are you guy just going up to Chicago for the day or planning to stay I've the weekend? There is an outside chance I could make the trip from CT - particularly if this next month goes as planned. I won't be able to commit until I know more on the business front though.

If I can't make this trip I would love to do another next season - maybe Wrigley? I have always wanted to see that park. If we want to get crazy maybe we could rent a conference room in a hotel one day and do "live" PEBA draft - maybe the first 2-3 rounds anyway and then take a hiatus to the next weekend. Assuming we had laptops and wireless access, I can't see how this couldn't work!

[Tyler]

Are you guy just going up to Chicago for the day or planning to stay I've the weekend?

As a resident of the city, I'd be down for any additional activities if there's enough interest. I'd even offer up my couch to anyone who doesn't mind some good ol' fashioned couch-surfing.

Fun, silly speculation for next year if this year goes well: A dream series would be Indians-Cubs, and it might not be crazy to see such a series on the schedule in 2013. The teams last played each other in Chicago in 2009, and with interleague play year-round next year there's actually probably a pretty good chance. Each team plays 6 inter-league series each year, and MLB will be likely getting rid of the "rivalry" matchups. There'll still be an Indians-Reds series and a Cubs-White Sox series, but if my math is correct the Indians and Cubs are "due" to play each other next year.

Or, y'know, we could just opt for the very likely Indians-White Sox weekend game, or any Indians game to give the east-coasters better travel.

[John]

Are you guy just going up to Chicago for the day or planning to stay I've the weekend?

I most certainly plan to make a weekend of it. The option to show up just for the game will be there for those who are time-limited, but for the rest of us, I'm hoping we'll be able to spend Friday evening, all day Saturday, and Sunday morning together. This will obviously mean that we'll need to determine lodging arrangements for those of us not from the Chicago area. Perhaps we can pool together and get cheaper rates if we all sign up to stay at one hotel.

I would surely love to do this again in the future, and yes, a Cubs game would make complete sense since we're doing a White Sox game this time around.

[Ghosts]

I have just obtained wife pre-approval.

The crucial hurdle .

With a six month old baby, the key is to wait for that moment that comes once or twice during the week when things are not utter chaos, nobody (as in baby or adult female) is crying, and the baby has had a good day ... and then you pounce, as success is nearly assured.

[Greg A]

Count me in. IF worse comes to worse and I can't go I will just give you the money. But seeing that I live in near suburbs of the City I don't see anything stopping me, but some last second family function. If you guys are making a weekend of it and you want to see a nice stadium (that is not Wrigley, because can get $$$ to get a ton of tickets together) Milwaukee about an hour drive and has a gorgeous stadium.

In my IBL baseball league we did this the last season Montreal was in the league up to Montreal. It was a great time and I now have 2 guys I go see games with every year now.

[John]

Alright, we're now at six! Michael C., Tyler, Jim, Jon, and Greg join me in giving solid confirmations. An excellent turnout so far.

Now let's see the non-Chicagoan step up to the plate! Hey, I'm driving a long way, myself, so no excuses! You've got two months to plan your trip. If the wife won't let you out alone, have her come along!

[Borealis]

Are you guy just going up to Chicago for the day or planning to stay I've the weekend? There is an outside chance I could make the trip from CT - particularly if this next month goes as planned. I won't be able to commit until I know more on the business front though.

If I can't make this trip I would love to do another next season - maybe Wrigley? I have always wanted to see that park. If we want to get crazy maybe we could rent a conference room in a hotel one day and do "live" PEBA draft - maybe the first 2-3 rounds anyway and then take a hiatus to the next weekend. Assuming we had laptops and wireless access, I can't see how this couldn't work!

This would be awesome! You know, if the next draft is 6 months from the last, that takes us to the end of September... there's still baseball!!!