In the summer of 2011 I accomplished it. With the help of many old friends and support from new ones across the country, I saw a ballgame in every major league baseball stadium. It wasn't easy. Complicating my adventure was a skinny wallet, a two month timeframe, and my insistence that the trip be accomplished using trains and bicycle as the only modes of transportation.
It began at a bar and grill way out in the norths of Portland, OR. The winter rains had pounded me into submission. I had to do something, anything. On the large screen television across the way was the Chicago Cubs home opener. Resting in my lap was Paul Theroux's Ghost Train to the Eastern Star. Smacking the window at my back was rain -- more rain. Water, in this case, providing fuel for my fire.
I quickly jotted down notes in my moleskine: "trains to stadiums", "sponsored by amtrak", "take bike?", "COST", "quit work". Could I pull this off? The teams' schedules had to align perfectly. Was I to start in Seattle and head east or south? Where would I fit in Phoenix, AZ? The east coast should be easy, I thought. I needed a map of the Amtrak routes.
The pieces began falling into place. Most of what follows is true.
