July 2, 2004 3:02 PM MT - Hey guys, many stadiums have helped cut the costs of the trip by giving us complimentary tickets but we finally got a ticket that we did not really want.  Mike is the guilty one, he got a speeding ticket from Officer Garcia of Washington State Patrol who was on a power trip because he did not only give us a ticket he thought he was so good he pulled over another guy at the same time.  He was proud of himself.  Anyways we arrived in Concord, California early Wednesday afternoon where we met up with Grandma and Grandpa Bleskey.  Of course the table was already filled with snacks, fruit and other munchies and the smell of lasagna filled the house.  Always seeing Grandma and Grandpa is a plus, but it was a bummer they could not make it to the game with us.  We visited and told them about the trip as Grandma always wants to be kept updated and Grandpa shared some of his baseball moments from the old days of Warren Spahn in Milwaukee.  We arrived at Network Associates Coliseum, home of the worlds largest foul territory, where we were greeted by Uncle Stefan and our number one fan, Aunt Janice.  It brought back memories of when we used to meet at the ballpark when I was attending San Francisco State University, Wednesday night games, two dollar tickets and dollar hot dogs.  Although from previous experiences I have learned that fifty percent of the hot dogs are not consumed but rather piled with condiments and then used as projectiles through the stands at the other teams fans.  Not to worry we kept a good amount of ammunition ourselves but ended up eating them when no threat was shown.  So we picked up our complimentary tickets at will call thanks to Matt Bennett and the Angels organization and spent the first two innings in the seats below and then headed up towards the top to meet the rest of the gang from up north.  After making a long trek themselves Dad and Joe made it to the game where we also were greeted by Cousin Karen and Virgus.  Always great to see a game with dad, especially when the Angels are playing.  While watching the game we ran into the loudest and annoying fans during the whole trip, and of course they sat right behind us, but I guess you can not complain for $2 seats.  The game was kept close with a 2-2 tie after Adam Kennedys 2- run homer, but Oakland scored 2 in the 8^th.  The Angels blew their chance by getting shut down in the 9th after Vladimir Guerrero ran himself into an out by rounding first base too far and got hosed when trying to return safely.  Of course immediately after the 3^rd out was made my phone rang and Grandpa was there to rub in the loss, but it is ok because the season is only half way done.  We headed back to the parking lot where we removed the excess luggage and had Dad and Joe take it back home to give us a little more room for the last stretch of the trip.  Then came the traditional ritual where Aunt Janice was the honoree of placing the Oakland completion sticker on the back window.  Look forward to seeing you all again Tuesday at the Giants game.  We said our goodbyes to the Coliseum and Mount Davis (A section of seats added for Raiders games that have a view close to that of your ant farm at home) and headed back to Concord where we slept for the night.  The next morning we got a wake-up call, but this one was different; this one was the smell of French toast being cooked from the kitchen.  Thanks Grandma!  Since time was a factor we had to leave early and head towards Denver a total of almost 1300 miles in two days.  You may think that is nuts but tomorrow night we have to be in Phoenix a total of 900 miles away.  Check back for an update from Coors Field home of the Colorado Rockies.  Talk to you guys later.  - Jeff         

July 1, 2004 5:04 PM PT - The Rocky marathon has officially been launched on the BA2K4 trip.  Sorry, you can not tune into your local station and watch one of the best sports series ever.  On a side note Miss Jacobs Field is coming for the title of Miss Baseball with over 40 votes received today.  The mayor of Cleveland must have rallied his people to vote.  Anyways got to run Rocky II is starting at 5:05 PM.  Look back later for an update from Oakland where we got to meet up with baseball adventures number one fan, Janice Schmitz along with some great competition in the home-cooked meals by Grandma and Grandpa Bleskey. -Jeff

June 30, 2004 2:13 PM PT - Were driving, were driving, were driving, were stopping, just kidding, still driving.  Howdy yall! I am writing you from the wonderful 5 freeway in northern California.  God I love being sorta home.  Since Mike last wrote, we have driven through five new states including the wonderfully boring south Dakota, beautiful Montana, and Idaho where we met up with my brother Gary and a few of his buddies from Moscow Idaho.  Dave Ting was kind enough to let us stay at his place.  On top of giving us shelter, he let us use his washer and dryer, set up poker night on the unusual Sunday night for us, and fed us.  When I say fed us, I mean he cooked oysters and hot dogs and then barbequed the greatest ribs in the history of barbequing ribs.  Emeril who?  He promised to post the recipe on our website so keep an eye out.  While in Moscow we also hung out with a few of Gary and Dave friends, so here are my shout outs. Mikes 2 year old drinks like a fish, Rob is the doctor in town, Stiles has a big mouth, James kicked my butt in poker, Lance and his wife have a huge kid and Lance took my friend home with him.  Yeah I dont about Lance either. Joes boy is massive too.  I think they are putting something in the water up in Moscow.  On top of poker and the barbeque, we got to experience the first annual barbeque toss in Daves backyard.  Dave won the competition out of a field of 1 participant(s).  He lost points on style after taking a nasty roll down the stairs, but he recovered with a world record breaking toss of 4 feet.  Nice toss Dave.  Keep training, Im coming for your title next year.  After sleeping off the long night, Gary and Dave took us to The Breakfast Club for a well, breakfast.  We said our good byes and left for Seattle.  It was a long drive through a lot of nothing, but we made it in time to barbeque again with Brian Focker Crawford, Chris Badilla, and his cousin and girlfriend (miss Safeco).  Although the game was uneventful, the stadium was an overall good experience.  As you may know Safeco has a retractable roof, but this roof is completely separate from the stadium making the stadium open unlike Miller Park or Minute Maid.  The roof is like a mobile awning that slides over the stadium like a giant umbrella.  The Mariners lost the game to the Rangers 8-5 but there was a streaker in the 6^th inning which brought life to the game.  On our drive through Oregon we stopped at a few minor league parks and in Salem-Keizer we met Steve.  Steve works at Volcano Stadium and allowed us to come in and walk around for a bit.  Thanks Steve.  We are now currently on our way to the Oakland game.  Check back in a couple of days for another update.  Adios amigos! - Tucker    

June 29, 2004 12:10 PM PT - (Continued from previous update) The Badlands is a National Park that we drove through.  Before entering the park itself we took a bathroom break and ran into a couple bikers who showed interest in our car.  We talked for a bit and left, thinking that was all we would see of them.  In the park we took one stop to get a close up view and the bikers stopped at the same spot so we said hello to them there.  The last stretch of the park we were right behind them as we exited the park and passed them, waving for what we thought would be our last goodbye, more on that in a bit.  We got to Wall Drug, which is a mile long drug store offering everything including restaurants and different things to entertain an otherwise bored traveler.  We stopped for lunch and ordered buffalo.  It was the first time we all had it, except Tucker had chicken, and it was not too bad.  Right when we ordered we were treated with yet another surprise, the bikers showed up to eat at the same place we were at.  Of course we all shared a laugh and a few more stories and we though at this time we had to give them one of our shirts and the favor was then returned by Danny and Brandy, yes we were on a first name basis, giving us shirts of their own.  We told them we were headed towards Mount Rushmore and they told us about a scheduled blasting at the Crazy Horse Memorial.  We saw Mount Rushmore and headed towards Crazy Horse where we spent the four hours walking through the museum and tailgating in the parking lot, making soup and chili.  The people in the parking lot, who came to see the blasting saw what we were doing and came over to see what was up.  Jeff and Jason talked to a family from Detroit while Tucker and I entertained a family from Florida on their way to Alaska.  The group on their way to Alaska bought two shirts and the family from Detroit bought six.  We talked so much with the Alaska group (John, Karen, Debbie, Tom) that they actually invited me to meet them in Calgary on July 9^th to finish the journey with them.  Very tempting.  The blasting started and we all were excited.  Before we actually got settled in to watch the rest of it, it was over.  Very anticlimactic but I think we were all glad we stayed anyways.  Supposedly we saw 187 tons of rock blow off of this mountain.  After the blasting Jason went to throw our trash away and guess who he ran into.  You guessed it, or maybe you did not, but Danny and Brandy crossed our path again.  This time we all greeted each other with hugs and took more pictures.  As we left Danny left us with this advice.  It went something like this, picture this with a group of bikers behind him:  -You guys go home, go back to school, get a good education, get really good jobs, pay your taxes, pay your social security. . .so we can keep (riding) for the rest of our lives!-  After the farewell it was off to Moscow, Idaho where Tucker will update you all in a couple days.  Until then, take care, love you all and we will be home soon enough. - Mike

June 28, 2004 4:19 PM PT - Just a quick note to inform some of you guys.  We got an e-mail from a friend telling us to post more pictures.  Just a reminder if you click on each individual photo on the photo page it will bring up other photos from that same venue.  Check them out and enjoy. Well, well, well, the good times keep rolling.  It has been 36 days since the 3 originals (Jason, Jeff and Tucker) left home, and only 8 stadiums lie in our path until completion of the baseball adventure.  We woke early on June 22^nd to allow us to pay a visit to the Negro League Baseball Museum.  Although it is not a hall of fame, it pays homage to the many greats who were not allowed to display their skills and talents with the rest of America in the major leagues because of the color of their skin.  To hear about players such as Josh Gibson, who hit over 900 home runs in his negro league career, not having the chance to give Babe Ruth a run for his money makes you wonder how different this game would have been if there were no segregation.  The museum offers great facts through informative displays, videos and artifacts of old jerseys, trophies and equipment.  To hear stories on how players such as Satchel Paige, Cool Papa Bell, and Jackie Robinson would travel on a Negro all-star team playing white teams and fill stadiums to record capacities was not out of the ordinary.  But it was sad to hear that when these players left the stadium they were not allowed in local restaurants, bars or even to occupy a room in the town motel.  People would come from all over to see them play, but disgrace them anywhere away from the stadium.  Upon conclusion of the museum you walk through a field of legends which is comprised of an all-time Negro leagues team of life-size bronze statues.  A great place to visit and definitely recommended to any baseball fan that may come near Kansas City.  We headed on our way out and were stopped by a pedestrian in the crosswalk who asked us if we were on a baseball road trip.  He then introduced himself; his name was Rami and told us he recognized Jason from the beard page.  Rami is an individual who is completing the same trip we are and is documenting his trip on rotoworld.com.  We have written back and forth to one another a couple times trying to see if we would possibly have the same game.  Overlooking the fact that we were both in KC at the same time we thought we would be given the opportunity to meet one another in Anaheim.  What are the odds?  To talk to someone and then run into one another.  This trip has revolved around the greatest game in the world, baseball but has brought great times and odd coincidences.  Along with the Negro League Museum we took the time to visit the Jazz Museum, which was in the same building.  This paid tribute to all the jazz musicians throughout its history.  Offering different audio tours and examples of music along with hands on activities such as using a mix board or creating a harmony, it provided us all with a pleasant break from the rest of our trip.  Aunt Janice would be proud that we made time for other things on our adventure.  After the museum it was off to Kauffmann Stadium in Kansas City to see the mighty Royals take on the fearsome Tigers.  Yeah, this was the game we were dreading.  This late in the trip and we get to see the Royals versus the Tigers, talk about a drag.  That whole mindset changed when we pulled into the parking lot.  We parked next to a guy who immediately showed interest in our trip.  His name is Kerry and he works for a local newspaper in Pleasant Hill.  We got to talking and seemed to almost instantly become friends.  He told us that he was supposed to meet up with some friends and would have extra tickets behind home plate and if we did not mind waiting he would give them to us.  Of course, anything free we will not turn down, especially tickets.  Just to be safe though, because Kerry only had two extra seats we met Scott who sold us tickets for five dollars a piece, kind of insurance for us to have a seat. We stuck around for a bit and exchanged stories and after a few beers made our way into the park, with a couple new friends.  As we got into the park we went to our seats and ran into Rami one more time then went to our seats that we had next to Kerry.  There we met DJ, a friend of Kerrys and settled in to watch the game.  The entire game conversation flowed and Kerry shared a lot of stories with us as we did with him.  The Tigers ended up winning the game, a blowout, 12-3 I think, but that was not the story of the day.  The story was the people we met.  Kerry showed us more hospitality than we could have ever expected.  Treating me to two Kansas City Brickyard Beers and each of us a plush Royals ball, he made sure we did not go home empty handed.  In return to his gestures we got him a Royals shot glass because he collects them and saw one that he liked.  As a side note, we got the chance to take a picture with former umpire Steve Palermo.  If you dont know who he is take the time to look him up on the internet, he has a great story. At the conclusion of the game Kerry wanted us to go to guest relations where we would sign the Royals guestbook.  Here we were treated like kings.  We met Jim and Frank there and were given more than we expected.  We got certificates commemorating our first visit to Kauffmann Stadium declaring us official Royals fans, car flags, a bobble head, a hat, and pins for each of us.  Not to sound corny but I guess you could say we got the Royal treatment.  We went to the parking lot and parted ways with Kerry who left us with the suggestion of checking out a nearby minor league stadium, Community America Park, home of the Kansas City T-Bones.  We took his advice and headed towards there but not before I did a quick walk around Arrowhead Stadium, where the Chiefs play.  The two stadiums share the same parking lot.  When we got to the minor league park we saw that they had a game that evening and didnt plan on stopping until we saw that it was bobble head night.  Of course, with the craze of bobble heads going around we had to get a ticket and get one, not knowing what it was.  So we did, $4.50 got us a seat on the berm, an Al Gallagher bobble head (yeah, we dont know who he is either) and another game to add to our list. The T-Bones won the game 7-3.  Now it was time for the long haul to Seattle for game number 23.  On our way there our first stop was Oklahoma City one more time.  Even though Jeff, Jason and Tucker had already gone, I had to see what all the hype was about Bricktown.  It is all legit, truly the best minor league park I have seen.  Just around the corner was the Oklahoma City Memorial, so we took the time so I could check that out too.  The next stop was Sioux City where we saw Lewis and Clark Park where the Sioux City Explorers play.  The stadium was not anything that I would write home about. . . actually, I guess it was but it was still very plain nonetheless.  Our next gas stop we paid homage to our trip hero Paul.  Paul Richards, the camera guy, works for a company called Tradewinds, which makes iced tea.  He told us that we can find it at a convenience store called Kum and Go.  It was not until now that we found one so we had to stop to try it.  Hey Paul, Snapple does not have anything on you!   The drive through South Dakota had more to offer than we had thought.  In my opinion, South Dakota should be known for the most pointless tourist attractions off the highway.  The first thing we came across was the Corn Palace.  This was a building devoted to corn.  Yes, it had a corn museum and a corn gift shop.  Even got a smashed Corn Palace penny.  Dee Dee, how about that for your collection?  The building itself is adorned with corn all over the outside of it that is changed out annually.  This year it was a tribute to Lewis and Clark.  Driving through the rest of South Dakota we came across the best advertised drug store in the world, Wall Drug.  Just on our part of the drive we counted 94 ads, and that was not including the thirty miles we skipped to drive through the Badlands. (2nd half of this update will be placed on later this evening so check back) -Mike

June 23, 2004 4:15 PM CT- After leaving Busch we had a long haul ahead of us somewhere around 940 miles to get to Houston.  We already missed our originally planned game against the Angels because we stayed around to see Griffey in St. Louis.  Not a very exciting drive as we already traveled along the same road the only difference was we were going the opposite direction.  We finally arrived in Houston at Minute Maid Park home of the 2004 All-Star game, which is nestled in the outskirts of downtown.  Not the best looking stadium from the outside as it appeared to be a convention center of some sort with a giant glass window.  Surrounding the stadium were an assortment of painted boots each decorated differently to represent each baseball team.  There were also generic ones to advertise the all-star game, check out the pictures on the photo page under the Ameriquest Photo Tab.  We finally made it inside where the temperature dropped about 20 degrees upon arrival into the air conditioned retractable stadium which was obviously closed to keep the environment nice.  Mike says he hates domes because of the use of Astroturf and I understand now why they use it.  Although it has a retractable roof the grass was taking its toll from the indoors.  It was very thin and patchy and I think I would prefer to play on Astroturf rather then dirt, what does Mike know anyways.  Another odd thing about the stadium was that in dead center there is a flag pole in fair territory which is on top of a little hill.  Although we did not get to see Andy Pettite or Roger Clemens, the game was rather exciting.  The Pirates took an early lead in the fourth scoring four runs but the Astros answered in the fifth scoring five, enabling us to see the Minute Maid Train travel along the left field wall after a home run.  The Astros would later win the game with a final score of 7-5.  Upon our exit we paid visits to the bronze statues of Jeff Bagwell and Craig Biggio and the Conoco Gas Pump which keeps track of the total number of Astros home runs hit there since its grand opening.  We headed out of the air conditioned ballpark into the humid night to get to the car where we finally end up at a Homestead Suites and called it a night.  It was nice the following day to travel only 200 miles to get to our next game, the Seattle Mariners vs. the Texas Rangers in Arlington, Texas.  Although the stadium is celebrating its tenth year it does not appear to be aging at all.  I liked the way the outfield pavilion looked with the right field having a classic baseball feel with the grandstand appearance, while center field had more of a retro touch with white facades dominating your attention.  It truly is a great park to see a ballgame, and we were again taken care of thanks to Seattle Mariners Pitcher J.J. Putz.  Thanks again.  The game was a beating as the Rangers would pull out a lopsided victory over the Mariners 10-2.  After the game we were approached by possibly the nicest fans we have yet to meet on the trip.  We updated the decals and stickers and headed on our way.  You always hear people say Dont mess with Texas, well we did not.  We got in there saw 2 ballgames and got out.  We are currently on our way to Kansas City where we plan onvisiting the Negro League Baseball Museum and seeing a Royals game tomorrow afternoon.  Always look forward to all your notes and messages.  Dont forget to vote in the new Miss Baseball poll, and last thing Happy Birthday Mom! Wish we were there to celebrate with you. <3 Jeff