You’re doing what?

By Daren Many

SEATTLE — We think our conversation started on a walking trip to the Evel Knievel jump site on the Snake River canyon in Twin Falls, Idaho. Fitting place, really, since we’re about to take our own huge jump into the unknown.

Troy and I had already been on a trip to Europe together and we both had the travel bug. I probably started the conversation because of my love for the game. The great thing about Troy is that he’s always up for an adventure. How many friends do you have that talk a big game but never act on it? Well, that’s not Troy.  He’ll do anything.

Our Europe trip seemed like it materialized out of thin air. Going to Europe for three weeks is one thing, but visiting every MLB stadium in the country in one summer? It’s one of those things you talk about — how great it would be and how it would change your life — but actually doing it?  Nearly impossible. You need some money. You need a huge chunk of time. You have to think about the other people in your life.

So when the subject was first discussed, I think Europe was fresh in our minds and we were holding on to the infection that is travel. Nothing at the initial stages of conversation really suggested that this would even be possible. But it was Troy and it was me. We don’t let things like that get in our way. We kept talking about it. The talk turned into quasi-planning sessions, which morphed into deeper discussions about actually making this thing work.

Fast forward to a night in Twin Falls. At some point we convinced Nolan to join in on this foray, and now we’re sitting in his dining room a mere six days from our first game. We’re talking anxiously about what’s to come.  It’s a time of mass confusion. Cameras, laptops, Web site design meetings, phone calls, beer, more Web site design meetings and research. Lots of research.

This isn’t just watching baseball. It’s a creation of massive proportions. It’s not a Hollywood blockbuster, but it might as well be for three guys who never had aspirations of making a documentary. Troy’s journalism experience is the gas that fuels this engine, but even Troy is not an experienced filmmaker, so that makes us even less than not experienced. Whatever that may be. 

Our time is short and our first game is only days away. We are on the road and there’s no turning back. We wouldn’t want to, anyway.

Mets: 5.5 Games Back

(There’s more on this and our other adventures at BaseCrawl.com.)