One week from today, Al and I will be traveling to Omaha, Nebraska to see several games of the College World Series. This marks the tenth summer that Al and I have taken some kind of baseball pilgrimage. In 2007, our trip consisted of playing some catch at Rebel Park, seeing a game in New Market, and visiting older daughter Becky who was serving an internship with the Salem Avalanche (now the Salem Red Sox) of the Class A Carolina League. She gave us a first class tour of LewisGale Field which included the press box, clubhouse, and dugout. She escorted us onto the field and I remember very clearly that both Al and I were awed to be standing on a professional field, albeit a minor league one.

We basically repeated that trip the next year, but included hitting lessons with coach-extraordinaire Mo Weber. When younger daughter Sarah began attending Salisbury University, we traveled across the Bay Bridge to see her and take in a Delmarva Shorebirds game with Lee Maye, a math professor of hers and an avid baseball fan. We repeated this trip a couple of times, always pausing to play ball in Home Run Baker Park in Trappe, Maryland.

Part of our 2011 pilgrimage to Salisbury included the opportunity to take in the Shorebirds game from the press box.

Our once-in-a-lifetime pilgrimage to Spring Training lasted for 16 days in 2012. We saw five exhibition games, two college games, two minor league workouts, and even a 13-15 Pony League game!

Last year, of course was our trip to the Hillerich & Bradsby Bat Factory in Louisville, Kentucky.

These latter two trips were chronicled on this blog as will be our trip to the College World Series. You can also bet that we will dig up the best barbecue in Omaha. Regular readers know exactly what I’m talking about!