After the success of my write-up on the way the schedule has broken and the dates of the games, as promised, I am going to give you some of the numbers around the Thirty before 30 experience (as of time of writing).

Now it would be easy for me to take the low hanging fruit and drop thirty’s all over you – I’m turning 30, there are 30 baseball teams, I’m seeing 30 stadiums, there are 30 days in my birth month (September), 30 in Roman numerals is XXX (nice), 30 minutes is half an hour, 30 is divisible by the sum of its digits and 30 is also the total number of major and minor keys in Western music (meaning you can compose any song you want) – but I’m not going to do that – let’s get going with this special post “Thirty before 30 – by the numbers”

Games by days of the week:

• Monday games: 4
• Tuesday games: 4 + the All-Star game
• Wednesday games: 4
• Thursday games: 2
• Friday games: 6
• Saturday games: 5
• Sunday games: 5

Games by the month:

• May games: 6
• June games: 11
• July games: 9 + the All-Star game
• August games: 4

Games by team (how many times I see the team play – once at home, the rest away):

• 6 games – Boston Red Sox
• 5 games – Oakland Athletics
• 4 games – Houston Astros, New York Mets, San Diego Padres
• 3 games – Los Angeles Dodgers, Miami Marlins, Colorado Rockies
• 2 games – Toronto Blue Jays, Milwaukee Brewers, St Louis Cardinals, Cleveland Indians Seattle Mariners, Washington Nationals, Philadelphia Phillies, Pittsburgh Pirates, Kansas City Royals, Detroit Tigers, Chicago White Sox, New York Yankees
• 1 game – Arizona Diamondbacks, San Francisco Giants, Texas Rangers, Cincinnati Reds

Divisional games (where a team plays a team within their league and division)

• American League East: 2
  July 12 – Red Sox vs Blue Jays, July 24 – Orioles vs Red Sox
• American League Central: 1
  June 11 – Chicago White Sox vs Cleveland Indians
• American League West: 2
  May 16 – Mariners vs Rangers, May 22 – Athletics vs Mariners
• National League East: 1
  July 31 – Nationals vs Mets
• National League Central: 2
  June 9 – Cubs vs Pirates, June 22 – Brewers vs Cardinals
• National League West: 3
  May 20 – Giants vs Rockies,  May 25 – Dodgers vs Padres, June 2 – Rockies vs Dodgers

Inter-league games (American League team vs National League Team

• June 17 – Rangers vs Rockies
• July 3 – Reds vs White Sox
• July 20 – Yankees vs Mets
• August 22 – Marlins Yankees

So that about wraps up where we currently are in terms of “Thirty before 30” by the numbers. Over the next couple of posts, I’ll be providing a bit more of a breakdown on the actual road trip, including maps, routes, interesting things I’ll pass through, and any other events that will go along with the adventure.

Stay tuned, and of course, please feel free to provide any feedback!

So the world series has come and gone and the MLB has a new Champion in the Houston Astros (congrats on beating LA). The series was a memorable one with instant classics in games 2 & 3, and the entire series going the distance to a thrilling game 7.

Since that day where the season ended, I’ve been busy planning this thing and getting my shit together, all whilst balancing my job (where I have only told one person my plans), a personal life and of course the silly season in Sydney – where it is summer so the days are extra long.

Alas, one important milestone was reached during all the excitement and craziness, and that is the release of the 2018 MLB schedule for each team, and with that, the putting together of a schedule for me to get around the country and complete the Thirty before 30 dream!

To preface, this actually took me a lot longer than anticipated to put the route together.

If you’ve read my blog, I had the rough idea that I would start in Seattle and zig-zag my way East until I ended up in Miami. Well…… you might say I’ve done that…..
You see, the way the schedule broke, and to optimise time for me to save enough coin (that is stay in Sydney and work) and also see each stadium before September 6 (my 30th birthday), I had to take a couple of shortcuts and a few flights – but fuck it, it’s my trip and I’ll make the rules.

For ease of read, I’ve organised by Month and listed the home team by full name (opponent in brackets). I’ll also provide a detailed breakdown and some interesting facts about how this schedule breaks in my next post (now that I’m back into writing).

So, without further hesitation, below are the games that I’ll be attending, the dates and also any flights (note that between each game I’ll be DRIVING – so there’s some big days on the road here). I’ve also put this into a spreadsheet, so if you’d like to see a calendar view for easy reading, please let me know and I’ll happily email it to you (you can also pick out any games that you might want to see me at).

Feel free to play the below whilst reading to really put you into the mood 😉

MAY

16th – Seattle Mariners (Texas Rangers)
20th – San Francisco Giants (Colorado Rockies)
22nd – Oakland Athletics (Seattle Mariners)
25th – Los Angeles Dodgers (San Diego Padres)
28th – San Diego Padres (Miami Marlins)
30th – Arizona Diamondbacks (Cincinnati Reds)

June

2nd – Colorado Rockies (Los Angeles Dodgers)
3rd – FLIGHT FROM DENVER TO HOUSTON
3rd – Houston Astros (Boston Red Sox) – Note I’ve had a look and this is an evening game. early flight for me to make it!
4th – FLIGHT FROM HOUSTON TO DENVER
7th – St Louis Cardinals (Miami Marlins)
9th – Chicago Cubs (Pittsburgh Pirates)
11th – Chicago White Sox (Cleveland Indians)
15th – Kansas City Royals (Houston Astros)
16th – FLIGHT FROM KANSAS CITY TO DALLAS
17th – Texas Rangers (Colorado Rockies)
18th – FLIGHT FROM DALLAS TO KANSAS CITY
20th – Minnesota Twins (Boston Red Sox)
22nd – Milwaukee Brewers (St Louis Cardinals)
25th – Detroit Tigers (Oakland Athletics)
29th – Toronto Blue Jays (Detroit Tigers)

July

3rd – Cincinnati Reds (Chicago White Sox)
6th – Cleveland Indians (Oakland Athletics)
8th – Pittsburgh Pirates (Philadelphia Phillies)
12th – Boston Red Sox (Toronto Blue Jays)
14th – New York Mets (Washington Nationals)
17th – WASHINGTON D.C FOR THE ALL STAR GAME!!!
20th – New York Yankees (New York Mets)
22nd – Philadelphia Phillies (San Diego Padres)
24th – Baltimore Orioles (Boston Red Sox)
31st – Washington Nationals (New York Mets)

August

11th – Atlanta Braves (Milwaukee Brewers)
20th – Tampa Bay Rays (Kansas City Royals)
22nd – Miami Marlins (New York Yankees)
23rd – DITCH MY CAR IN MIAMI SOMEHOW
24th – FLIGHT FROM MIAMI TO LOS ANGELES
25th – Los Angeles Angels (Houston Astros)

AUGUST 26th?? THE THIRTY BEFORE 30 IS COMPLETE!!