The offseason fun begins - GABA 2010, Prologue

It's done. The World Champion Yankees have thrown their $500 bills into the air in celebration (I know because I dislocated a knee trying to pick one of them up). The Royals, Nationals, and 12 other teams are wondering if their entire 2010 payroll will match A-Rod's salary (hint: probably not, unless the Brewers pull a Jedi mind trick and force the Royals to take on Jeff Suppan's contract).

Baseball season has officially ended. And yes, we'll spend the winter watching the John Lackey Sweepstakes or reading Stephen Strasburg's AFL pitching lines. But it's just not the same. I can't be satisfied eating peanuts and Cracker Jacks on the couch.

And here, baseball fans, is where the Great American Baseball Adventure comes in. On top of being the coolest idea since demolishing the Kingdome, it's also great off-season fodder.

For those of you not up to GABA speed yet, here's the primer. A few months ago, the economy ate my job in Florida (turns out the economy has big, nasty teeth and a total disregard for my budget.) I found myself at a career crossroads, digging deep to figure out what I wanted to do next (soup kitchens were NOT the answer).

That's when the dream portion of my brain (aka 'insanity') kicked in. I wanted to see baseball... and lots of it.

And so the Great American Baseball Adventure was born - a 2010 trip designed to go to every full-season major and minor league park in this great land of ours (plus Toronto, of course). 150 games in less than six months - an incessant maze of maps, small towns, Americana, and hopefully, the sponsorship to pull it all off.

The GABA even got some love from a few message boards (thank you, Astros fans and Houston Sports Talk radio).

But then, work called again. I jumped right back into the fray, loading up the truck and hauling it to Milwaukee. Yes, the land of cheese, beer, and frickin' freezing temperatures... a perfect fit for someone who hasn't lived north of Memphis in his conscious lifetime, don't you think? Actually, it's been great... but it's early November and the first snowfall hasn't even come. Ask me about this Milwaukee move again in January, and I may throw up all over myself.

Point is, work pays the bills a little better than my dreams do. So GABA 2010 goes the way of the Atari 2600 and the Montreal Expos.

Or does it?

The idea got such great reaction from friends and family, and I had already lost so much sleep trying to plan Albuquerque-to-Denver all-nighters, that I decided to plan it out anyway. At worst, it'll help pass the time til pitchers and catchers report. At best, maybe somebody with lots of time and money sees this and takes the trip. (If you're reading this and you have time and money in abundance, could you spare a little 'charity' for the trip organizer?)

GABA 2010 lives! Every day in November, I'll post the itinerary, week by week, with some details about each city and game. Remember, this thing's all about tons of baseball, and tons of fun.

So read it over, analyze, critique, and gimme some feedback. At least it'll keep your mind from wandering to nasty thoughts of watching hockey.