A new year, a new Guide trailer. Please enjoy.
Once again, we have reached the time of year when I write out where I have been and where I plan to go in the coming year, for year five, the planned final year of field research for True Blue LA.
Wait. Final? Are you quitting?
Never, but there comes a moment where prudence is required.
If I could take a moment, I have had the adventure of a lifetime traveling to Dodger games since April 2021, and as a professional since January 2022. If you told me at the Oakland
Coliseum that an evening out after being vaccinated for COVID, where Cody Bellinger broke his leg, would be the starting gun to an adventure that would take me all over the world, including Game 7 of the World Series, I would look at you as if you had gone mad.
For five years, the movements of my life have been dictated in part by the baseball schedule.
I will complete the circuit in 2026. Then, once I look out at the Philadelphia skyline after my visit, I anticipate a feeling of quiet accomplishment.
Once the entire baseball 2027 schedule is published, I will get to go where I want to go, rather than having my mindset be “where have I not been yet and how do I mark that location off my list?”
If and when baseball expands, I will return to the road, be it Las Vegas, Nashville, Salt Lake City, or Portland. But generally limiting myself to the Western divisions or wherever Mom wants to go (for as long as she wants to go) is a state of play that I am genuinely looking forward to.
But before we start our final run, let us check the final score of my visits during the Dodgers’ 2025 title run. The table will look best in landscape mode if you are reading this article from a mobile device.
The results of the 2025 itinerary of field research for the Guide
10-6 — some might even call that effort a work day (if they were a lawyer or in retail).
Woof. That September losing streak built character and honestly tested my sanity a little. Still, things worked out in the end.
Being present to watch the Dodgers in three countries and two continents in 2025 is the weirdest flex I will ever have as a Dodger fan. Honestly, I am surprised how often I saw Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Clayton Kershaw pitch in the last campaign. It’s not seeing Walker Buehler more often than his mother in 2021, but considering I try to halve my workload when compared to the 2021 amateur campaign, proportions matter.
Being at Kershaw’s actual regular-season farewell is something I do not think I will ever forget.
If one factors in the inaugural amateur year of 2021, the Dodgers are now 62-38 with me in attendance in 27 major league cities and Tokyo. The team is also 2-0 in postseason play with me in attendance. Admittedly, Game 7 of the 2025 World Series has infinitely more cachet than Game 2 of the 2021 National League Division Series in San Francisco.
In my preview of the 2026 season, I previously wrote that the road schedule was a bit odd but on par with the 2025 schedule. That observation aside, I have finally set my travel dates for the coming season with hotels, flights, and game tickets in hand (or in process thereof).
Accordingly, it is time to complete this five-year mission. I plan to visit my final three MLB stadiums in 2026: Daikin Park (Houston), New Yankee Stadium (the Bronx), and Citizens Bank Park (Philadelphia). Considering the Dodgers’ recent history in these venues, I will have my work cut out for me as a visiting Dodgers fan.
The 2026 itinerary of field research for the Guide
Behold — my travels to complete the circuit. Again, the table will look best in landscape mode if you are reading this article from a mobile device. In the grand scheme of things, I am well ahead of schedule this year compared to the past couple of years.
I plan to attend 17 games in seven cities over five trips. I could take or leave going to St. Louis, but considering that weekend, I would just be sitting at home before flying to Houston, for a few hundred more, I would rather watch the Dodgers in person.
Admittedly, while it would be nice to return to Toronto (April), Minneapolis (May), or Cincinnati (September), sometimes there is valor in saying no. My funds are not infinite, as my tax return reminds me on a now-annual basis. Besides, I really should not press my luck (Toronto) or wait until the next cycle (Minneapolis).
I had originally planned to go to San Diego this season, but the Murakami signing in Chicago swayed me. Moreover, I get the chance to meet up with friends in Chicago, which also prompted my return to Milwaukee. Molly Knight is doing an event with her readers in three ballparks in Chicago and Milwaukee over Memorial Day weekend, and I figured it would be fun to tag along for the Milwaukee/Dodgers portion of the trip.
Therefore, I have adopted an “I settle all family business (sans the violence)” mindset for this campaign.
With that idea in mind, I am going to do something I once planned to challenge David Vassegh to do: I am going to challenge Bernie’s Slide in Milwaukee, while also ghost-hunting at the Pfister Hotel. Apparently, to do the Slide, I need a buddy, which was not the rule when I last visited. Am I going to be blasting the Ghostbusters Theme on a loop while in Milwaukee? Probably.
Am I going to enlist the help of others to get a cheesesteak from the visitors’ clubhouse in Philadelphia? By hook or by crook, I will.
Mom did not want to go back to Dodger Stadium in 2026, and I do not blame her for that decision one bit. Accordingly, she has chosen Denver for our annual trip in 2026, which should be fun. There is a mostly-zero probability I conclude my 2026 shenanigans in Cincinnati, but for now, what you see above is the plan.
While I hope to achieve a goal I first set out to do in 2021 this year, by definition, it will not be as epic as completing the lifelong bucket list items I managed to complete in 2025, when I went to Japan. I am very much looking forward to completing my circuit of MLB ballparks this season.
“Home” Games
Since I have returned to the Bay Area, and with the now-Sacramento Athletics’ departure from Oakland, the closest ballpark to me is, once again, Oracle Park. Joy.
My general rule for Oracle Park remains: I do not go to games in San Francisco unless I am with friends and family, because I have been to Oracle Park far too many times for any novelty to remain. I covered Oracle Park in its Guide entry. It’s fine, even though I serve as a personification of the living bane of the San Francisco Giants, who are 8-15 in my presence at Oracle Park.
If folks wish to go to Oracle Park and invite me, here are the dates for the upcoming year:
- April 21-23
- September 25-27 (weekend series, regular season finale)
While Sutter Health Park in West Sacramento, CA, is about an hour away, I will still not attend when the Dodgers are there for two reasons.
First, I still do not want to. Second, while the Dodgers will, unfortunately, visit Sacramento in 2026, I will write up what can best be described as an anti-Guide entry explaining why Dodgers fans should not give John Fisher their hard-earned money. Moreover, even the Triple-A Oklahoma City Comets will visit Sutter Health Park while I am on the East Coast, completing the circuit.
Please holler if you wish me to tag along on any adventure to any of the above-listed ballparks.
If folks want to join me on the road, please reach out as soon as possible—the more, the merrier, as I always say. The meetups I had in Tokyo, Baltimore, and Seattle were great fun.
I have been at this long enough that I am getting recognized more often in the field, which is still both confusing and neat. As always, please say hello, unless I am in the bathroom or eating.
As for upcoming Guide entries, given that the Dodgers return to Detroit and Rate Field this year, you can bet I will have new or updated entries ready for potential travelers. Please look forward to it!
