So THAT’s What A 58-Day Road Trip Looks Like

No, no; don’t worry. I’m not talking about any road trip of mine (thankfully).

I’m talking about The Biloxi Shuckers, a Minor League baseball team whose recent travels/travails are wonderfully cataloged in this very long, very fantastic piece from ESPN’s David Fleming.

Sure, minor league baseball is a strange and nomadic thing, and about as far from life in the Major Leagues as you can get. But these guys just took “nomadic” to a whole new level — a major league level, you might say.

Here’s the set-up:

ON THE ROAD AGAIN… and again and again and again. The Biloxi Shuckers spent two months of the Southern League season everywhere but home. This is the epic story of their 54-game, 2,800-mile odyssey.

…After relocating from Huntsville, Alabama, at the end of last season, the team faced a string of political, financial and environmental snafus, all of which delayed the opening of the Shuckers’ new stadium. In fact, right now the ballpark is little more than a shell, with no seats or grass, and center field is submerged in swampy rainwater. The team played its first four games in Pensacola, Florida, going 3-1. And tomorrow morning, the Shuckers will pile into a 56-seat bus with a spotty entertainment system and a single airplane toilet and hit the highway for one of the most epic, grueling road trips in sports history: a nonstop 58-day, 54-game, eight-city, 2,800-mile odyssey across the Deep South.

Sound interesting/crazy enough for you? Then go HERE. And quickly.

As I mentioned, it’s long. But (also as I mentioned) it’s fantastic. And it’s got lots of great little video clips. So if you’ve got a spare half-hour or so and if you’re at all interested in baseball, minor or major — or just interested in humans, really — I encourage you to check it out. You won’t be disappointed. (There’s a great video companion piece, as well. I got a bit distracted by the ESPN-y voice-over, but don’t let that stop you.)

Attribution(s): “Off-Season Solitude 2” via photopin (license)