The New Greyhound

It was fitting that my trip's first destination was Detroit, considering that the first Major League Baseball games I ever saw were in Detroit's Tiger Stadium. I lived in Michigan from ages 1 to 8, and among the few things that brought us to Detroit, from what I can remember, were baseball games. But before I get to talking about Detroit, let me talk about how I got there. For the four or five weeks before I arrived in Detroit, I had been planning all of the logistics of my trip. I knew that at some point I needed to purchase my bus pass from Greyhound, which would allow me unlimited travel for the two weeks and get me from city to city. After a long final exam on May 11, I went to the Port Authority Bus Terminal to buy my pass. As I was waiting in line, I noticed that there were some very interesting people around me. I asked myself, are these the people I want to spend the next two weeks sitting next to? I really wasn't sure, but I was definitely beyond the point of no return. I got my pass and returned on Sunday night to catch the bus to Detroit.

With this pass, all I had to do was show up a few hours before each bus left and ask for a ticket. I went early to make sure I got on the bus I wanted to. With the spare time I had between then and boarding the bus, I went to my school to quickly print off a few things. It is hard to put in words the feelings I had, being at the law school without any obligations while other people were still studying for finals. I returned to the station and got in line for the bus. While getting my ticket and waiting in line for the bus, I again asked myself if this was really something I wanted to do. Sleeping on buses is not pleasant, but the thing that worried me the most was the people. Not people who I feel are going to rob me or pose some sort of physical threat; I am talking about people who are going to annoy me. Smells, noise, conversations, personal space and bus seat boundary violations, and so forth.

While I was in these two lines, I paid particular attention to the people around me and what they were doing. One guy at the ticket counter kept yelling "Hampton, VA? Anybody going to Hampton, VA?" He wanted to cut in front of people, but didn't want to take anybody's seat on the trip to Hampton, VA that was leaving in just a few minutes. An older man, who looked almost exactly like this Scooby Doo villain, stood a few people behind me and mumbled something no one could understand. Downstairs, while waiting for my bus, I encountered more interesting people. Behind me was a woman who giggled non stop with her boyfriend (her giggle, voice, and general mannerisms toward her boyfriend were just like those of the lady squirrel in Sword in the Stone: flirty, touchy, and giggly), a kid who looked almost exactly like Dwight Schrute, a guy who loved to hear himself talk and make up five-syllable words, and a man who I thought was homeless but in reality was a ticketed passenger (who left a HUGE mess of sunflower seeds in his seat that I noticed when we arrived in Cleveland) trying to talk to the Russian girl who did not speak any English. Being in these two lines was like being Eurydice in this clip from Black Orpheus (start at around 6:00 if you want to see what I'm talking about). She's walking through a unique crowd of people and is obviously unsure of what's going on and what she's doing. Despite my uncertainty, I got on the bus. We were riding overnight to Cleveland and from there I would change buses to get to Detroit.

Maybe you've been to Greyhound's web site recently or seen advertisements elsewhere for the "New Greyhound." The New Greyhound is a myth. I saw one new bus the entire time I was gone, and I was not on it. I know it says that they have specific routes, but I didn't see a single one until the last day of my trip. And, of course, I saw one driving down 5th Avenue the other day when I was walking home from the subway. The bus I was on from New York to Cleveland, and everywhere else, was exactly the same: little space between seats, no blinds on the windows (daylight and street lights constantly illuminating the whole bus), no wi-fi, and very little of anything else. It also didn't help that the guy next to me did not smell good. I had ear plugs, but what I really needed were some nose plugs. Furthermore, these two girls were talking at louder than normal levels for significant amounts of time. But it was what it was, and the trip to Cleveland happened, despite a rough night of sleep.

As I was leaving the bus, I checked my pockets to make sure that I had everything. I didn't have everything! I was missing my bus pass! I would have to buy another because there are no refunds or replacements for the pass. Losing it was throwing money away. I couldn't believe that I had lost it because I specifically put it in a pocket where it would almost be impossible to fall out. But it did! I went back to my seat and looked all over, but couldn't find it. Behind me was the giggly girl and her boyfriend, who had just woken up (they had been sitting a few rows in front of me and then, just as my luck would have it, moved into the row right behind me; but the giggling wasn't too bad). Would I find my pass? Check in for the next segment in a few days for that, the baseball game that never happened, and Detroit Rock City.

Perfect Day

On Saturday night, around midnight, I boarded a Greyhound bus in Miami headed for New York City. It turned out to be among the least pleasant thirty-three hours I have experienced this year, but the previous thirteen days made them bearable. The trip from Miami, which ended today at around 9:30 AM, and the other thirteen days provided many memorable experiences. Over the course of the next few weeks, I will be sharing these experiences with you. For now, we'll have to settle for a few basics which will form the foundation that the rest of my stories will build upon. While you read, perhaps you'd enjoy some music. Here's a great song from Lou Reed, with lyrics that have a special meaning for the most incredible experience I had on my trip and in my lifetime of watching baseball games in person (see item 4 below).

1. I left New York at 10:15 PM on Sunday, May 16 from the Port Authority Bus Terminal and arrived at this same terminal today at 9:30 AM, which means that my trip lasted two weeks, eleven hours, and fifteen minutes.
2. During these two weeks, I saw eleven baseball games in ten different cities, with Chicago being the only city where I saw two (two teams in Chicago, two different stadiums).
3. My first day was the most disappointing. Knowing that it was likely to rain, I hoped that they would at least play a few innings in Detroit. I even was able to walk around beautiful Comerica Park (a major upgrade in terms of architecture from the old Tiger Stadium that I visited as a child, but a downgrade in terms of history), teased by employees there who thought they would play the game. The game didn't happen and Detroit seemed like a ghost town. It was not a fun start to the trip.
4. My last day was, without a doubt, the most incredible game I have ever seen in person. Before I left on my trip, I knew that Roy Halladay (the best pitcher in baseball, if you ask me) was probably going to pitch on May 29 in Miami. Miami was the last stop on my trip and my law school friend from Miami and I bought tickets a few hours before it started (see ticket in picture above). The day of the game had a 50 percent chance of rain, but everything cleared up perfectly for the match-up between the Philadelphia Phillies and Florida Marlins. Roy Halladay did pitch, and he threw a perfect game. No Marlin safely reached first base. Twenty-seven at bats became twenty-seven outs. He allowed no hits or walks and hit no batters. His team committed no errors. It was my first time in Miami and I still can't believe my luck to have witnessed that. In the eighteen perfect games that have occurred since the beginning of the twentieth century (two occurred in 1880, for which there are no records of how many were in attendance), 482,785 fans have seen perfect games in person. That number might be off because I think it might count ticket sales instead of actual attendance. In any case, that is not many considering how many people have been alive in the past 110 years. I am glad that it was 482,785 instead of 482,784, and haven't been able to wipe off the smile since Saturday. There will be plenty more on this later.
   
5. My bus rides covered over 6400 miles. Greyhound people are interesting. I can't criticize them too much because I have been one for two weeks. There were some normal people, some shady looking people, some weird people, and some crazy people. I guess it wasn't much different from being in the elevators in my building here in New York . . . except I never slept on the elevators or spent hours on end in them. The stories from the actual bus trips do not have anything to do with baseball but are some things that you will be reading about in the near future.

Those are some of the basics. Tomorrow or Wednesday I will post again either about the first day or the last day. I am not sure if I prefer to ride the momentum of the perfect game and post about it now or to continue in chronological order as I had planned. In any case, something enjoyable should be up soon.