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So you want to be a baseball player, eh? Fame and/or fortune might be worth the heightened attention and unbelievable pressure, but the travel is ghastly. I'm okay with flying about twice a year, but anything more than that makes me itchy.
Over at Baseball Savant, they're keeping track of how many miles each team has to travel. The Giants are third in baseball, just behind the famously isolated Mariners, and just behind the A's, who have to travel a few times to see the famously isolated Mariners. A team in Bozeman would probably help even all sorts of things out. Think about it, Manfred.
There's a map at the site:
And I've itemized all of the journeys because I'm stupid like that:
Flight time (minutes) | Miles | |
Phoenix to San Diego | 50 | 299 |
San Diego to San Francisco | 70 | 458 |
San Francisco to Denver | 118 | 950 |
Denver to Los Angeles | 115 | 831 |
Los Angeles to San Francisco | 57 | 347 |
San Francisco to Houston | 199 | 1645 |
Houston to Cincinnati | 118 | 897 |
Cincinnati to San Francisco | 271 | 2046 |
San Francisco to Denver | 118 | 950 |
Denver to Milwaukee | 116 | 914 |
Milwaukee to San Francisco | 249 | 1843 |
San Francisco to Philadelphia | 290 | 2543 |
Philadelphia to New York | 23 | 81 |
New York to San Francisco | 343 | 2572 |
San Francisco to Seattle | 95 | 679 |
Seattle to Los Angeles | 190 | 959 |
Los Angeles to San Francisco | 57 | 347 |
San Francisco to Miami | 295 | 2594 |
Miami to Washington D.C. | 124 | 923 |
Washington D.C. to San Francisco | 329 | 2441 |
San Francisco to Phoenix | 93 | 654 |
Phoenix to San Diego | 50 | 299 |
San Diego to San Francisco | 70 | 458 |
San Francisco to Arlington | 177 | 1468 |
Arlington to Atlanta | 99 | 739 |
Atlanta to Chicago | 88 | 588 |
Chicago to San Francisco | 253 | 1859 |
San Francisco to St. Louis | 202 | 1746 |
St. Louis to Pittsburgh | 97 | 559 |
Pittsburgh to San Francisco | 302 | 2265 |
San Francisco to Los Angeles | 57 | 347 |
Los Angeles to Denver | 115 | 831 |
Denver to Phoenix | 87 | 586 |
Phoenix to San Francisco | 93 | 654 |
San Francisco to San Diego | 70 | 458 |
San Diego to San Francisco | 70 | 458 |
Total | 5,150 | 38,288 |
The number of minutes in the air is criminally insane. But, hey, it's good enough to get up on those summer nights and get inside your dreams. The best of both worlds, even. I'll stop now.
That's also the equivalent of three-and-a-half days on the plane. That's not including taxiing, hanging out Hunter Pence is removing his irregularly shaped luggage from the overhead compartment, getting to and from the airport ... traveling stuff.
If there's a silver lining, though, it's that the Giants have new air-digs. The A's and Mariners have had private planes for a while, and the Giants recently followed their lead. It's not perfect ...
Sabean even referenced 6-foot-5, 235-pound World Series MVP Madison Bumgarner and how even with a full row to himself in the coach section "he's still going to be a pretzel trying to get some sleep and trying to relax."
... but it helps, as Eno Sarris wrote:
This might be a little easier on their backs, so maybe this shows up there. This should help with the sleeping habits, and show up there. Whatever it is, we know that distance traveled is a big part of home field advantage. And so, for a limited upgrade in cost - Evans pointed out that there are more carriers offering this sort of solution now, so the price has become more competitive in recent years, and Sabean credited Team Travel Director Bret Alexander with the idea - the team offered its players a much better traveling situation.
The Giants fly a lot. You knew that. Still, it's still stunning to see it all on a map or in a table. You would probably still be a baseball player if you could. But parts of it would still stink beyond your wildest imaginations.
The new lease is for a private United plane, by the way. You don't have to worry about this:
You don't have to worry about that ever again.