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The Giants will log the third-most travel miles in baseball this year

The good news is they'll have a new, cushy plane in which to do it.

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B2 or not B2
B2 or not B2
Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images

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:

flight

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:

wilson plane

You don't have to worry about that ever again.