It had been five years since the team had been together for Tim’s wedding.  People had moved away; most of us were now married; John even had a baby on the way.  A reunion was my idea. I wanted to see my teammates again—they were such an important part of my life, many of them were like brothers to me.

We were All-State and the first baseball team from our high school to ever win a state championship.  I can still remember that day perfectly—we all felt pretty invincible.  I wanted to recapture that feeling of triumph, and what better place than a ballpark?

So, I texted John to see what he thought about a team reunion.  He was all for it, he just didn’t want anything too complicated to plan.  So, I got to thinking.  Most of us still lived around the DC area, although there were a few that were out-of-state.  I knew I wanted us to go see a game, but where was the most convenient?  I asked my wife if she had any ideas (she loves planning trips and has traveled all over).  She suggested I check out Prince George’s Reunion Capital USA website.  She had organized a sorority reunion at Gaylord National Resort last year and said that their website had great information for reunion planning.

On their site I realized Gaylord would also be perfect for my team.  Not because of their spa (where my wife spent all of her reunion), but because of its location in Prince George’s County.  It was located minutes from THREE different baseball stadiums—Nationals Park, Maryland’s Shipley Field, and The Baysox’s Prince George’s Stadium.  In one weekend, we would be able to attend three separate games—each with something different to offer.

Courtesy of The Bowie Baysox

The wives and kids could join us to watch the Baysox on Friday night.  With the fireworks show and kids park, the kids would love it (and if the kids are happy, so are the wives).  On Saturday night, the team could head to University of Maryland’s campus.  This game would be particularly special for us.   Tim (who played first base on our team) had played ball there a few years back and this would be a great way to honor that.  We could end the weekend at Nationals Park on Sunday afternoon.  Many of us are die-hard Redskins fans, but hadn’t made it to a Nationals game yet, so we were all looking forward to this.

The reunion was last weekend. Everyone loved Gaylord (the place has every conceivable amenity possible), and it was so easy to get from there to each stadium.  I, however, was happy just to be with my team again.  We decided that “Baseball Fest” is going to be an annual event and I’m already looking forward to next year…

Courtesy of The University of Maryland