By: Ryan Hill — Public Relations

Madison, WI — June 4, 2013. After nine years of the what they call “The Ultimate Baseball Trip,” Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania native Mitch Mansfield and Harrisburg, Pennsylvania native Brian Williams finally included a collegiate wood bat summer league into their jam-packed itinerary.

The UBT originated in 2005, when Mansfield noticed that his Pittsburgh Pirates were playing at Yankee Stadium for the first time since the 1960 World Series and played at Fenway Park for the first time since the 1903 World Series over a span of a few days.

Mansfield and Williams have intricately planned road trips every year since. They originally only included MLB ballparks and usually include five different games in five different cities over a five-day span. But the two began including various minor league and independent league games. This year their plan was particularly demanding. They are in the midst of attending nine different ballparks in eight cities in just eight days (see picture for details). 

Mansfield and Williams wanted Minneapolis, Kansas City and St. Louis to be the hubs of their trip, so when Mansfield learned that he would be picking up Williams from Chicago, Mansfield began searching for ballparks between there and Minneapolis. After seeing a home game scheduled at the “Duck Pond” and doing some quick research on the Mallards website, they coined the “Duck Pond” as the starting point for their 2013 UBT.

It didn’t take long for the two to be impressed once they arrived at Warner Park.

“Even as we were walking across the parking lot to get our tickets, there was just an energy there,” Williams said. “It just seemed like everybody was there to have a good, wholesome, great time surrounded by baseball. It was a terrific baseball atmosphere.”

In the first inning of the Mallards 9-1 win over the La Crosse Loggers, an usher noticed their UBT shirts and introduced them to owner Steve Schmitt, who graciously gave them seats in the TRICOR/West Bend club.

“We just talked constantly from the moment we walked in,” Mansfield said. “We got pictures with the players on the way out from just talking to them. It was just so friendly.”

Williams has been a long-time season ticket holder for the Harrisburg Senators (the Washington Nationals Double-A affiliate) and said the energy level and organization was second-to-none.

“I was really impressed with how well things went and how well things were put together,” he said. “It’s obviously successful if you’re averaging 6,200 a night. And we got to see that firsthand.”

Mansfield added: “It just seemed like there was just so much energy in the air, and we both commented on that,” he said. “We’ve been to a lot of ballgames in a lot of different places. And we said this might have been the most energetic game we’ve ever been to. It was unbelievable.”

Although their grueling schedule didn’t allow the pair of baseball fanatics to check out the rest of Madison, the two said a trip to Madtown in the future is a definite possibility.

“If we do, we’re going to make sure it’s when the Mallards are on,” Williams said with a laugh. “It was a great way to kick off the trip.”