March 2026 Newsletter
March 31, 2026
Baseball is back!
Holy wow, between March Madness and the return of baseball, the month of March was a complete sports overload – and I’m here for it. Here’s the rundown:
Spring Break 2026
Between illness and spotty weather, I only had time to make it to one Spring Training game this year. But I chose a great one: Twins at Phillies on March 17 at BayCare Ballpark.
About one hour before the game.
This was one of the only ballparks in the St Petersburg area that I hadn’t visited yet. A lot of this had to do with cost: it’s a smallish stadium for a very popular team, and tickets are pretty pricey. For this trip, I decided to splurge, and I’m glad that I did.
You may be wondering: “Philly crowd on St. Patrick’s Day, are you nuts?” And yes, there were TONS of people pre-gaming, but everyone was in a great mood and super friendly.
The stadium itself isn’t much to write home about – it’s small with a single deck around 2/3 of the diamond. They’ve got a few suites above the deck in-line with the press boxes, and (similar to Lakeland) two big berm sections in the outfield.
I have to tell you though, the little things put this experience near the top of my list – maybe at the top. First, the food choices are better than any other Spring Training facility I have been to. Meats aplenty – cheesesteak to burgers to hot dogs to chicken. I opted for a BBQ boneless wings + fries combo that was spectacular.
The other fine touch – the staff. They had people directing traffic in swamped gift stores, friendly greeters, quick food service folks. I was absolutely gobsmacked. The stadium is clearly a destination for Phillies fans – the stadium was packed – but lines were short and wait times were almost nonexistent.
The only downside was the weather. We caught the only cold day of my trip – a high of 55 with strong winds – and my selection of shaded seats (which would have been brilliant had it been 80 degrees) were freezing. We ended up bailing on the seats and just walked around in the sun for a good chunk of the game.
Nevertheless, me and my mom had an awesome time. Highly recommended.
Scorebook madness
I returned home to a giant pile of scorebook orders. And it was busy even before I left. I would describe it as – I apologize for using technical jargon here – Crazy Town Banana Pants.
I’ve nearly sold out of my initial run of Small Ball books – thanks everyone for the awesome positive feedback, I might have actually nailed this the first time around.
The orders are still coming in at a good clip, and I’m turning them around as fast as possible.
Your photos – the best of the WBC, Spring Training and Opening Day
The WBC was amazing – I got tagged in a lot of great photos. Same for Spring Training and Opening Day – I LOVE BALLPARK PICS! Here’s some of the best:
I can’t find the credit for this photo, but too good not to share.
Instagram stories disappear too fast!
Credit: @elburritobandit
Credit: Jeff A.
Fabulous Spring Training park, I think it’s the best stadium
I’ve been to so far in Florida.
Credit: Jose (@_pepsss__)
Credit: Franklin (@frankhowls)
Credit: Chris J. (@chrisgeoguy)
New tough covers coming
I’m going to wrap the newsletter here – if I’m honest, I forgot that March had 31 days, so I’m happy can still keep my monthly email streak intact. But in the next newsletter, I will need your feedback on where I’m headed for the Square tough covers.
I want to try to go the route I’m doing for the Small Ball books – vinyl color base with a sticker. The stickers are pretty well set, I just need some takes on whether a) it doesn’t look as nice as the other covers and/or b) which sticker formats you all like.
Stay tuned. Keep sending ballpark pics!
– Eric