#CruzeDieselMLBTour: On the Road to See the Washington Nationals

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I have all kinds of hidden secrets. One of my not so hidden secrets is that I don’t like to watch sports on TV. Neither does my husband. It’s a good pairing for us. We usually go shopping on Superbowl Sunday when there are no crowds and we don’t have to plan our schedules around being home to “see the game.”

I also don’t like really to play sports either, unless it’s something like badminton where I won’t break too much of a sweat. It’s not that I’m a girly-girl. I’m just not very good at them, which makes playing them not much fun.

However, when it comes to spectator sports and attending an event in person, there are two types of sports that get me excited: hockey and baseball. Maybe that’s why I get along with both Canadians and Americans so well.

Chevy recently reached out to me and asked if I was interested in a baseball-themed road trip and I thought, well, why not?

And since I’ve made it pretty clear that I love cars, Chevy offering me the use of a 2014 Cruze Diesel was the icing on the cake.

YES, I SAID DIESEL.

If you haven’t thought about a diesel because you’re picturing the old, dirty, loud diesels of the 70s, you’re in for a treat. This is a turbo diesel and while the sound does remind me a bit of a Mack truck, the smells and fumes are gone. It’s a clean ride.

Even better than the fuel is the fuel efficiency, hence the purpose of this multi-day roadtrip. We’re headed to three Major League Baseball trips this week in three major cities. And I’ve got some driving to do.

Here’s the agenda for the week. Go to three baseball games. First stop was Washington, DC on Sunday to see the Washington Nationals play. Next stop is in Baltimore tonight where I get to root for my home team, the Baltimore Orioles. And the last stop will be on Thursday in Atlanta where we’ll see the Braves play just before I hightail it over to the Type-A Parent Conference.

And when I say “we,” I’m referring to me and my sister. I convinced her to take a few days off of life and off we went in my brand new 2014 Chevy Cruze Diesel.

Here’s how things got kicked off on Sunday.

Leg 1 took us all the way from Baltimore, MD to Washington, DC to see the Washington Nationals play a home game against the Miami Marlins in Nationals Stadium.

Just so you wouldn’t feel left out, I made a quick video diary of the highlights of this grueling 36 mile trip.

While it might already be well known that I love cars and now, that I really like baseball, there’s always more to learn. Here are a few of the key takeaways from my trip to Washington, DC.

Pitchers throw really, really fast and some batters now wear ankle protectors. At first we thought the batter had a broken foot, which would have complicated the running part of the game.

In the National League, the teams use pinch hitters (which is what we saw) but in the American League, the teams use designated hitters. Who knew?

This seemingly popular player, Jayson Werth, has a long and scraggly beard. For the life of me, I can’t figure out why but it clearly has made him noticeable.

His beard apparently has its own Twitter account and Facebook page. YES, his beard.

In between innings, they still do goofy things like throw out t-shirts and watch the Presidents race around the field. YES, I said Presidents. Watch out for Abe Lincoln. He’s a fast one.

And finally, the biggest lesson I learned was that parking spaces are always easy to find on the top of the parking deck. But when thousands of fans are trying to leave at the same time, you’re going to be the last one down.

Stay tuned for my next installment of the Cruze Diesel MLB Tour where the Baltimore Orioles take on the Toronto Blue Jays! (Sorry, Canadians. I have to root for the home team here.)

This is a sponsored trip by Chevrolet. The vehicle has been provided for this trip and all expenses have been covered by Chevrolet. All opinions and photos are mine.