Who are the Diamond Rounders?

The Diamond Rounders are a group of guys determined to see every ballpark and baseball site in existence. The founding three (Dave Smith, Blair Robinson, and Pete Tarnowski) are all graduates of Vanderbilt University's class of 1989. There are many fans that travel on stadium trips, but the Diamond Rounders do it a little differently. First of all, they don't try to do it all in one summer. As important as baseball is, they do have other facets of their lives to attend to. Instead, they pick an area of the country, and find a week or so when all the teams they want to see have home games. Another difference of the Diamond Rounders is the focus of their trips. Most travelers, such as the famed geeks in the Mastercard commercials, only visit the Major League parks. The D'Rounders also go to Minor League games, independant league games, sites of former baseball parks, gravesites of great ball players, baseball museums, and any other place associated with our great game.
Over the years of traveling, the Diamond Rounders have learned a few tricks worth sharing:

• Take lots of photos and video from all the stops. Make sure to have yourself in the shot with a recognizable feature of the ballpark. A camera with a timer is ideal, since there's not always people present/capable of taking your picture for you.
• Keep all your ticket stubs from every park you go to. These will become your most treasured collection.
• Wear a lanyard with a laminated schedule. This will not only give you a handy reminder of where you're going next, but they're a great conversation starter for people interested in what you're doing.
• Always notify stadium management about what you're doing. There wasn't a place we told an official about our tour, where we weren't given free hats or other swag.

Blair Robinson Blair lives in Atlanta with his wife Kim and daughter Haley. His wedding reception was at the 755 Club at Turner Field. His passion for baseball is not limited to his ballpark travels. Blair is the player manager of the MSBL Atlanta Indians, who are an over 28 hardball team. He has also coached little league baseball at Morgan Falls Park in Sandy Springs for eleven years. Blair has been to all 30 of the active ballparks as well as countless minor league fields and former major league stadiums sites accross the country. His favorite ballparks are Fenway Park, Wrigley Field, Tiger Stadium, and Rickwood Field. His favorites of the new stadiums are PNC Park, Pac Bell, the Ballpark at Arlington, and Autozone Park in Memphis. His most memorable baseball experience was watching Mark McGwire hit #62 from the right field bleachers of Busch Stadium in 1998. e-mail blair@diamondrounders.com

Dave Smith Dave lives in Charlotte, and has been to all 30 active ballparks. He has an amazing ability to attract foul balls at baseball games. Sometimes late at night, Dave enjoys brushing his teeth with peanut butter. e-mail dave@diamondrounders.com Bill Gary Rookie Diamond Rounder Bill lives in Atlanta, and used to play hardball with Blair for the MSBL Indians. He is one of the founding members of the Emory Eagles baseball squad, and now makes his living as a contract attourney. Bill took a two year leave from the ballpark travels due to weddings and pregnancies, but returned in 2006. He enjoys seeing living baseball players more than dead ones. e-mail bill@diamondrounders.com

Pete Tarnowski Pete lives in Cincinatti with his wife Roxan. His 2000 boycott of the Diamond Rounders trip greatly hurt his goal of visiting all the Major League parks. He's been to 24 of the active Major League Ballparks. His favorite park is Camden Yards. Pete is an excellent bunter. e-mail pete@diamondrounders.com Pete Thorne Pete lives in Athens and plays baseball with Blair in the Atlanta MSBL, and is also commissioner of the Athens MSBL. He joined the Diamondrounders for the 2007 trip and vows never to miss their voyages again. e-mail pete2@diamondrounders.com

Back to the Trips

Send us an e-mail