World Series 2016: The sights from SN's road trip from Cleveland to Chicago

Ryan Fagan

World Series 2016: The sights from SN's road trip from Cleveland to Chicago image

CHICAGO — This World Series has a decidedly middle-of-America feel. 

You have to go all the way back to 1985 between the St. Louis Cardinals and Kansas City Royals to find a middle-of-America World Series played between two cities in closer proximity than Cleveland and Chicago. That 1985 classic seven-game series — dubbed the I-70 Series — had only 320 miles of Missouri countryside between Kauffman Stadium in KC and Busch Stadium in St. Louis. 

For the 2016 series, there are 351 miles — and approximately 2,382 toll booths — between Cleveland’s Progressive Field and Chicago’s Wrigley Field. So Jesse Spector (my fellow Sporting News baseball writer) and I decided to take Thursday’s off day and road trip between cities, stopping at a couple iconic spots along the way to get a feel for a little slice of this part of the country. 

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Couldn’t leave Cleveland, of course, without a quick stop at the town’s signature attraction, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Didn’t have time for the complete tour, but it was obvious from the outside where the Hall’s baseball loyalties rested. 

You have no idea how difficult it is, with the wind blowing that hard off Lake Erie, to get a picture of the flag like that. Two dozen attempts this time, at least.

And, this has nothing to do with baseball, but the first thing you see inside the Hall is a giant flying hot dog. Good times. 

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Anyway, we decided to make our first stop at one of those roadside oddity places. The Duct Tape Heritage Festival in Avon, Ohio, sounded great, but it’s on Father’s Day weekend, so we were out of luck. Instead, we chose to see a replica of the largest bald eagle’s nest in the world, at the Carlisle Visitors Center just outside of LaGrange, Ohio. 

Yep. 

And we even did a Facebook Live chat about the World Series from there. Because why not.

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From there, it was back on the road. Next stop was a late lunch/early dinner at Tony Packo’s Cafe in Toledo, Ohio. I admit, I was not prepared for this place. I knew they were famous for hot dogs and famously had a bunch of signed hot dog buns on display, but you can’t grasp what that might be like until you’re actually there. 

Hunting signatures was more fun than it probably should have been. 

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Seems those aren't "real" hot dog buns that have been signed. They used to use real ones, but they all fell apart. So they have people sign fake hot dog buns now. A little disappointing, but oh well.

Food was darn good, too.

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We left Ohio and ventured into Indiana. About five minutes in, there was one of those signs that usually warns of construction or accidents ahead. This one, though, said "I-80/90, Road to the World Series" which was awesome. Didn't get a pic, though. Here's the Indiana sign.

Considering the Cubs haven’t won a World Series since 1908 and Cleveland hasn’t won since 1948, it seemed appropriate to stop off at a place where many, many prayers have been offered up over the decades. 

Sure, Touchdown Jesus might be connected to a different sport, but there is no Home Run Jesus along the Interstate 80/90 corridor, so we went to the Notre Dame campus. 

Finally arrived in Chicago, where we were welcomed by road construction, of course, and traffic, of course. I dropped Jesse off at his hotel, and he was welcomed by something else. 

Of course. These games in Chicago are gonna be fun, folks. Enjoy.  

Ryan Fagan

Ryan Fagan Photo

Ryan Fagan, the national MLB writer for The Sporting News, has been a Baseball Hall of Fame voter since 2016. He also dabbles in college hoops and other sports. And, yeah, he has way too many junk wax baseball cards.