(The News Journal, Wilmington, Del.)

Baseball season is here, and I’m glad it is. Let me count the ways:

1. Citizens Bank Park, May 23: Phillies vs. Reds
2. Camden Yards, May 26: Orioles vs. Royals
3. Citi Field, May 28: Mets vs. Phillies
4. Safeco Field, June 5: Mariners vs. Rays
5. US Cellular Field, June 24: White Sox vs. Nationals
6. AT&T Park, Aug. 5: Giants vs. Phillies

And those are just the games that I’ve either already bought tickets for or have circled on my calendar. Yes, whereas over the past couple years I had focused my sports ticket-buying attention on other sports, this year I’m definitely attending more ballgames than any other sport. A lot of it is a function of how my year is shaping up — I’m doing more traveling this summer than I had over the last few years, and with all of these trips I’m heading to those regions for separate reasons. It’s just mighty convenient that there are ballgames going on while I’m there.

You’ll probably notice the abundance of games on this list involving the Phillies. Well, in a previous life I lived in the Philadelphia area and was one of those poor saps assigned to write about the team on a daily basis. As a result Mrs. Fan grew to like the team and is now a full-fledged fan… oh, excuse me, Phan. So the Philly-Baltimore-New York jaunt is part of a weeklong vacation where we go back and visit some old haunts. Believe me, I’m really looking forward to going back to ol’ Citizens Bank Park. Voluntarily, that is.