It’s probably hard for younger folks to imagine planning a baseball itinerary without the ability to point and click. Even as the fad of traveling extensively and expensively to see baseball across the country was in its nascent period, we somehow made it happen. Usually, we relied on the kindness of others or professionals (travel agents) to make it happen.

While sorting through some old programs and yearbooks, I stumbled across the 1994 edition of The Official Baseball Atlas, by Rand McNally. Imagine a book filled with maps and lists. Contemporaries of mine admit to not being able to read a map (anymore). And after consulting google maps last weekend, I long for a simple city map. Editor’s note: I had purchased the previous edition (90 or 91) and had thoroughly exhausted the information on previous trips.

For as many books and articles were written in the 90’s by fans checking off ballparks like items at a supermarket, nobody was really writing about the other stuff to see in a baseball city. A few guys wrote guides for ballpark food and best hotdogs which in principle were pretty worthless.

Looking back 31 years, a lot has changed and maybe for the better. The information and organization is no worse than what you get from Yelp or Travel Advisor. Whoever is doing the curating still seems to be in someone’s pay. Occasionally, I’d find a gem, but more often than not the restaurants, sports bars, and sports themes were pretty pedestrian.

Like anyone trying to rate a recommendation, I set about seeing how they rated places I was familiar with. Even thirty years ago, I’m not sure how many visitors to Chicago included Planet Hollywood on a visit to either Cellular Field or Wrigley Field. The author definitely skewed towards the Cubs and the north side, but so did everyone else back then.

Over the years, I found some great local spots that I would have otherwise missed. However, a couple years after this edition came out, I had a professional interest in accumulating information of this sort as a hotel concierge. I had to deliver beyond mere baseball nerds like me. However, it was my job to know what people might like to do and where to go before or after a ball game, theater production or concert.

As we’ve become more reliant on technology (the internet and apps), we’ve forgotten that people are often the best source of information like this. Heck, I can even remember calling an out-of-town box office to prepurchase my tickets and hotel room.