As friends get older, the real world comes after them with a vengeance. It’s harder to keep in touch as people advance in their careers, move to different cities and start families.
Scott Blumenthal, David Kreshover and Mike Levy know what that feels like. The three childhood friends were faced with the same predicament a few years ago, so they thought up a brilliant plan to stay connected and share the experience with the world.
The plan was simple: Go to various baseball stadiums across the country, and pretend to be fans. The result was Nine More Outs, a series of YouTube videos that shows the trio’s experience posing as fans for various baseball teams. This past summer, Nine More Outs took their shenanigans to Miller Park.
With Brewers season up and running, we thought we’d ask them about their experience in Brew City.
Marquette Tribune: Can you tell us a little about yourselves and the history of Nine More Outs? What was the idea behind the “Stadium Shmadium Tour?”
Blumenthal, Kreshover & Levy: The three of us have been friends for 30 years. We grew up together. These days, though, we live hundreds of miles apart. A few years ago, we found a way to get a few solid days together every year — and, at the same time, live this dream of visiting every major league baseball stadium. Then the idea got nutty: Let’s experience each team from the perspective of the ultimate insider — the die-hard fan. Let’s study up on each team, learn the quirks of each fan base, “disguise” ourselves as real fans and mingle with the natives. And, of course, film it all. The next thing you know, we’ve got about 25,000 YouTube hits. It’s been a fun ride.
MT: You guys have been to a few stadiums around the country – why those particular ones? Where do you plan to go next?
B, K & L: No real rhyme or reason. Our first foray was to the Rogers Centre in Toronto, which allowed us to scratch “all Canadian teams” from our checklist. Then came PNC Park in Pittsburgh, Fenway Park in Boston, and, most recently, Miller Park in Milwaukee. We’re on a “Park” roll, I guess. Each visit has its own short film at ninemoreouts.com. One even has a drunken mascot.
MT: How was the Miller Park experience? The Brewers lost that game, unfortunately, but it seemed like you met a ton of interesting fans. How did Miller Park compare to other stadium experiences while filming?
B, K & L: In terms of pure fun, Milwaukee was probably our favorite trip so far. Great city, great fans, great stadium. Unparalleled brats, beer and cheese. The tailgating scene was phenomenal and unlike anything we’d seen or heard about — just a giant party. Perfect for guys who like to dress up as a hot dog and mustard and run through parking lots. Just about everyone we asked let us draw Rollie Fingers mustaches on them. Who could ask for more?
MT: What are Nine More Outs’ plans for the future? Visiting more stadiums? Returning to the most interesting stadiums? Infiltrating other professional sporting arenas?
B, K & L: The plan is to visit all 30 teams. If we continue at one per year, we’ll hit the last one in 2037. After that, who knows? There’s always the Mexican leagues.
To learn more about Nine More Outs, and to see all over their videos, visit ninemoreouts.weebly.com.